Appendix 7: Continuous Month Scheme and Crosswalk

Appendix 7: Continuous Month Scheme and Crosswalk
Introduction
As described in Appendix 6, the various event history arrays present month-by-month or week-by-week information on the respondent's status with respect to various activities. Information about program participation, marriage, and schooling is provided on a monthly basis using a continuous month timeline. Employment histories are presented on a weekly basis using a continuous week timeline. This appendix explains the continuous month/week system and provides the actual dates corresponding to the numbered weeks and months.
Continuous Month Timeline
The non-employment event history arrays are presented using two different timelines. The first, a continuous month approach, labels January 1980 as month 1, February 1980 as month 2, and so on. Thus, a respondent born in month 4 might start receiving public assistance in month 193 and leave the program in month 198. Key events occurring during the life of each cohort member can be indexed within this month-by-month structure. To aid users, a number of variables other than the event history arrays have already been created using the event history format. For example, the respondent's age in months at interview date is presented in continuous month format. Second, the event history arrays can be constructed using actual month and year dates.
The data set includes variables for the event history arrays for every month number under the continuous month scheme. However, actual month and year dates are only included for a given respondent in months in which transitions occurred. That is, the respondent in the example above would have continuous month variables relating to program participation status for every month beginning with 172 (the month of the respondent's 14th birthday) but would only have actual date variables for January and June 1997. To aid users in moving between the two dating schemes, Table 1 in this appendix contains a crosswalk between actual dates and continuous month numbers (as well as continuous week numbers).
The continuous month system allows researchers to easily compare the times at which various events occurred in the youth's life. The following example illustrates a case in which a youth turns 17 in February 1997 and, in the same month (month 194 in the continuous timeline), begins receiving AFDC. She remains on AFDC for 2 months (month 194 and month 195). The following table illustrates this information using a month-by-month timeline.
Non-Employment Event History Array Incorporating the Month-by-Month Timeline
Question Name | Participation Status | Month Number (created by the user) |
Birth date: CV_CHILD_BIRTH_MONTH |
|
AFDC_STATUS_1997.01 | 0 | 193 | ||
AFDC_STATUS_1997.02 | 1 | 194 | 194 | |
AFDC_STATUS_1997.03 | 1 | 195 | ||
AFDC_STATUS_1997.04 | 0 | 196 |
In addition linking the dates through the crosswalk, any user who selects an event array will be able to extract from the data set additional characteristics that relate to that event. The following table presents the additional information that a user may chose to link to the non-employment event history arrays. A user is able to create these and other variable combinations for any status array.
Status | Variable 1 | Variable 2 | Variable 3 | |
Enrollment | Highest grade attended | Highest grade completed | Highest degree earned | |
Cohabitation/Marital | Partner's race | Partner's religion | Partner's grade level | |
AFDC | Received during month | Benefit amount | People benefiting |
Continuous Week Timeline
In the event history section of the data set, an employment history of the number of weeks worked is presented in a continuous week-by-week status array. This array is very similar to the month-by-month scheme used for the rest of the event history variables. In this format, the first week of January 1980 is numbered week 1, the second week of January 1980 is numbered week 2, and so on; weeks are listed by exact date as well. This week-by-week array lists each respondent's employment status for each week since the month of the respondent's 14th birthday.
As with the month-by-month arrays, respondents have data available for every week in the continuous week arrays but only for transition weeks in the actual date arrays. However, users should note that, due to technical considerations, the variable titles in the data number weeks by calendar year rather than from week 1 through week 1253. For example, a variable might read "1994 Employment: Employment Status in Week 07" instead of "Employment: Employment Status in Week 737." Table 1 in this appendix also provides a crosswalk between the actual beginning date of each week, the continuous week number, and the week number for each week in a calendar year (as well as continuous month numbers).
Naming Conventions
The question names of the NLSY97 event history variables incorporate the dates to which the variables apply. The marital status and program participation array titles include the month and year (e.g., AFDC_AMT_1997.12 corresponds to December 1997). Likewise, employment array variables are listed for each week and year (e.g., EMP_STATUS_1997.52 corresponds to the 52nd week in 1997). The schooling variables are yearly and employ a slightly different system. In general, these variables refer to the school year rather than the calendar year. That is, 1991 in a variable title or in the data for a variable generally indicates the school year starting in fall 1991 and ending in spring 1992.
Table 1. Continuous Month and Week Crosswalk
This crosswalk is provided as an Excel spreadsheet. If you need to access this information in another form, please contact NLS User Services.
Click here to open the Table 1 spreadsheet.
Notes on the Excel file:
- All weeks start on Sunday and end on Saturday. The only exception is the first week in the file, which is listed as starting on January 1, 1980 (the earliest possible birthdate of any NLSY97 respondent, and thus the starting point for the event history arrays). January 1, 1980 was a Tuesday.
- The file contains week and month numbers starting in January 1980 (the birth month of the oldest respondents in the cohort) and currently extends through 2017. The last month actually covered by the round 17 data release is August 2016.
Cohorts
- NLSY97
- Topical Guide to the Data
- Asterisk Tables
- I. Employment, Unemployment, and Job Search (age restrictions as of interview date)
- II. Schooling (age restrictions as of 12/31/96)
- III. Training (age restrictions as of interview date)
- IV. Income, Assets, and Program Participation
- V. Family Formation (age restrictions as of end of previous calendar year--12/31/96 in rd 1, 12/31/97 in rd 2, and so on)
- VI. Family Background (age restrictions as of 12/31/1996)
- VII. Expectations
- VIII. Attitudes, Behaviors, and Time Use
- IX. Health (age restrictions as of 12/31/96)
- X. Political Participation
- XI. Environmental Variables (in main data set)
- Education
- Employment
- Household, Geography & Contextual Variables
- Family Background
- Marital History, Childcare & Fertility
- Income
- Health
- Attitudes
- Crime & Substance Use
- Asterisk Tables
- Intro to the Sample
- Using & Understanding the Data
- Other Documentation
- Get Data
- Topical Guide to the Data
- NLSY79
- Topical Guide to the Data
- Asterisk Tables
- Education
- Employment
- Employment: An Introduction
- Work Experience
- Jobs & Employers
- Class of Worker
- Discrimination
- Fringe Benefits
- Industries
- Job Characteristics Index
- Job Satisfaction
- Job Search
- Labor Force Status
- Military
- Occupations
- Time & Tenure with Employers
- Wages
- Work History Data
- Employer History Roster
- Business Ownership
- Retirement
- Household, Geography & Contextual Variables
- Family Background
- Marital History, Childcare & Fertility
- Income
- Health
- Attitudes
- Crime & Substance Use
- Intro to the Sample
- Using & Understanding the Data
- Other Documentation
- Codebook Supplement
- NLSY79 Attachment 3: Industrial and Occupational Classification Codes
- NLSY79 Attachment 4: Fields of Study in College
- NLSY79 Attachment 5: Index of Labor Unions and Employee Associations
- NLSY79 Attachment 6: Other Kinds of Training Codes
- NLSY79 Attachment 7: Other Certificate Codes
- NLSY79 Attachment 8: Health Codes
- NLSY79 Attachment 100: Geographic Regions
- NLSY79 Attachment 101: Country Codes
- NLSY79 Attachment 102: Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS)
- NLSY79 Attachment 103: Religion Codes
- NLSY79 Attachment 106: Profiles of American Youth (ASVAB Data/AFQT Scores)
- NLSY79 Appendix 1: Employment Status Recode Variables (1979-1998 and 2006)
- NLSY79 Appendix 2: Total Net Family Income Variable Creation (1979-2014)
- NLSY79 Appendix 3: Job Satisfaction Measures
- NLSY79 Appendix 4: Job Characteristics Index 1979-1982
- NLSY79 Appendix 5: Supplemental Fertility and Relationship Variables
- NLSY79 Appendix 6: Urban-Rural and SMSA-Central City Variables
- NLSY79 Appendix 7: Unemployment Rate
- NLSY79 Appendix 8: Highest Grade Completed & Enrollment Status Variable Creation
- NLSY79 Appendix 9: Linking Employers Through Survey Years
- NLSY79 Appendix 11: Round 12 (1990) Survey Administration Methods
- NLSY79 Appendix 12: Most Important Job Learning Activities (1993-94)
- NLSY79 Appendix 13: Intro to CAPI Questionnaires and Codebooks
- NLSY79 Appendix 14: Instrument Rosters
- NLSY79 Appendix 15: Recipiency Event Histories
- NLSY79 Appendix 16: 1994 Recall Experiment
- NLSY79 Appendix 17: Interviewer Characteristics Data
- NLSY79 Appendix 18: Work History Data
- NLSY79 Appendix 19: SF-12 Health Scale Scoring
- NLSY79 Appendix 20: Round 20 (2002) Early Bird and Income Recall Experiments
- NLSY79 Appendix 21: Attitudinal Scales
- NLSY79 Appendix 22: Migration Distance Variables for Respondent Locations
- NLSY79 Appendix 23: Revised Asset and Debt Variables and Computed Net Worth Variables
- NLSY79 Appendix 24: Reanalysis of the 1980 AFQT Data from the NLSY79
- NLSY79 Appendix 25: Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) Scale
- NLSY79 Appendix 26: Non-Response to Financial Questions and Entry Points
- NLSY79 Appendix 27: IRT Item Parameter Estimates, Scores and Standard Errors
- NLSY79 Appendix 28: NLSY79 Employer History Roster
- Geocode Codebook Supplement
- Appendix 7: Unemployment Rates
- Appendix 10: Geocode Documentation
- Attachment 100: Geographic Regions
- Attachment 101: Country Codes
- Attachment 102: State FIPS Codes
- Attachment 104, Part A: 1981 Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas (SMSAs)
- Attachment 104, Part B: 1983 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs)
- Attachment 104, Part C: 1983 Consolidated MSAs and Associated Primary MSAs (CMSAs and PMSAs)
- Attachment 104, Part D: 1983 PMSAs and Associated CMSAs
- Attachment 104, Part E: 1988 MSAs, CMSAs, and Associated PMSAs
- Attachment 104, Part F: 2004 MSAs, CMSAs, and Associated PMSAs
- Attachment 104, Part G: 2006 Core-Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs)
- Attachment 105: Addendum to FICE Codes
- Attachment 106: Codebook Pages for Geocode and Zipcode Variables
- Questionnaires
- Tutorials
- Errata
- Technical Sampling Report
- School & Transcript Surveys Documentation
- Codebook Supplement
- Get Data
- Topical Guide to the Data
- NLSY79 Child/YA
- Topical Guide to the Data
- Intro to the Sample
- Using & Understanding the Data
- Other Documentation
- Codebook Supplement
- Appendix A: HOME-SF Scales (NLSY79 Child)
- Appendix B: Composition of the Temperament Scales (NLSY79 Child)
- Appendix C: Motor & Social Development (NLSY79 Child)
- Appendix D: Behavior Problems Index (NLSY79 Child)
- Appendix D, Part 1: Composition of the BPI subscales
- Appendix D, Part 2a: BPI Anxious/Depressed Subscale
- Appendix D, Part 2b: BPI Antisocial Subscale
- Appendix D, Part 2c: BPI Dependent Subscale
- Appendix D, Part 2d: BPI Headstrong Subscale
- Appendix D, Part 2e: BPI Hyperactive Subscale
- Appendix D, Part 2f: BPI Peer Conflicts/Withdrawn Subscale
- Appendix D, Part 2g: BPI Full Scale
- Appendix D, Part 3a: BPI Internalizing Subscale
- Appendix D, Part 3b: BPI Externalizing Subscale
- Appendix D, Part 3c: BPI Total Scores
- Appendix E: Sample SPSSx Program for Merging NLSY79 Child/YA & Mother Files
- Appendix F: Sample SAS Program for Merging NLSY79 Child/YA & Mother Files
- Appendix G: NLSY79 Child Assessment Scores, Reference Numbers (2010-2014)
- Appendix H: Identification Codes in the Child and Young Adult Database
- Attachment 100: Codebook Pages for Young Adult Geocode Data
- Questionnaires
- Errata
- Errata for 2014 Child/Young Adult Release
- Data Addition: New Work and School Status Variables Created
- Errata for 2012 Child/Young Adult Release
- Errata for 2010 Child/Young Adult Release
- Errata for 2008 Child/Young Adult Release
- Errata for 2006 Child/Young Adult Release
- Errata for 2004 Child/Young Adult Release
- Errata for 2002 Child/Young Adult Release
- Errata for 2000 Child/Young Adult Release
- Errata for NLSY79 Child Interview Dates 1986-1992
- Research/Technical Reports
- Codebook Supplement
- Get Data
- NLS Mature and Young Women
- NLS Older and Young Men