DOI: 10.3886/icpsr38502
title: Monitoring the Future: A Continuing Study of American Youth (8th- and 10th-Grade Surveys), 2021
title: Archival Version

description: These
surveys of 8th- and 10th-grade students are part of a series that explores
changes in important values, behaviors, and lifestyle orientations of
contemporary American youth. Students in each grade are randomly assigned to
complete one of four questionnaires, each with a different subset of topical
questions but containing a set of "core" questions on demographics
and drug use. There are more than 450 variables across the questionnaires.
Drugs covered by this survey include amphetamines (stimulants), barbiturates
(tranquilizers), other prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications,
tobacco, smokeless tobacco, alcohol, inhalants, steroids, marijuana, hashish,
LSD, hallucinogens, cocaine, crack, ecstasy, methamphetamine, and injectable
drugs such as heroin.
Highlights for 2021:

Data collection resumed in 2021, with a change to all web-based surveys.
Students completed the surveys on their personal or school-provided device.
Non-survey variables have been
changed or added to facilitate analyses. For details, please see the codebook
section "MTF Variable Information - Non-survey variables included in the
data files - Survey mode and design variables for 2021".
Information about "screen
break" issues, where series of questions were originally presented differently
in the web-based survey as compared to the 2019/2020 tablet surveys. Please see
the codebook and Appendix D for details.
description: A total of 23,238 students completed a survey in 2021. There were 11,446 8th graders and 11,792 10th graders. The number of students completing each form were:

Form 1: 7,540
Form 2: 7,792
Form 3: 3,939
Form 4: 3,967

The split is approximately equal between forms completed by 8th graders and 10th graders.
In 2021, data collection of the full nationally-representative samples resumed, with some changes necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic. While the sampling procedures remained consistent, survey administrations were adapted for hybrid teaching environments - remote and in-class learning. The MTF questionnaires were converted to web-based surveys. Students were provided a link to the survey, and the surveys could be completed on their own device or one provided by the school at home or in the classroom.
Halfway through the 2021 survey administration, it was discovered that parts of some questions were organized differently for the 2021 web survey than for the 2019 tablet survey, i.e. sets of questions appeared on different "screens" when comparing the web and tablet surveys. The web surveys were reprogrammed to match the "screen breaks" in the 2019 tablet surveys. Please refer to Appendix D in the codebook for impacted variables.
description: The downloadable data file contains a total of 696 variables. The original file provided by the Principal Investigators contained 695 variables (654 survey questions, 12 administrative variables, and 29 recoded variables). The Principal Investigators created the 29 recoded variables to aid in analysis and utility. 
Not all of the 654 survey questions were asked on each form. There are 181 variables (27 percent) that are common among all 4 forms. Each variable label contains a notation of which forms asked that particular question. On average each form asked approximately 365 questions.
All of the survey questions are categorical in nature. The majority of questions fall into one of seven types of response options.

Yes / No
Marked / Not Marked
Agree / Disagree scale (5 point)
Disapproval scale (3 point)
Risk scale (4 point)
Frequency of days (6 point)
Frequency of use (7 point)
description: The file contains a weight variable, <strong>V5</strong>. It originally varied by school but was 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.
<strong>OF SPECIAL NOTE:</strong> As the MTF respondents are sampled using a multi-stage sampling design, it is often desirable to incorporate the complex sample design information into analyses. However, in order to protect respondent confidentiality, the variables that represent the complex sample design of the MTF, i.e., sampling stratum and cluster, are omitted from the public use files. For researchers who wish to incorporate the unaltered weight variable and complex sample design variables into their analyses, these variables are now accessible through restricted access from NAHDAP. Please see Monitoring the Future (MTF) Restricted-Use Cross-Sectional Datasets for details.
description: Response Rates: The student response rates for the 2021 8th- and 10th-grade
surveys were 82 percent and 78 percent, respectively.
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 2010 Census household count.
Generally speaking, in schools with more than 350 students in the grade, a
sample of students or classes was drawn. In schools with fewer than 350
students in a grade, all students were asked to participate unless logistical
challenges required a sample be taken. For the 8th-grade survey, schools with
fewer than 20 8th graders were generally excluded from the sample. For the
10th-grade survey, schools with fewer than 25 10th graders were excluded, with
very few exceptions. 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 8th and 10th grade schools
has been between 78 and 91 percent since the inception of the study.
description: Datasets: 
DS1: Monitoring the Future: A Continuing Study of American Youth (8th- and 10th-Grade Surveys), 2021
description: Enrolled 8th- and 10th-grade students in the contiguous United States. Smallest Geographic Unit: Census Region
description: web-based surveyThis study was conducted by the Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan.Subsequent to a significant change made in 2012, the data files from the two grades and four forms are merged to create a single file. The variables <strong>V3</strong> and <strong>V501</strong> designate the form number and grade, respectively. The end of each variable label lists the form(s) on which the question appeared. The missing value (-8) is used to distinguish those cases where the question corresponding to a given variable was not asked on a particular form.To protect the anonymity of respondents, all variables that could be used to identify individuals have been collapsed or recoded in the public use files. These modifications are noted in the codebook. They should not affect analytic uses of the public use files.Variables omitted from the Western region questionnaires are noted in the codebook.A cross-time question index is included with the available documentation for the MTF 8th- and 10th-grade data. The document is sorted by subject area and covers the time period 1991 to 2021.Frequency and percentage distributions displayed in the 2021 codebook are unweighted, rather than weighted as they had been in previous years. This change was made to simplify both the production of the codebook and their interpretation by the analyst.As referenced in the codebook two PDF documents have been included for download to help provide additional context and understanding to data users. These documents provided by the Principal Investigators detail changes in 2021 to the questionnaires. One document is organized by form. The other document is organized by change (dropped items, added items, changes to response categories, and changes to the text of the question). Each document covers changes for both the 8th/10th grade and 12th grade data. Therefore, the exact same documents are available for download with the 12th grade data (ICPSR 38503).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 are withheld from the public use files, please see the study codebook.For further information about Monitoring the Future please visit their web site. The site provides links to more publications, press releases, and data findings.