1988 National Survey of Families and Households
Investigators: James Sweet, Larry Bumpass, & Vaughn Call

The National Survey of Families and Households 1988 is a national survey designed to look at the causes and consequences of changes in the American family and household structure. It includes interviews with a probability sample of 13,017 respondents conducted between March of 1987 and May of 1988. The sample includes a main cross-section sample of 9,643 households in the United States, plus a double sampling of blacks, Puerto Ricans, Mexican Americans, single-parent families, families with stepchildren, and cohabiting or recently married couples. In each household, a primary respondent was interviewed, as was the spouse or cohabiting partner of the primary resident, if such a person lived there. Survey questions covered a wide variety of topics, such as basic demographic information, life history information, family process, stepparenting, attitudes towards cohabitation without marriage, sibling relationships, effects of divorce, child custody and child support arrangements following divorce. There are a total of 4,321 variables, and the response rate was 73.5% in the main sample and 76.8% in the oversample.