The 1991 National Survey of Women (NSW) was conducted between March 1991 and January 1992 under grant No. HD-26631 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). The NSW was designed as a follow-up to the 1983 National Survey of Unmarried Women (NSUW), which examined sexual, contraceptive and fertility behaviors, along with factors affecting those behaviors, in a national household probability sample of never-married women between the ages of 20 and 29.

The NSW sample consists of two subsamples of women. Women in the first subsample (n=929) were first interviewed as part of the NSUW in 1983 when they were 20-29 years old and had never been married. These women were subsequently traced and reinterviewed in 1991. The second subsample of women (n=740) was obtained from a new area probability sample of 20-27 year old women, regardless of marital status; women in this latter sample were interviewed for the first time in 1991. The combined sample consists of 1,669 women who were 20-37 years old in 1991.

In-person interviews were conducted using a standard questionnaire and assessed information regarding respondents' personal background; pregnancy history; sexual initiation and current exposure; current husband or partner; previous marital relationships; nonmarital sexual partners; nonsexual romantic partners; health and risk-taking behavior; attitudes, perceptions and knowledge regarding health and contraception; and condom use. A self-administered questionnaire, which assessed self-esteem, locus of control, and attitudes toward marriage, was also completed by respondents.