DOI: 10.3886/icpsr36408.v1
title: Monitoring the Future: A Continuing Study of American Youth (12th-Grade Survey), 2015
title: Version 1

description: This survey of 12th-grade students is part of a series that
explores changes in important values, behaviors, and lifestyle
orientations of contemporary American youth. Students are randomly
assigned to complete one of six questionnaires, each with a different
subset of topical questions, but all containing a set of "core"
questions on demographics and drug use. There are about 1,400
variables across the questionnaires. Drugs covered by this survey
include tobacco, smokeless tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, hashish,
prescription medications, over-the-counter medications, LSD,
hallucinogens, amphetamines (stimulants), Ritalin (methylphenidate),
Quaaludes (methaqualone), barbiturates (tranquilizers), cocaine, crack
cocaine, GHB (gamma hydroxy butyrate), ecstasy, methamphetamine, and
heroin. Other topics include attitudes toward religion, changing roles
for women, educational aspirations, self-esteem, exposure to drug
education, and violence and crime (both in and out of school).
description: Each of the seven parts contains a weight variable, ARCHIVE_WT.
They were originally varied by school but were modified to protect
respondent confidentiality. Users should use the weight variable for
all analyses, the results of which will differ slightly from published
data tables that used original data.
description: Response Rates: The overall student response rate for 2015 was 83
percent.
description: A multistage area probability sample design was used involving three selection stages: (1) geographic areas or primary sampling units (PSUs), (2) schools (or linked groups of schools) within PSUs, and (3) students within sampled schools. Of the 72 PSUs, 8 were selected with certainty, 10 were selected with a probability of .50, and the remainder were selected using a probability based on their 2000 Census household count. Generally speaking, in schools with more than 350 seniors, a sample of seniors or classes was drawn. In schools with less than 350 seniors, all seniors were asked to participate unless logistical challenges required a sample be taken. Each school was asked to participate for two years so that each year one-half of the sample would be replaced. Schools refusing participation were replaced with similar schools in terms of geographic location, size, and type of school (e.g., public, private/Catholic, private/non-Catholic). The participation rate among schools has been between 66 and 85 percent since the inception of the study. The total sample of 12th graders was divided into 6 subsamples, each to be administered a different form of the questionnaire. "Core" drug and demographic questions were included in all questionnaire forms.
description: Datasets: 
DS0: Study-Level Files
DS1: Core Data
DS2: Form 1 Data
DS3: Form 2 Data
DS4: Form 3 Data
DS5: Form 4 Data
DS6: Form 5 Data
DS7: Form 6 Data
description: High school seniors in the contiguous United States.
description: on-site questionnaireConducted by the University of Michigan, Institute for Social Research, Survey Research Center.To protect the privacy of respondents, all variables that could be
used to identify individuals have been collapsed or recoded in the
public use files. These modifications should not affect analytic uses
of the public use files.Variables omitted from the Western region
questionnaires are noted in each codebook.A user guide is
provided with the study documentation. It contains a year-to-year cross-time question index for the MTF 12th-grade surveys, which is
sorted by subject area, item reference number, and questionnaire
form.Frequency and percentage distributions displayed in the 2015 codebooks are unweighted, rather than weighted by variable "ARCHIVE_WT" (previously named "V5") as they had been in previous years. This change was made to simplify both the production of the codebooks and their interpretation
by the analyst.MTF does not release detailed geography codes in its public use files because of the disclosure risk it would cause. The MTF sample is drawn to generate representative samples of the four Census Bureau regions of the country (Northeast, Midwest, South, and West), but it does not generate representative samples of smaller geographic areas such as states, counties, or cities. For additional information about data that is withheld from the public use files please contact MTF directly at mtfinformation@umich.edu.With the approval of the MTF Principal Investigators ICPSR created a series of dichotomous recodes for 10 substances for the three standard time periods (lifetime, past 12 months, and past 30 days). The substances include tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, LSD, other psychedelics, amphetamines, sedatives/barbiturates, tranquilizers, inhalants, and other narcotics. These variables have been placed at the end of the Core data file (DS1). Each variable has the same name and label as the original, but with the addition of the letter "D" at the end of the variable name and the words "(dichotomous recode)" included at the end of the variable label. This was only done for the core file.Using these new dichotomous recode variables ICPSR has created interactive maps to show the weighted response for each dichotomous variable by Census region. To create a map simply select the desired year/grade and question/variable. Then click on "Go". The resulting map will rank the regions by color. The Census region with the darkest shade will show the highest frequency of use. A frequency table is also provided.