Recent Surveys Similar to NLSCY?

October 30, 2020

Question

I have a researcher looking for information on childhood development and well-being. They have used the National Longitudinal Study of Children and Youth but they would like to know if there is anything that is similar but more recent. Is there anything else I can suggest they look at?

Answer

I’ve received the following information from subject matter (two separate responses below):

 

1.       “Unfortunately, we do not have any longitudinal survey on children anymore, however, we have a brand new survey that was released in July entitled: Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth that can be accessed by selecting this table. There is not a lot of data in it because it is brand new, but that is the best data we can provide to assist the client.”

 

2.       “This would really depend on a number of factors for your client/researcher… For a longitudinal survey, unfortunately this was our more recent initiative that focused on children and their development/well-being.

 

The only other initiative within our division that touched on these topics would be: Ontario Child Health Study. But its focus was primarily on Health and was limited to Ontario children…

 

Additionally, we did conduct a RapidStats survey in 2019 called Survey on Early Learning and Child Care Arrangements, but this initiative was more focused on Child Care Arrangements…”

 

PUMF for NLSCY

Question:
I have a researcher who is looking for data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth. The most recent PUMF in Nesstar is 1998-99. Is this the most recent one available?

Answer:
Subject matter has confirmed that PUMFs were discontinued after cycle 3 as it was too difficult to produce a PUMF that provides enough analytical information while maintaining confidentiality. Therefore, none were produced and there are no plans to develop any.

Childhood obesity -- data sources

Question
I am helping a researcher who is looking for data on childhood obesity.

He has used data form the CCHS but would like to have data for younger children (the CCHS deals with people 12 and older). I know that the Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS) is interested in people from 3 to 79 years old, but I could not find the data dictionary on Nesstar or anywhere else. Also, the researcher has been told that there are other survey(s) conducted by Health Canada that could provide some data on childhood obesity but so far I have not been able to unearth anything else that was recent.

So I have essentially two questions:
1. Can someone provide me with the data dictionary or at least a detailed list of variables for the CHMS Master File, ideally for cycle 4?
2. Does anyone know of other Canadian surveys that would have data on childhood obesity (other than the CCHS, the CHMS or the discontinued National Population Health Survey)?

Answer 1
The CHMS did not produce a PUMF for this survey, and the Masterfile metadata has not been coded in Nesstar yet. We will add this to our list of coding priorities. I’ve reached out to the Health Statistics Division to see if there is a zero-count data dictionary that they can provide for cycle 4 of the CHMS.

For the CHMS, there is no codebook for the entire cycle, its broken down into components.

Answer 2
[This is d]iscontinued as well, but I’d recommend taking a look at the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) http://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdb/p2SV.pl?Function=getSurvey&SDDS=4450  I think that both the longitudinal and cross-sectional data from that are available through the RDC programme? We stopped getting PUMFs after [Cycle 3?]?

Yes, you are right, we have PUMFs for the first 3 cycles only, after that it would have to be the RDC’s master files. I did not remember that there were so many cycles (8) and that the last one (2008-2009) was still relatively recent. So given the richness of this data it may indeed be interesting for the researcher.

NLSCY and CHSCY

Question

A researcher here has 2 questions:

1. Pertaining to the PUMF for Cycle 3 of the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth: the PUMF collection contains the Primary File and the 10-15 Year Olds file. It appears that the Primary File contains data collected from the Book 1 – Parent Survey questionnaire and the 10-15 years old file contains data collected from Book 2, specifically the questionnaires for the children. In Book 2 there is also a series of teacher questionnaires, but it is unclear what, if any, of that data appears in the PUMF. There are variables in the PUMF Primary File that relate to performance on academic tests for math, reading etc., which were presumably conducted by teachers, but it is very difficult to match any of that clearly to questions listed in the surveys in Book 2. Is there a clear way to determine which variables in the Primary File were collected from parents (PMKs) vs teachers? Is there additional data from the teacher surveys available through the RDCs?

2. Pertaining to the Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth (2016 pilot) described on the Statistics Canada website. Do you know whether there are plans to release any of the pilot data? And, do you know whether this survey will be going beyond the pilot phase and if yes, what are the timelines for conducting the survey and/or releasing data, either as PUMF or via the RDC?

Answer

“We are planning to release the CHSCY pilot data to the RDC if the data quality is acceptable. We will make that determination by September 2017 at the latest. There are no plans to produce a PUMF with the pilot test data.

We have funding for three full cycles of the CHSCY. Data collection is tentatively planned for:

Cycle 1- October 2018-May 2019 (Data release ~February 2020)
Cycle 2- October 2021-May 2022 (Data release ~February 2023)
Cycle 3- October 2024-May 2025 (Data release ~February 2026)

There has been such tremendous interest in this survey that I am confident there will be funding announcements for additional cycles in the next few years. We are planning to put all CHSCY data in the RDC and RTRA system. There is no decision on whether a PUMF will be created for the full cycles. We will study the data from the first full cycle to evaluate the uniqueness of the records, required suppression and overall suitability for a PUMF before making a recommendation to the CHSCY Steering Committee. We will likely make this recommendation in spring/summer 2020 once we are more familiar with the data.

Use of PCCF

Question

I have a RDC researcher who would like to use a PCCF file to link data spatially, if allowable, from the National Longitudinal Study of Children and Youth (NLSCY) with census data in order to obtain a variable for neighbourhood income. If allowable, would the request be at the RDC level of the researcher or the Analyst (who would be authorized to handle the file)?

Answer

Is the question about permission and availability or is it about feasibility? For feasibility, the entire proposal will have to be reviewed by subject matter following the usual process, to answer this question correctly.I would advise contacting the RDC Analyst for more information.

Mental Health Stats (BC)

Question

I received the following request for statistics/data today while I was away at a Conference. I am not sure how to find all the requested bits and pieces. The Canadian Community Health Survey, cycle 1.2, 2002 (Mental Health) has some data, but does not offer all the data requested.

I am doing research on mental illness and parenting. Do you have any data/statistics on the following: 1. Number/percentage of people with Schizophrenia, Bipolar, or major depression in B.C. from 2005 to 2010 if available? 2. Hospitalizations in B.C. with Schizophrenia, Bipolar, or Major depression who have children from 2005-2010 if available? 3. Number of grandparents looking after grandchildren in B.C. due to their daughter/son illness (2005-2010) 4. parental illness and loss of custody in B.C. 2005-2010 5. Parents with mental illness whose children are apprehended or in the care of the Ministry of Children and families Development.

Any information would be appreciated

Answer

For question 1 ("Number/percentage of people with Schizophrenia, Bipolar, or major depression in B.C. from 2005 to 2010 if available?"), your client may be interested in the provincial-level CANSIM tables on mood disorders (an aggregate) that are available through StatCan's Health Indicators publication (http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/82-221-x/2009001/tblstructure/1hs/1hc/hc1mdx-eng.htm). The data in these tables are from CCHS and cover 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008. The CCHS PUMFs may also be of interest to your client. 2007, 2008 are the latest years for which data are available from this survey. The "How Healthy Are Canadians? Annual Report 2004" publication (http://www.statcan.gc.ca/bsolc/olc-cel/olc-cel?lang=eng&catno=82-003-S2004000) focused on mental health and may also be of interest. The National Population Health Survey includes a mental health module but the most recent file is for 2006/2007. NPSH-related products can be accessed via the Links to related products section on the left side bar of http://www.statcan.gc.ca/cgi-bin/imdb/p2SV.pl?Function=getSurvey&SDDS=3225&lang=en&db=imdb&adm=8&dis=2. The survey is also available in the RDCs and data may be available on a custom basis.

For question 2 ("Hospitalizations in B.C. with Schizophrenia, Bipolar, or Major depression who have children from 2005-2010 if available?") I would recommend looking into the data available from CIHI. According to the Definitions, data sources and methods section of the StatCan website (http://www.statcan.gc.ca/cgi-bin/imdb/p2SV.pl?Function=getSurvey&SDDS=3204&lang=en&db=imdb&adm=8&dis=2): "As of the 1994/95 data year, the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) assumed the data collection and dissemination responsibilities for Mental Health Statistics. (...) The annual information presently collected by this program provides data on separation (discharges) from psychiatric hospitals and general hospitals for inpatients being treated for mental disorders." Your provincial health department and mental health-related associations may also disseminate data on these topics.

For question 3, 4 and 5, your client may wish to look into the custody-related data available in the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY; http://www.statcan.gc.ca/cgi-bin/imdb/p2SV.pl?Function=getSurvey&SDDS=4450&lang=en&db=imdb&adm=8&dis=2). We have NLSCY synthetic files in the DLI collection (http://www.statcan.gc.ca/dli-ild/data-donnees/ftp/nlscy-elnej-eng.htm) that can be used to prepare for a visit to an RDC or to request data through remote job submission (the data in these synthetic files are "synthetic/dummy" data that can't be used for analytical purposes). NLSCY data on this topic may also be available for a fee on a custom basis. If this is of interest to your client, I would be pleased to refer you to an Account-Executive in our Vancouver office who could confirm what data could be disseminated as a custom table and at what cost. You may also wish to look into what data that might be available from provincial ministries.

I hope that these suggestions are helpful. Please don't hesitate to let me know if you have any other questions.

NSCLY 2008-2009

We are pleased to inform you that the following product is now available on the DLI FTP and website.
National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY), 2008-2009 : Synthetic Files

Note: These synthethic files do not contain real data and should never be used for analytical purposes. Their only purpose is to assist users in developing and testing the computer programs that are to be submitted by remote job submission.

FTP: /DissFTP/dli/DLI Coll._Other prod/National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth - nlscy/synthetic/synthetic-cycle8-2008-2009
WEB: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/dli-ild/data-donnees/ftp/nlscy-elnej/nlcsy-elnej-cycle8-synthetic-eng.htm

Thank you.

Internet Use by Children

Question

Does anyone know, offhand, if stats are collected on internet usage by children under 15? I can find all sorts of surveys, but the lowest age I can find is 15.

Answer

The National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) collected data on computer and internet use by children under 15. You can locate examples of the types of questions used to collect these data by doing a quick search for "Internet" in the questionnaires for NLSCY cycle 7 (http://www.statcan.gc.ca/cgi-bin/imdb/p2SV.pl?Function=getInstrumentLink&SurvId=4450&SurvVer=1&InstaId=16044&InstaVer=7&lang=en&db=imdb&adm=8&dis=2).

NLSCY microdata are available through the Research Data Centres (http://www.statcan.gc.ca/rdc-cdr/index-eng.htm) and custom tabulations can be produced on request on a cost recovery basis (I can refer you to an Account Executive in our Toronto regional office if custom tables are of interest). Public use microdata files for this survey haven't been produced since the late 90's due to confidentiality reasons as this is a longitudinal survey.

I also looked at the documentation for the Canadian Internet Use Survey (2007) and General Social Survey cycle 19 on time use but the target populations for these surveys appear to be too old for your needs.

I hope that this is helpful.

Bed-Sharing Info (Co-Sleeping)

Question

A researcher would like to know the percentage of mothers in Canada who bed-share with their infants (co-sleep).

Answer

The following (non-StatCan) literature review on the Public Health Agency of Canada website may be of interest to the researcher. It includes references to a few studies on this topic:

The Practice of Bed Sharing: A Systematic Literature and Policy Review
http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/dca-dea/prenatal/pbs-ppl-eng.php

The closest match I could find in the DLI collection is the variable BBEC6PP1 : Doesn't want to sleep alone? in the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth, 1996-1997 [Canada]: Cycle 2, Primary File.

I hope that this information is helpful.

Mental Health Stats (BC)

Question

I received the following request for statistics/data today while I was away at a Conference. I am not sure how to find all the requested bits and pieces. The Canadian Community Health Survey, cycle 1.2, 2002 (Mental Health) has some data, but does not offer all the data requested.

"I am doing research on mental illness and parenting. Do you have any data/statistics on the following:

1) Number/percentage of people with Schizophrenia, Bipolar, or major depression in B.C. from 2005 to 2010 if available?

2) Hospitalizations in B.C. with Schizophrenia, Bipolar, or Major depression who have children from 2005-2010 if available?

3) Number of grandparents looking after grandchildren in B.C. due to their daughter/son illness (2005-2010)

4) Parental illness and loss of custody in B.C. 2005-2010

5) Parents with mental illness whose children are apprehended or in the care of the Ministry of Children and families Development.

Any information would be appreciated"


Answer

For question 1 ("Number/percentage of people with Schizophrenia, Bipolar, or major depression in B.C. from 2005 to 2010 if available?"), your client may be interested in the provincial-level CANSIM tables on mood disorders (an aggregate) that are available through StatCan's Health Indicators publication

(http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/82-221-x/2009001/tblstructure/1hs/1hc/hc1mdx-eng.htm).

The data in these tables are from CCHS and cover 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008. The CCHS PUMFs may also be of interest to your client. 2007, 2008 are the latest years for which data are available from this survey. The "How Healthy Are Canadians? Annual Report 2004" publication

(http://www.statcan.gc.ca/bsolc/olc-cel/olc-cel?lang=eng&catno=82-003-S2004000)

focused on mental health and may also be of interest. The National Population Health Survey includes a mental health module but the most recent file is for 2006/2007. NPSH-related products can be accessed via the Links to related products section on the left side bar of

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/cgi-bin/imdb/p2SV.pl?Function=getSurvey&SDDS=3225?=en&db=imdb&adm=8&dis=2.

The survey is also available in the RDCs and data may be available on a custom basis.

For question 2 ("Hospitalizations in B.C. with Schizophrenia, Bipolar, or Major depression who have children from 2005-2010 if available?") I would recommend looking into the data available from CIHI. According to the Definitions, data sources and methods section of the StatCan website

(http://www.statcan.gc.ca/cgi-bin/imdb/p2SV.pl?Function=getSurvey&SDDS=3204?=en&db=imdb&adm=8&dis=2):

"As of the 1994/95 data year, the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) assumed the data collection and dissemination responsibilities for Mental Health Statistics. (...) The annual information presently collected by this program provides data on separation (discharges) from psychiatric hospitals and general hospitals for inpatients being treated for mental disorders." Your provincial health department and mental health-related associations may also disseminate data on these topics.

For question 3, 4 and 5, your client may wish to look into the custody-related data available in the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth

(NLSCY; http://www.statcan.gc.ca/cgi-bin/imdb/p2SV.pl?Function=getSurvey&SDDS=4450?=en&db=imdb&adm=8&dis=2).

We have NLSCY synthetic files in the DLI collection (http://www.statcan.gc.ca/dli-ild/data-donnees/ftp/nlscy-elnej-eng.htm) that can be used to prepare for a visit to an RDC or to request data through remote job submission (the data in these synthetic files are "synthetic/dummy" data that can't be used for analytical purposes). NLSCY data on this topic may also be available for a fee on a custom basis. If this is of interest to your client, I would be pleased to refer you to an Account-Executive in our Vancouver office who could confirm what data could be disseminated as a custom table and at what cost. You may also wish to look into what data that might be available from provincial ministries.

I hope that these suggestions are helpful. Please don't hesitate to let me know if you have any other questions.

Longitudinal Food Insecurity or Food Poverty Candian Survey

Question

A researcher at MRU mentioned that they were looking for a Canadian longitudinal food insecurity or food poverty survey... Does anyone know if such as survey exists, please? Or can the researcher use one of our already existing  DLI surveys?

Answer

Variables related to food insecurity are available in the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY - http://www.statcan.gc.ca/dli-ild/data-donnees/ftp/nlscy-elnej-eng.htm) and the National Population Health Survey (NPHS - http://www.statcan.gc.ca/dli-ild/data-donnees/ftp/nphs-ensp-eng.htm).

However, in order to protect respondents from the disclosure of their identity, recent PUMFs from these surveys aren't available in the DLI collection (they stop in 1998-1999).  If the researcher wishes to use these surveys, he/she could use the synthetic files that are in the DLI collection and request data through remote job submission (important note: Synthetic files contain modified data and must never be used for analytical purposes. The synthetic files should not be used for purposes other than to develop and test the computer programs that are to be submitted by remote job submission.) or access the master files in the Research Data Centres (RDCs).

Other surveys like the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) (and CCHS 2.2 and 3.1 in particular) also include variables on food insecurity.

To quickly browse these variables, you could access the StatCan Nesstar site (www62.statcan.ca) and do an Advanced Search for variables containing the word "food".

I hope that these suggestions are helpful.

NLSCY Codebooks

Question

We have a question about the NLSCY codebooks. This was discovered by
Kevin Selbee, our other Data Specialist.

Identifying Suppressed Variables in NLSCY Codebooks.

Codebooks for Cycle 2 and Cycle 3 of the National Longitudinal Survey
of Children and Youth (NLSCY) do not contain necessary information
about the variables in the master files that are wholly or partially
suppressed in the public use files. In the case of wholly suppressed
variables, users of the PUMFs cannot tell which variables are or are
not available in the public-use files without going to the actual data
files and scanning a full set of frequency tables. In the case of
partially suppressed variables, users have no way of determining that
the frequency counts in the public data files differ from those in the
master file codebooks because valid cases in the master files have
been re-coded to missing values in the PUMFs.

Currently, the codebook for Cycle 1 contains the required
information on wholly or partially suppressed variables but the
codebooks for Cycle 2 and Cycle 3 do not.

Answer

We had looked into this issue awhile back, but were told by the author division that they will not reissue the codebooks in order to identify suppressed variables.  However, we will check back with them and see if they can provide us with a separate list of suppressed variables as a compromise.  We will keep you posted.

***

Update

The author division has confirmed that they do not have a list of the suppressed variables at this time. However, they will be looking into a temporary solution for this and will let me know what they come up with. I will keep you posted.

Frequencies in the NLSCY

Question

I was just getting the NLSCY files for a graduate student here, and loading them into SPSS. As taught in the training sessions, I run a frequency with each file to see that it loaded correctly. In the course of doing this I encountered a couple of discrepancies.
Cycle 2, 10-13 file: I run a frequency and get a total of 4145 records. This matches the DLI web page, but the codebook indicates that there are 4498 respondents.
Cycle 3, 10-15 file: I run a frequency and get a total of 5539 records. Once again, this matches the DLI web page, but the codebook indicates that there are 6380 respondents.
Given that it is Friday afternoon after a long and busy week, it is quite possible that I am missing something obvious, and if I had to guess, it would be something about the weights. However, for the grad student's peace of mind, I thought that it would be prudent to get the explanation from a more reliable source.
Answer

The author division confirmed that the number of records you are getting is correct. The larger number indicated in the codebooks apply to the master files, not the PUMF. Here is the verbatim response from the division:

"there is a discrepancy between the number of cases in the codebook and the pumf c2 self-complete file (10 to 13). There are no cycle 2 or cycle 3 pumf codebooks, the only codebooks available are ones based on the master file counts and frequencies. I have 4,145 records on the pumf c2 self-complete versus 4,498 records in the self-complete codebook. The number of cycle 3 records on the self-complete pumf is 5,539."

I hope this is clear and thanks for bringing it to our attention.

KIDS Cycle 1, Primary File

Question

Our time was working on the KIDS Cycle 1, Primary file and discovered a
problem.

The Data List syntax for the primary file, cycle 1 contains an error for
variable AD1CS06. The syntax locates this variable in column 1603. However,
the variable is a two column variable and the correct location in the raw
data file is columns 1602-1603. The SPSS DATA LIST
syntax statement should be amended to read: AD1CS06 1602-1603. This
correction produces the correct unweighted frequency counts for this
variable, with a single exception: there is still one case with a response
code of 99 that actually should be coded 1 in order for the counts to match
those in the codebook.

What do we do here?

Answer

Regarding the NLSCY Cycle 1 Primary File frequency issue mentioned below,
the author division finally determined that the error is the PUMF codebook.
Here is their full response:

"we have finished the investigation on our end and it is the pumf codebook
that is in error. There may be other errors in the pumf codebook. We are
looking into redoing the cycle 1 pumf codebook."

If you notice any additional discrepancies between the counts and the
codebook, please let me know and I will pass them along to the division.

Please note also that a revised version of the SPSS file for the NLSCY Cycle
1 Primary File is available (as announced on January 19, 2009):

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/dli-ild/data-donnees/mhonarc/dli-ild-msg/msg14333.h
tml

This revision corrects the problems you discuss below concerning variable
AD1CS06.

NLSCY Question

Question
Is my understanding of the PUMFs available for the NLSCY correct?

1. PUMF's available for cycles 1-3 only

2. data for cycles 4-6 only available through RDCs.

Answer
You are correct in saying that the DLI offers NLSCY PUMFs for Cycles 1-3
only. We also offer synthetic files for Cycles 1 to 6.

I just received confirmation that the Research Data Centres have Cycles 1-6.
They expect to have Cycle 7 as well before the end of this year.

I hope this answers your question.

Educational & Student Data

Question

I have a few students who are working on an academic project where they want to get data on students (in most cases, postsecondary, but also secondary). They have found NELS from ICPSR and this seems to answer a lot of the questions they're looking at (they're investigating things like dropout rates, impact of being an immigrant on student success, etc.). I don't think there is any comparable Canadian studies, but perhaps someone knows of something that I'm missing. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. A couple of the students found the Youth in Transition Survey, but I understand this is not available for download.

Answer

The Youth in Transition Survey (YITS) and the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) may have some of the data your students require.

We have microdata files for cycles 1, 2 and 3 of NLSCY but it is my understanding that the population that is in those cycles wouldn't be in high school yet so they probably won't help your students. We also have synthetic files for both NLSCY
(http://www.statcan.ca/english/Dli/Data/Ftp/nlscy.htm)
and YITS in the DLI collection, but your students couldn't use these to obtain estimates for analysis as these synthetic files contain modified data. The students would need to prepare computer programs that would be run against the master file by the author division through remote job submission or use the master files through the RDCs if they meet the eligibility criteria.

Your students may wish to consult the publications that are based on the Youth in Transition Survey (YITS) and the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY). You can access many of these from links that are under Links to related products on the left side bar on these pages in the IMDB:

YITS: http://www.statcan.ca/cgi-bin/imdb/p2SV.pl?Function=getSurvey&SDDS=4435&lang=en&db=IMDB&dbg=f&adm=8&dis=2
NLSCY: http://www.statcan.ca/cgi-bin/imdb/p2SV.pl?Function=getSurvey&SDDS=4450&lang=en&db=IMDB&dbg=f&adm=8&dis=2

Some of these publications discuss dropout rates and one of these also compares "high school graduates and dropouts on a number of dimensions, including family background, parental education and occupation, engagement with school, working during high school, peer influence, and educational aspirations" (see "At a Crossroads: First Results for the 18-20-year-old Cohort of the Youth in Transition Survey" for example
http://www.statcan.ca/bsolc/english/bsolc?catno=81-591-X).

Updated Products - NLSCY Cycle 6 Synthetic files

The National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) is a long-term study of Canadian children that follows their development and well-being from birth to early adulthood. The study is designed to collect information about factors influencing a child's social, emotional and behavioural development and to monitor the impact of these factors on the child's development over time.

Additional information regarding the NLSCY is available here.

WEB: http://www.statcan.ca/english/Dli/Data/Ftp/nlscy.htm

FTP: /usr2/ftp/dli/nlscy/synthetic/synthetic-cycle6-2004-2005

Variables in National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth cycles

Question

A student is asking why, in the primary PUMF files for the NLSCY, the numbers of variables are so different:

cycle 1 - 1415 variables
cycle 2 - 913 variables
cycle 3 - 331 variables

I'm guessing it's because of the increasing need to drop variables to protect confidentiality as the survey continued, but he wants to make sure. Am I right, or were variables dropped on a whim?

Answer

We had a presentation from the folks looking at longitudinal PUMFs at the last EAC meeting. The issue of dropping variables was brought forth and the answer was that they are ensuring that respondent confidentiality does not become an issue when a file is longitudinal. This helps explain when the numbers of variables shrinks from cycle to cycle - the more detail is available, the more risky it becomes.

NLSCY available via DLI

Question

For the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth are the cycles available to us via DLI, longitudinal in nature, or are cross-sectional versions of the long. files available in the RDC?

Answer

The NLSCY public files are cross-sectional; the synthetic files are longitudinal, but may only be used for testing programs, not
for analyses.

Birth Weight and Income

Question

A patron is looking for statistics on low birth weight and low income families. I was able to pull a few things out of the Health Reports - does anyone have any further suggestions?

Answer

You could try the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth. This survey, which has several parts, has variables dealing with Birth Weight and Income. For example:

Income distribution:
National Longitudinal Survey of Children - Cycle 1 - Rel 2 - Primary File - 1996
AINHD01A - Recoded household income
Missing Values: 96, 98, 99
Value Label
1 Less than 10 - 000
2 10 - 000 to 14 - 999
3 15 - 000 to 19 - 999
4 20 - 000 to 29 - 999
5 30 - 000 to 39 - 999
6 40 - 000 or more
96 M NOT APPLICABLE
97 DON'T KNOW
98 M REFUSAL
99 M NOT STATED

There is a variable dealing with LICO ratios… (below, unweighted). It appears that the other Low Income variables are suppressed on this dataset. This file also has a Birth Weight question.

I found these variables by searching for keywords (birth weight) in the question text database at URL: http://db.library.queensu.ca/allvars/