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**National Survey of Family Growth    (NSFG) Public-Use    Data Files**

**Survey description    | Data file description    List of data file variables at a glance    Data file technical characteristics |     Geographic coverage    Data availability |     Ordering information |     Documentation contents    Related reports |     Contacts | NSFG Web page **

**Survey description**    The National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) provides current information on pregnancy,    childbearing, contraception, and related aspects of maternal and child health. There have    been five rounds of data collection, each based on a nationally representative sample of    women aged 15-44, interviewed in person in their own households. In Cycles 1 and 2 (1973    and 1976), the survey was limited to women who had ever been married. In Cycles 3 and 4    (1982 and 1988), all marital statuses were included. Sample sizes were 9,797 in Cycle 1;    8,611 in Cycle 2; 7,969 in Cycle 3; 8,450 in Cycle 4; 5,686 in the Cycle 4 1990    reinterview; and 10,847 in Cycle 5.

**Data file description**    Cycles 1 through 3 have one file per cycle, consisting of a "respondent" or    "woman" record, followed by a "pregnancy interval" record for each of    the woman's pregnancies, if any. Cycle 4 (both the 1988 and 1990 surveys) and Cycle 5 have    two files per survey: one file with a record for each respondent and one file with a    record for each pregnancy.
Each record contains a weight to be used in obtaining    national estimates from the data. The complex sample design means that standard formulas    assume simple random sampling. However, reports published by NCHS contain charts and    parameters from which standard errors for certain statistics may be calculated. (See    Vital    and Health Statistics, Series 2, Numbers **76, 87, 98, and 109**)

List of data file variables at a    glance
**Respondent file (1995)**    Childhood/young adult living arrangement history    Work history    Education history    Menarche    Number of pregnancies    Adoption    Other children raised    Complete marriage & cohabitation history    Sexual partner history for last 5 years    Sterilization operations    Fecundity impairment    Contraceptive history    Month-by-month method calendar for 1991-95    Use of family planning and other medical services    Clinic data base    Birth expectations    Use of infertility services    PID (pelvic inflammatory disease) & other conditions affecting    fertility    HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) testing     Self-reported race    Religion    Income    Health insurance    Occupation    Work shifts    Child care    Audio-Computer Assisted Self Interview:*AbortionsNumber of sexual partnersHIV risk behaviors    Recontact information    Interviewer assessment of dwelling unit    Interviewer characteristics:AgeRace/ethnicityEducationCAPI experience, etc.    Selected variables from 1993 National HealthInterview Survey    (NHIS)    Contextual data*****

* = Omitted or restricted-use items.
**Interval (pregnancy) file (1995)**    Pregnancy outcomes    Prenatal care    Sources of payment    Breastfeeding    Contraceptive use in the pregnancy interval andwantedness of the pregnancy    Selected respondent characteristics (for example, race/ethnicity,    age)

Respondent file (1973, 1976, 1982, 1988, (and 1990    reinterview)

Marital status    Date of birth of:RespondentHusband    Date of present marriage    Dates previous marriages began and ended  and reasons for    dissolutions    Current pregnancy status    Number of pregnancies and births    Number of husband's children    Number of adopted children    Contraceptive method used each month in the  3 years before interview     Fecundity and infertility    Number of additional births intended    Timing of expected births    Preferences for number and sex of children    Provider of and mode of payment for prenatal care    Hospitalization of infant and mother after birth    Use of family planning services (source, services received, number of    visits)     Race observed by interviewer    Self-reported race    Living with parents in childhood    Ethnicity, respondent and husband    Educational attainment, respondent and husband    Years of education in religious schools  (1973, 1976, and 1988    only)    Education at time of marriage, respondent and husband    Husband's age at marriage (single years)    Work for pay before marriage and in intervals  between and after births     Child care (detail varies)    Occupation: 3-digit census categories, respondent and husband    Religion    Attendance at religious services    Employment status, respondent and husband    Amount and sources of income earned in last 12 months by respondent,    husband, and  other family members     Interview date     1982 and 1988 only: Age at first intercourse First contraceptive method    ever usedDuration of oral    contraceptive use, brands used,  reasons for stopping use    (1982 only) Sex education by parents    and schools

Interval (pregnancy) file (1973, 1976, 1982, 1988,    (and 1990 reinterview)

Open interval Months with no intercourseContraceptives usedDates began and stopped    contraceptionRegularity of contraceptionCurrent contraceptive    practice     Pregnancy intervals ending in 3 years before interview**1**Number of intervalsOrder of intervalMonths without intercourseContraceptives usedDates began and stopped    contraceptionRegularity of contraceptionDate interval ended by    pregnancy    Pregnancy intervals ending in birth**2**    Order of interval    Date of birth     Sex of childBirth weight (pounds,    ounces) Date of child's death if    deceasedDate child last lived with    respondent if livingNumber of months child    breastfed    All pregnancy intervals**3**    Order of interval    Contraception in interval     Termination of contraceptive for pregnancy    Desire for another baby     Husband's desire for another baby     Desire for pregnancy at that time    Husband's desire for pregnancy at that time    Date pregnancy ended    Outcome of pregnancy

1Data are given    for each interval.     2Data are given for each birth.     3Data are given for each pregnancy.
**Data file technical characteristics**    Each file is rectangular and contains    fixed-length records. The block size and record length pertain to data stored on tape. The    CD-ROM format comes with Statistical Export and Tabulation System **(SETS)** retrieval software.
Data        cycle/yearRecord        lengthBlock        sizeNumber        of        recordsCycle        5, 1995Respondent        file13,06413,06410,847Interval        file4164,16021,332Cycle        4, 1990Respondent        file3,50031,5005,686Interval        file3,50031,5001,737Cycle        4, 19883,55331,97724,209Cycle        3, 19821,50030,00031,977Cycle        2, 19761,00010,00031,653Cycle        1, 19732,1002,1009,797
**Geographic coverage**    The National Survey of Family Growth includes U.S. women    15-44 years of age. In Cycles 1, 2, and 3, only the conterminous United States was    included. In Cycles 4 and 5, Alaska and Hawaii were included.

Analysis can be done for the four major census regions    (Northeast, Midwest, South, West) and for metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas.    Estimates cannot be made for States or smaller areas.
**Data availability**    Surveys were done in 1973 (Cycle 1), 1976 (Cycle 2), 1982    (Cycle 3), 1988--with a followup survey in 1990 (Cycle 4 and Reinterview), and 1995 (Cycle    5). Each cycle is available on **data    tape**.    **CD-ROMs**    are available for Cycles 4 (including the followup) and 5.
**Ordering information**    The NSFG data tapes can only be purchased    through the National Technical Information Service **(NTIS)**.    The CD-ROMs can be purchased from NTIS and the Government Printing Office **(GPO)**. The NTIS and GPO order numbers    are as follows:

**Data on tape**
Data        yearNTIS        order no.Price1995PB97-501514$395.001990          (Reinterview)PB95-503058265.001988PB90-501248265.001982        combined respondent        and interval filePB85-100022265.001976PB-294480265.001976        combinedPB80-219702265.001976 couplePB80-168206265.001973PB-277054265.00
**Data on CD-ROM**
Data        yearNTIS        order no.PriceGPO order        no.Price1995PB98-500291$60.00017-022-01387-8$15.001990**PB96-502588$60.00017-022-01306-1$16.001988-90***PB97-502777$60.00017-022-01374-6$22.00
**=Includes only the    Reinterview.***=Includes Cycle 4 and the Reinterview.    

**Documentation contents**      Each data tape package contains all the necessary    documentation, including the tape contents manual and a description of the sample design,    weighting, and variance estimation. Documentation is available electronically on the    CD-ROM.

The data file documentation contains an introductory    section that includes:

     how the    file is organized into data for each womanand data for each of her pregnancies (if any)

     how    missing data were imputed

     how    dates (for example, pregnancies and marriages)are coded

     a    summary of sample design and variance estimation that are available in selected    Vital and Health Statistics,Series 2 reports

     an    index listing of each item in the data files

Appendixes include the specifications for    "recoded" or "created" variables, as well as for occupational codes    and contraceptive use codes.

The documentation also includes a detailed contents, or    "codebook", of the respondent and interval files, which contains the wording of    the question (for questionnaire items), and the code categories and unweighted number of    cases in each category for the total sample and for white respondents, black respondents,    and respondents of other race/ethnicities, and in the case of Cycle 5, for Hispanic    respondents. The codebook also contains, for each item, a detailed description of the    universe of respondents who did not receive the question, in other words, those for whom    the question was inapplicable.

Cycle 5 documentation is divided into two parts: the    codebook is separate from the "User's Guide", which contains the informational    sections described above.   An electronic version of the guide is available for    downloading from the **FTP server**.      Only the User's Guide is available electronically and in hard    copy, as the codebook is prohibitively large and is most efficiently used electronically.    

Survey instruments are available in    hard copy for all cycles, and are available electronically for Cycle 4 (1990 reinterview    only) and Cycle 5.  The questionnaire for Cycle 5 can be downloaded from the      **FTP server**.

Related reports

Many reports and articles have been published using NSFG    data. Results have been published in:

Advance Data, Numbers **9, 10, 11, and 26** (Cycle    1); **36, 43, 45, 55, 56, 58, 59,    and 61** (Cycle 2); **102,    103, 104, 107, and 108** (Cycle 3); and **182, 184, 189, 192, 194, 200,    238, and 239**    (Cycle 4).

Vital and Health Statistics, Series 23, Numbers **1-19**; Series 2,    Numbers **76, 87, 91, 98**,    and **109**;    and Professional journals.

A current listing of NSFG publications may be obtained by    writing to one of the following contacts.
**Contacts**Joyce    Abma, Anjani Chandra, William Mosher, or Linda Peterson    Family Growth Survey Staff    Division of Vital Statistics    National Center for Health Statistics    Centers for Disease Control and Prevention     6525 Belcrest Road, Room 840     Hyattsville, Maryland 20782     (301) 458-4222
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This page last reviewed May 10, 2000

**U.S.    DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES****Centers    for Disease Control and Prevention**    National Center for Health Statistics    Division of Data Services     Hyattsville, MD    20782-2003    (301) 458-4636
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