DOI: 10.3886/icpsr08085.v1
title: National Longitudinal Study of the Class of 1972
title: Version 1

description: This longitudinal data collection supplies information on
 the educational, vocational, and personal development of young people
 who were high school seniors in 1972 and examines the kinds of factors
 -- personal, familial, social, institutional, and cultural -- that may
 affect that development. The collection provides a broad spectrum of
 information on each student and covers areas such as ability,
 socioeconomic status, home background, community environment,
 ethnicity, significant others, current activity at time of survey,
 educational attainment, school experiences, school performance, work
 status, work performance and satisfaction, goal orientations, marriage
 and the family, and military experience. Data collected in the
 base-year (1972) focus on factors relating to the student's
 personal/family background, education and work experiences, plans,
 aspirations, attitudes, and opinions. The first follow-up, which was
 conducted in 1973, offers information on the respondent's activity
 state (education, work, etc.), socioeconomic status, work and
 educational experience since leaving high school, future plans, and
 expectations. The second follow-up (1974) probes respondents on
 similar measures but is augmented by additional variables pertaining
 to work and education. The third follow-up (1976) contains additional
 items on graduate school application and entry, job supervision, sex
 roles, sex and race biases, and a subjective rating of high school
 experiences. The fourth follow-up (1979) offers data similar to the
 other follow-ups but includes some variables that were modified to
 elicit unique information. For the fifth follow-up, the sample members
 averaged 32 years of age and had been out of high school for 14
 years. In addition to covering the same subject areas as the previous
 surveys, this follow-up includes additional questions on marital
 history, divorce, child support, and economic relationships in modern
 families. Part 1 of this collection contains base-year data as well as
 data collected during four subsequent follow-ups undertaken in 1973,
 1974, 1976, and 1979, while Part 12 contains fifth follow-up data for
 1986. Part 2, the School File, contains information obtained from the
 respondent's high school and also from high school counselors. Data
 are available on school organization and enrollment, course offerings,
 special services and programs, library and other resources, time
 scheduling, and grading systems. Counselor information is supplied on
 work loads, counseling practices and facilities, experience with
 student financial aid programs, age, ethnicity, training, and
 experience. A supplementary School District Census File, Part 3,
 contains 1970 Census data tabulated by school district boundaries. In
 addition, the collection includes an FICE Code File and a CEEB
 Institutional Data Base File that can be used in conjunction with the
 student file to supply contextual information about respondents'
 colleges. The Institutional Data Base File offers data for colleges
 and universities on items such as enrollment, income and revenues,
 expenses, tuition and fees, and median student scores on standardized
 tests. Parts 6, 7, 9, and 10 contain transcript data from each
 postsecondary institution reported by sample members in the first
 through fourth follow-up surveys. Data are available for several types
 of postsecondary institutions, ranging from short-term vocational or
 occupational programs through major universities with graduate
 programs and professional schools. Data in these four rectangular
 files -- Student, Transcript, Term, and Course Files -- are organized
 to be used in combination hierarchically. Information is available on
 terms of attendance, fields of study, specific courses taken, and
 grades and credits earned. The Fifth Follow-Up Teaching Supplement
 (Parts 15-17) surveyed those members of the original 1972 sample who
 had obtained teaching certificates and/or who had teaching
 experience. Respondents were asked questions about their
qualifications, experience, and attitudes toward teaching.
description: The sample design for the base-year (1972) survey was a
 stratified two-stage probability sample. Schools were selected with
 equal probabilities from 600 strata. Schools in low-income areas and
 schools with high proportions of minority group enrollment were
 sampled at twice the rate used for remaining schools. Two schools from
 each of the final 600 strata were sampled and then a simple random
sample of 18 students from each of the sampled schools was chosen.
description: Datasets: 
DS0: Study-Level Files
DS1: Student File
DS2: School File
DS3: School District Census File
DS4: FICE Code File
DS5: CEEB Institutional Data Base File
DS6: Transcript Survey: Course-Level Record
DS7: Transcript Survey: Student-Level Record
DS9: Transcript Survey: Term-Level Record
DS10: Transcript Survey: Transcript-Level Record
DS12: Fifth Follow-Up, 1986: Student-Level Record
DS13: Fifth Follow-Up, 1986: Student-Level Record Layout
DS14: Fifth Follow-Up, 1986: SAS Data Definition Statements
DS15: Fifth Follow-Up, 1986: Teaching Supplement
DS16: Fifth Follow-Up, 1986: Teaching Supplement Record Layout
DS17: Fifth Follow-Up, 1986: Teaching Supplement SAS Data Definition Statements
DS18: Postsecondary Education Transcript Study: User's Manual (PDF)
DS19: Postsecondary Education Transcript Study: Appendices A-C (PDF)
DS20: Postsecondary Education Transcript Study: Appendices D-F (PDF)
DS21: Base Year (1972) Through Fourth Follow-Up (1979), Vol. I: User's Manual (PDF)
DS22: Base Year (1972) Through Fourth Follow-Up (1979), Vol. I: Appendix A (PDF)
DS23: Base Year (1972) Through Fourth Follow-Up (1979), Vol. I: Appendices B-C (PDF)
DS24: Base Year (1972) Through Fourth Follow-Up (1979), Vol. II: Appendix D (PDF)
DS25: Base Year (1972) Through Fourth Follow-Up (1979), Vol. II: Appendices E-L and Appendix M, Part 1 (PDF)
DS26: Base Year (1972) Through Fourth Follow-Up (1979), Vol. II: Appendix M, Part 2 (PDF)
DS27: Base Year (1972) Through Fourth Follow-Up (1979), Vol. II: Appendix N (PDF)
DS28: Base Year (1972) Through Fourth Follow-Up (1979), Vol. III: Appendix O (PDF)
DS29: Base Year (1972) Through Fourth Follow-Up (1979), Vol. III: Appendix P (Variables 0001-1232) (PDF)
DS30: Base Year (1972) Through Fourth Follow-Up (1979), Vol. III: Appendix P (Variables 1233-2350) (PDF)
DS31: Base Year (1972) Through Fourth Follow-Up (1979), Vol. III: Appendix P (Variables 2351-3524) (PDF)
DS32: Fifth Follow-Up, 1986: Codebook
DS33: Fifth Follow-Up, 1986: User's Manual and Appendix A (PDF)
DS34: Fifth Follow-Up, 1986: Appendices B-D
description: Students in all public and private schools in the United
 States that contained twelfth graders in the 1971-1972 academic year.
 Excluded were students from schools for the physically or mentally
 handicapped, from schools for legally confined students, and from
 those special institutions such as vocational schools where students
were also enrolled in other high schools in the sampling frame.
description: (1) Educational Testing Service (ETS) conducted the
 base-year survey, Research Triangle Institute (RTI) administered the
 first through fourth follow-ups, and National Opinion Research Center
 (NORC) collected data for the fifth follow-up. (2) Parts 1 and 2 have
 machine-readable codebooks in ASCII text format, and Parts 12 and 15
 (fifth follow-up data) are documented by a codebook (Part 32) in
 Portable Document Format (PDF). In addition, assorted user manuals are
 provided as PDF files. The PDF file format was developed by Adobe
 Systems Incorporated and can be accessed using PDF reader software,
 such as the Adobe Acrobat Reader. Information on how to obtain a copy
 of the Acrobat Reader is provided through the ICPSR Website on the
 Internet. (3) Supplementary documentation for this collection is
available on microfiche.