Intergenerational Panel Study of Parents and Children (A Detroit Area Study), 1962-1993

Investigators: Thorton, Freedman, Axinn

The purpose and goals of the study have evolved over the life of the project. The original study was launched in 1962 as a prospective study of childbearing. The original interviews collected a wide range of information useful for predicting subsequent childbearing decisions, while the follow-up data collections through 1966 measured subsequent fertility experience. In 1977, the purposes of the study were expanded to investigate employment, divorce, and changing family attitudes while at the same time retaining the earlier emphasis on childbearing decisions. In 1980, the study shifted its emphasis to include the children in the family and how they were influenced by the homes in which they were reared. The project became interested in the ways in which the parental family influenced the attitudes, values, experiences, and plans of the children. Of particular interest were the children's attitudes and experiences in the domains of marriage, childbearing, school, work, living arrangements, and family relationships. The 1980 wave of interviews with the children was also designed to be the first wave of a prospective study of the determinants of variations in the ways children made the transition to adulthood. The 1985 survey used a life history calendar (LHC) to obtain from the young adults retrospective data about their monthly living arrangements, cohabitation, marriage, childbearing, schooling, and work. In 1993, the data were extended to cover the experiences of the children and their families as the children matured into their early thirties. A life history calendar was again used.

Intervention with Microfinance for AIDS and Gender Equity (IMAGE)

Investigators: Tanya Abramsky, Joanna Busza, John Gear, James Hargreaves, Julia Kim, Mzamani Benjamin Makhubele, Kalipe Mashaba, Linda Morison, Matshilo Motsei, Luceth Ndhlovu, Chris Peters, Godfrey Phetla, John Porter, Paul Pronyk, & Charlotte Watts

IMAGE is comprised of a gender and HIV training curriculum called Sisters-for-Life. A microfinance program augments the curriculum. For the microfinance component, groups of five women receive loans to establish small businesses. Further credit is offered when all women in these solidarity groups repay their loans. Loan centers of approximately 40 women meet fortnightly. Sisters-for-Life consists of two phases. Phase I is a structured series of 10 one-hour participatory training sessions that are integrated into the Loan Center meetings. Phase II moves the participants toward collective action. Natural Leaders are elected by their peers to participate in a one-week training workshop on leadership and community mobilization. Taking these skills back to their respective loan centers, these Leaders are responsible for developing an Action Plan, with the aim of implementing what they regard as appropriate responses to priority issues. Click here to view more detailed information on this program.

Longitudinal Retirement History Study 1969-1979; Earnings Summary

Investigators: United States Social Security Administration Office of Research and Statistics

The Longitudinal Retirement History Study (LRHS) is a ten-year investigation of the retirement process conducted by the Office of Research and Statistics of the Social Security Administration. Six waves of data were collected from a national sample of 11,153 persons aged 58 to 63. Baseline data were collected in 1969; follow-up surveys were administered at two-year intervals in 1971, 1973, 1975, 1977, and 1979. The primary focus of this study was to assess Social Security program provisions for retired workers. A broad range of information was collected from participants and their spouses; topic areas studied include health, living arrangements, financial resources and assets, expenditures, retirement plans and attitudes, and characteristics of work lives. This dataset also includes income information from the Summary of Social Security Earnings for sample persons and spouses for the years 1951 through 1974. Widows and widowers of sample persons were extensively surveyed in the 1975 through 1979 waves of data collection.

Longitudinal Study of Aging 70 Years and Over 1984-1987; 1988; 1990

Investigators: National Center for Health Statistics

The Longitudinal Study of Aging (LSOA), conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) in collaboration with the National Institute on Aging (NIA), was designed to provide needed information on those factors implicated in the physical dysfunction and institutionalization of older persons in the United States. The study focuses on measuring changes in living arrangements and functional status experienced by the elderly in order to examine the path from health to functional disability to institutionalization and death. Its objectives include: (1) to study changes in functional status and living arrangements with the hope of recognizing potential points for intervention to prevent institutionalization and provide alternative forms of care to extremely elderly people, and (2) to study length of life and death rates by characteristics of the population that are not reported on death certificates, such as education, whether living alone or with others, frequency of contact with family or friends, and other characteristics. Four waves of data were collected. Baseline data were obtained in 1984 from 16,148 persons aged 55 and over as part of the Supplement on Aging (SOA) to the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). Follow-up questionnaires were administered in 1986, 1988, and 1990 to 7,527 persons, 70 years of age and older at the time they participated in the SOA.

Marital Instability Over the Life Course: 1981-1988

Investigators: Alan Booth, David J. Johnson, Lynn K. White, and John N. Edwards

This study consists of data drawn from a three wave panel study on marital instability. Five major dimensions of marital quality formed the foci of the study: divorce proneness (or marital instability), marital problems, marital happiness, marital interaction, and marital disagreements. Initially, the investigators devoted considerable attention to female labor force participation as it related to marital dissolution and divorce proneness. For the last two waves, the investigators drew heavily on a life course perspective to guide their investigation. Life course theories emphasize the extent to which social behaviors are a product of individuals' relative positions along a developmental continuum. A total of 2,033 cases were assessed across the three waves. Topics addressed in the study include: demographics (i.e., household characteristics, race, income, religion, education, etc.); marital/divorce history; pre- marital courtship history; marital behavior (e.g., division of labor, quarreling/violence); mental and physical health of husband and wife; employment (history, status, attitudes, and aspirations); attitudes about children; satisfaction about various aspects of life (e.g., marriage, home, community, etc.); problem areas in marriage; divorce/separation (including previous discussions of and current behavior, attitudes about divorce); and involvement with friends, relatives, voluntary associations, and the community.

National Child Care Study 1990: Low-Income Substudy

Investigators: Sandra L. Hofferth, April Brayfield, Sharon Deich, Pamela Holcomb, and Frederic Glantz

The National Child Care Survey (1990): Low-Income Substudy is a nationally representative survey of 972 households with total annual incomes below $15,000 and one or more children under age 13. The survey was conducted in February-July of 1990 and focused on what kinds of child care arrangements respondents used, how those arrangements were chosen, and how they were paid for. The survey included a schedule of when the respondent and his or her spouse or partner was at work and a schedule of when each child was at each child care arrangement to provide a detailed picture of the correspondence between child care arrangements and work. Extensive data on employment history were gathered, including the relationship between work and child care in the past. Basic demographic information such as income, education, and ethnic group is also included. There are 1,419 variables in all. The questionnaire was administered over the telephone with the interviewer using a CATI (Computer Aided Telephone Interview) system. The Low-Income Substudy was designed to supplement the number of low-income households included in a larger "main" child care study (archived separately as American family Data Archive #13-14). A total of 430 parent interviews were completed with eligible low-income households as part of the low-income substudy, resulting in an interviewer completion rate among eligible households of 78%. Combining these 430 interviews with the 672 low-income interviews from the main study yields a total of 1,102 low-income parent interviews. Of these, only 974 actually had family incomes under $15,000 and are included in The National Child Care Survey (1990): Low-Income Substudy dataset.

National Child Care Survey 1990: Parent Study

Investigators: Sandra L. Hofferth, April Brayfield, Sharon Deich, Pamela Holcomb, and Frederic Glantz

The National Child Care Survey is a nationally representative survey of 4,392 households with one or more children under age 13 conducted in late 1989 and early 1990. It focused on what kinds of child care arrangements respondents used, how those arrangements were chosen, and how they were paid for. The survey included a schedule of when the respondent and his or her spouse or partner was at work and a schedule of when each child was at each child care arrangement to provide a detailed picture of the correspondence between child care arrangements and work. Extensive data on employment history were gathered, including the relationship between work and child care in the past. Basic demographic information such as income, education, and ethnic group is also included. The questionnaire was administered over the telephone with the interviewer using a CATI (Computer Aided Telephone Interview) system. Interviewers successfully screened 82.6% of the households contacted, and completed interviews at 69.4% of the eligible households, making the overall response rate 57.4% (69.4% x 82.6%).

National Commission on Children: 1990 Survey of Parents and Children

Investigators: Kristin A. Moore

Demographic, social and economic shifts in U.S. society over the past two decades have been accompanied by profound changes in family structure and the economic security of families raising children. These changes include a growth in single parent families, a decline in after-tax real income, and an increase in the number of children living in poverty. This survey aims to gather direct, up-to-date, and nationally representative data on the current state of family life, the quality of the relationship between parents and their children and their interactions with the major institutions affecting the family -- schools, the workplace, neighborhoods, and religious and civic organizations. Information on family demographic and socioeconomic background was also obtained. Issues addressed in this survey included: What factors support a positive and stable parent-child relationship? What is the role of educational, religious, social and cultural experiences in the lives of children? To what degree do parents involve themselves in their children's educational and religious experiences? To what degree do children talk with their parents about their life experiences such as dating, sex, drug and alcohol use, and their moral or religious concerns? To what degree do parents and children worry about and plan for the child's future education and employment?

National Family Violence Survey, 1975

Investigators: Murray A. Straus and Richard J. Gelles

The 1975 National Family Violence Survey explores conflict/resolution and violence in the family. The family is usually thought of as a harmonious group. In general, sociologists and other social scientists think of physical violence in the family as occurring infrequently, and when it does occur, as being abnormal or dysfunctional. Straus, et. al. disagree, and have designed the 1975 National Family Violence survey to show that physical violence between family members is more frequent than believed. There are a total of 2,143 cases and 807 variables included in the study. Topics in the study include: demographics (household characteristics/composition, race, income, religion, education, etc.); marital/divorce history; marital behavior (conflict/violence and resolution); employment (history, status); and satisfaction/attitudes about various aspects of life. Interviews were conducted among households in which at least one couple resided using a national probability sampling technique. The research itself had three main objectives: To determine the extent to which violence occurs between parents and children, siblings, and husbands and wives. To provide descriptive information of the violence which occurs. To test three theories why violence does or does not occur in intra-family relations.

National Family Violence Survey, 1985

Investigators: Murray A. Straus and Richard J. Gelles

The 1985 National Family Survey was conducted by Family Research Laboratory at the University of New Hampshire and explores conflict/resolution and violence in the family. It is a national cross-sectional survey which can be compared to a similar study conducted by the investigators in 1975 (available separately). The Survey was designed to show that physical violence between family members is more frequent than believed. One objective of the 1985 survey was to generate comparisons of the incidence of intra-family physical violence by race and ethnicity. Another objective was to generate state-by-state estimates of family violence. Topics in the study include: demographics (household characteristics/composition, race, income, religion, education, etc.); marital/divorce history; marital behavior (conflict/violence and resolution); employment (history, status); and satisfaction/attitudes about various aspects of life.