1. The National Survey of Families and Households

Contact person: James A. Sweet, Center for Demography, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 4412 Social Science Building, Madison, WI 53706; phone (608) 262-2182; fax (608) 262-8400; email: nsfhhelp@ssc.wisc.edu

In 1987-88 a national sample of 13,002 respondents were interviewed about numerous aspects of family life. Members of the original sample, along with their current and ex-spouse/partners, were reinterviewed in 1992-94. In addition interviews were completed with a son or daughter age 10-23 and with a parent of the respondent. The resulting dataset, the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH), includes information on family composition and history, relationship with spouse/partner, parenting practices, relationships with parents and kin, help given to and received from others, work and income, division of household labor, involvement with children living elsewhere, well-being, family attitudes and opinions, and a variety of other topics. Data are available from the Center for Demography at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. (The 1987-88 data are also available from ICPSR and other sources.)

2. Health Retirement Study and Survey of Asset and Health Dynamics among the Oldest Old

Contact person: David Howell, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1248; phone (313) 936-1830; fax (313) 646-1186; email: hrsquest@isr.umich.edu or aheadask@isr.umich.edu; homepage: http://www.umich.edu/~hrswww

The Institute for Social Research (ISR) at the University of Michigan is featuring two major data sets available for multi-investigator use, the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and the Survey of Asset and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old (AHEAD). Both are nationally representative, longitudinal studies that provide new insights into why people retire and how they cope with declining health in later life.
HRS is an ongoing study of 12,600 individuals focusing on the transition to retirement. It provides a nationally representative sample of people ages 51 to 61 (in 1992), and their spouses. These individuals will be reinterviewed every two years to measure factors that affect work, retirement, health and financial decisions. The HRS is the most extensive data collection of this type ever undertaken and will provide up- to-date information for developing policy options.
AHEAD is a companion study to the HRS providing a nationally representative sample of persons age 70 and older (in 1993) and their spouses, total of 8,200 individuals. These respondents will be followed over time, including those entering nursing homes. Interviews with next of kin after the death of a respondent will yield data on the health care costs and family caregiving in the period before death. Over time, HRS and AHEAD surveys will be merged into one study, as respondents from the HRS sample grow older and reach age 70 and beyond.

3. Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation

Contact person: Veronica Fellerath, Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation, 3 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10016; phone (212) 532-3200, X264; fax (212) 684-0832; email: feller@mdrcny.mhs.compuserve.com

Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation (MDRC), a non-profit social policy research organization located in New York City and San Francisco, makes available data files (and documentation) from a number of MDRC evaluations of welfare-to-work and youth programs. For example, the public use file for the California GAIN evaluation contains demographic data and three-year AFDC and earnings follow-up data (sample size: 33,000). The exhibit will provide information on all available files and how to obtain them.

4. Consortium for International Earth Science Information Network

Contact person: Dale L. Tuttle, The Consortium for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), 2250 Pierce Road, University Center, MI 48710; phone (517) 797-2700; fax (517) 797-2622; email: dtuttle@ciesin.org, homepage: http://www.ciesin.org or http://sedac.ciesin.org

The Consortium for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) is a non-profit organization established to provide access to the expanding universe of data and information relevant to the understanding of human interactions with the global environment. CIESIN specializes in global and regional information network development, science data management, and decision-support analysis. CIESIN also provides internet training, education and technical consultation services.
CIESIN is the World Data Center A (WDC-A) for Human Interactions in the Environment and operates the Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC); one of nine National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) data centers in the Earth Observing Data and Information System (EOSDIS). CIESIN and SEDAC provide a wide variety of data and information; ranging from international environmental treaties and remotely-sensed data, to visualization tools which enable users to interactively view U.S. census data.

5. U.S. Department of Justice-Bureau of Justice Statistics

Contact person: Bruce M. Taylor, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 633 Indiana Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20531; phone (202) 633-3051; fax (202) 307-5846; email: bruce@ojp.usdoj.gov

The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) collects, analyzes, publishes, and disseminates statistics on crime, victims of crime, criminal offenders, and operations of justice systems at all levels of government throughout the United States. Published information is distributed through the National Criminal Justices Research Service. Data files are disseminated by the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data, many on CD-ROM and diskette. Files typically include electronic documentation, along with SAS and SPSS control cards. All BJS files are now available via the Internet. BJS is currently working to provide world wide web access to all of its products that will include hypertext links among publications, table spreadsheets, data documentation, and data files.

6. National Institute on Aging-Demography and Population Epidemiology Branch

Contact person: Nancy Moss, National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging, 7201 Wisconsin Avenue, Gateway Building, Room 533, Bethesda, MD 20892-9205; phone (301) 496-3138; fax (301) 402-0051; email: mossn@gw.nia.nih.gov

The Demography and Population Epidemiology Branch of the Behavioral and Social Science Research Program at the National Institute on Aging sponsors a variety of surveys that address the social, economic, and health characteristics of the population age 50+. Several of these are longitudinal, like the Health and Retirement Survey and the National Long Term Care Survey, and are designed for sophisticated modeling. Many are geocoded and linked to data from different agencies, including Census, Health Care Financing, and Social Security. NIA also sponsors comparative data sources such as the Luxembourg Income Study. Virtually all of the surveys are for public use and are available from world wide web sites or from principal investigators.

7. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development-Demographic and Behavioral Sciences Branch

Contact person: Christine Bachrach, NICHD, 6100 Executive Blvd., Room 8B13, Bethesda MD 20892-7510; phone (301) 496-1174, fax (301) 496-0962; email: BachracC@hd01.nichd.nih.gov

The Demographic and Behavioral Sciences Branch (DBSB) of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), supports large-scale data collection activities that contribute to research on the determinants and consequences of demographic change. Surveys conducted in the United States with NICHD support include the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth- Child Supplement, the National Survey of Family Growth, the National Survey of Adolescent Males, the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (ADD HEALTH), the Intergenerational Panel Study of Parents and Children, the National Survey of Families and Households, and others. The program also supports data collection activities for research in international settings. Investigators supported through DBSB are strongly encouraged to place data sets in the public domain. With increasingly complex study designs, data files now often link individual data with information about other individuals and geographic contexts, as well as data from administrative records. These advances have required the development of procedures for protecting the privacy of research subjects in the sharing of data.

8. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-National Center for Health Statistics, Natality, Marriage, and Divorce Statistics Branch

Contact person: Stephanie J. Ventura, National Center for Health Statistics, Natality, Marriage, and Divorce Statistics Branch, 6525 Belcrest Road, Room 840, Hyattsville, MD 20782; phone (301) 436-8954, ext. 131; fax (301) 436-7066; email: sjv1@nch08a.em.cdc.gov

The National Center for Health Statistics collects and publishes information on a wide variety of demographic and health characteristics reported on the birth certificate for all births occurring in the United States. Demographic characteristics include age, race, Hispanic origin, education, birthplace, marital status, residence, live-birth order, sex, and month and day of birth. Health information includes month prenatal care began, number of prenatal visits, medical risk factors, tobacco use, alcohol use, obstetric procedures, attendant at birth, place of delivery, method of delivery, complications of labor and/or delivery, period of gestation, birthweight, Apgar score, abnormal conditions of the newborn, congenital anomalies, and plurality.