Skip to main content
National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97)

Errata for NLSY97 Round 16 Release

Important information: Errata updates in NLS Investigator

The NLS Investigator contains the most recent public release of each NLS cohort. Corrections have been made based on the items listed below (unless otherwise noted). These older, corrected error notices are retained for archival purposes, such as enabling replication of research performed before the errors were discovered. Please contact NLS User Services for additional information. Note: Any Geocode-related errata corrections have been made to the restricted-use data file. See the Accessing Data / Cohort page for more information on utilizing restricted-use data.

Newest errata

Posted 5/8/2017

Variable correction: Created number of household members under age 6 and under age 18 in Round 13 (2009)

The data connected to the QNAME=CV_HH_UNDER_6 and QNAME=CV_HH_UNDER_18 variables were reversed in the Round 13 (2009) data. Users should take note that the data that represent the number of household members under the age of 6 are currently found under the QNAME=CV_HH_UNDER_18 and vise versa. These variables are corrected in the current release.

Other errata

Variable correction: Created Number of Weeks at Job variable for Rounds 1 to 16

Corrections are required for the number of weeks at job variables for rounds 1 to 16.

  1. The number of weeks at jobs for the respondents with no jobs were inadvertently coded as 0 instead of -4 for rounds 1, 3-5, 8-16
  2. The number of weeks at jobs for the respondents with a military job were inadvertently coded as 0 and in some cases as greater than 0 instead of -4 for rounds 1-16

The affected variables for these errors are CV_WKSWK_JOB_DLI.#.

AGE variables on Round 1 NONHHI Roster rewritten

Posted 11/18/2016

Due to an error that caused many missing age values on the NLSY97 round 1 non-resident roster to be filled in with the value of zero, all of the AGE variables on the round 1 NONHHI roster have been re-written. The false values of zero have now been reset to either valid missing (-4) or invalid missing (-3).

Variable correction: Summary incarceration variables

Posted 4/22/2016

A problem loading 48 cases of first-time incarcerations from Round 16 caused the 48 cases to have missing data on the following four created variables:

  • INCARC_FIRST
  • INCARC_AGE_FIRST
  • INCARC_LENGTH_FIRST
  • INCARC_LENGTH_LONGEST

An additional five cases had the INCARC_AGE_FIRST variable incorrectly coded as missing.

Documentation correction: R16 interviewer validation outcome variable

Posted 4/8/2016

In the R16_REVIEWED_OUTCOME variable, data were switched in the first two answer categories. The 74 cases coded as 1 should be coded as 2 (answer category = "case had minor quality issues"). The 818 cases coded as 2 should have been coded as 1 (answer category = "all reviews successful"). These are corrected in the current release.

Variable correction: R1 created Household Net Worth variable for parent

A review of the data has led to an update for two respondents (PUID=2759 and 3838) in the round 1 CV_HH_NET_WORTH_P variable. This is corrected in the current release.

Discrepancy found between PARTNERS_UID variables and MAR_PARTNER_LINK Event History variables

Posted 12/11/2015

A discrepancy was found between the spouse/partner UIDs in the PARTNERS_UID variables and the MAR_PARTNER_LINK event history variables for a limited number of NLSY97 respondents. The respondents and variables are listed below and have been corrected in the current release.

  • PUBID= 427:
    MAR_PARTNER_LINK_2011.07 through MAR_PARTNER_LINK_2014.02
  • PUBID= 848:
    R16 PARTNERS_ID.01, R16 PARTNERS_UID.01, and CUMPARTNERS roster
  • PUBID=2668:
    MAR_PARTNER_LINK_2001.01 through MAR_PARTNER_LINK_2001.07
  • PUBID=3427:
    MAR_PARTNER_LINK_1998.12 through MAR_PARTNER_LINK_1999.10
  • PUBID=3778:
    MAR_PARTNER_LINK_2011.11 through MAR_PARTNER_LINK_2012.01, R16 PARTNERS_ID.01, and R16 PARTNERS_ID.02
  • PUBID=4120:
    MAR_PARTNER_LINK_2000.03 through MAR_PARTNER_LINK_2003.11, and R4 through r7 PARTNERS_ID.01
  • PUBID=4743:
    MAR_PARTNER_LINK_2013.05 through MAR_PARTNER_LINK_2014.02
  • PUBID=5022:
    R9 PARTNERS_ID.01
  • PUBID=5448:
    MAR_PARTNER_LINK_2000.04 through MAR_PARTNER_LINK_2000.10
  • PUBID=6185:
    MAR_PARTNER_LINK_2005.01 through MAR_PARTNER_LINK_2007.11
  • PUBID=6888:
    MAR_PARTNER_LINK_2005.12 through MAR_PARTNER_LINK_2006.11 and R10 PARTNERS_ID.01
  • PUBID=6894:
    MAR_PARTNER_LINK_2012.05 through MAR_PARTNER_LINK_2014.03
  • PUBID=6959:
    R16 PARTNERS_ID.01=701, R16 PARTNERS_UID.01, and CUMPARTNERS roster
  • PUBID=8052:
    MAR_PARTNER_LINK_2013.04 through MAR_PARTNER_LINK_2013.12