Errata for 1979-2020 Data Release
Errata for 1979-2020 Data Release
NEWEST ERRATA
MISSING NLSY79 BUSINESS INVESTMENT VARIABLES 2020 [posted 8/8/2024]
Variables containing the amount used to establish or acquire businesses reported in the NLSY79 2020 survey (round 29) were inadvertently omitted from the public data release. The affected variables are:
R84181.00 AMOUNT R USED TO ESTABLISH/ACQUIRE THE BUSINESS JOB #01 (2020)
R84182.00 AMOUNT R USED TO ESTABLISH/ACQUIRE THE BUSINESS JOB #02 (2020)
R84183.00 AMOUNT R USED TO ESTABLISH/ACQUIRE THE BUSINESS JOB #03 (2020)
R84184.00 AMOUNT R USED TO ESTABLISH/ACQUIRE THE BUSINESS JOB #04 (2020)
R84185.00 AMOUNT R USED TO ESTABLISH/ACQUIRE THE BUSINESS JOB #05 (2020)
These variables will be included in the next public data release, expected in late fall 2024. Until then, data users can download a CSV file with the Business Investment variables.
OTHER ERRATA
CORRECTIONS IN SOME EMPLOYER ID, CREATED, AND EVENT HISTORY VARIABLES [posted 12/22/23, updated 05/02/24]
NLSY79 staff have identified a problem that affects the employer start and stop months for a small number of cases during the year 2020. These are cases in which the respondent reported an invalid skip [‘don’t know’ or ‘refuse’] for the start or stop month of employment. Users can access corrected values in r29_dkrf_emp_changes_all.xlsx. The corrected values will be updated in the next public release.
NLSY79 VEHICLE VALUES 1985-1986 [posted 3/19/2024]
Due to differences in the manner in which questions about vehicle values were posed in 1985-1986, and 1987 forward, topcoding of the 1985-1986 variables were not treated consistently with other early asset survey years. The inconsistency has been corrected in the current public data release.
The affected variables are:
R17923.00 TOTAL AMOUNT OF MONEY R/SPOUSE OWE ON VEHICLES INCLUDING AUTOMOBILES (TRUNC) (1985)
R17924.00 TOTAL MARKET VALUE OF ALL VEHICLES INCLUDING AUTOMOBILES R/SPOUSE OWN (TRUNC) (1985)
R21554.00 TOTAL AMOUNT OF MONEY R/SPOUSE OWE ON VEHICLES INCLUDING AUTOMOBILES (TRUNC) (1986)
R21555.00 TOTAL MARKET VALUE OF ALL VEHICLES INCLUDING AUTOMOBILES R/SPOUSE OWN (TRUNC) (1986)
The affected values have been updated in the current public release. This does not affect the “_REVISED” versions of these variables (R17923.01, R17924.01, R21554.01, R21555.01), which were created in the early 2000s using an updated method of topcoding.
NLSY79 VARIABLES MISSING FROM PUBLIC RELEASE & ERRONEOUS VALUE [posted 8/8/2023]
A small number of NLSY79 variables are erroneously omitted from the current public release data. In addition, an erroneous outlier value is present for NFA_4C_SR000001.01 (T21649.00) in 2008.
The variables missing from the public release are represented in the table below.
Survey year (round) |
Reference Number |
Qname |
Titles |
2008 (r23) |
T20762.00-T20763.00 |
Q13-3_SR000001 – Q13-3_SR000002 |
ESTIMATED INCOME FROM MILITARY SERVICE IN PAST YEAR (range) |
2008 (r23) |
T20789.00-T20790.00 |
Q13-9_SR000001 – Q13-9_SR000002 |
ESTIMATED AMT MONEY RECEIVED FROM FARM OR BUSINESS AFTER EXPENSES (range) |
2008 (r23) |
T21176.00 |
Q13-73D_TRUNC |
TOTAL R/SPAR REC’D FROM LIFE INSURANCE SETTLEMENT IN 2007? (TRUNCATED) |
2008 (r23) |
T21623.00 |
Q13-131_SR000001 |
EST TOTAL MARKET VALUE OF FARM/BUSINESS/OTHER PROPERTY R/SPOUSE OWN (low range value) |
2008 (r23) |
T21664.01-T21664.08 |
NFA_4C_SR00002.01-06/11-12 |
EST MARKET VALUE OF VEHICLE ## |
2010 (r24) |
T30851.00 |
Q13-73D_TRUNC |
TOTAL R-SPAR RECEIVED FROM LIFE INSURANCE SETTLEMENT IN 2009? (TRUNCATED) |
In addition, researchers using NFA_4C_SR000001.01 should recode the outlier value of $150,000 to $15,000.
Users can access corrected values in missing_nlsy79_pubvars.xlsx. The erroneous value and missing variables will be updated in the next public release.
CORRECTIONS TO NLSY79 HOURS_WORKED_WEEK_ALL.## VARIABLES [Posted 6/14/2023]
The HOURS_WORKED_WEEK_ALL.## variables for several jobs in NLSY79 survey year 2002 (round 20) do not correctly incorporate hours for a subset of respondents reporting hours worked as teachers.
The affected variables are:
R77690.00 HOURS_WORKED_WEEK_ALL.01 (2002) (72 cases affected)
R77691.00 HOURS_WORKED_WEEK_ALL.02 (2002) (13 cases affected)
R77693.00 HOURS_WORKED_WEEK_ALL.04 (2002) (2 cases affected)
Users can access corrected values in hrs_wrk_wk_all_2002.xlsx. These values will be updated in the next public release.
NLSY79 TNFW_TRUNC 2000-2016 Additional Invalid Missing Values and Topcode Revisions [Posted 5/9/2023]
A small number of respondents for each of the most recent five NLSY79 rounds containing assets questions (2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016) were assigned valid values for TNFW_TRUNC rather than -3/invalid missing values. This affected the assigned topcodes for those variables as well. In addition, the NLS program has conducted a review of income and assets topcoding and standardized these values. Adjustments have been made to a very limited number of values to reflect the current standards.
The affected variables are:
R69401.03 TNFW_TRUNC (2000) FAMILY NET WEALTH (TRUNC) *KEY*
R83787.03 TNFW_TRUNC (2004) FAMILY NET WEALTH (TRUNC) *KEY*
T21427.02 TNFW_TRUNC (2008) FAMILY NET WEALTH (TRUNC) *KEY*
T40458.02 TNFW_TRUNC (2012) FAMILY NET WEALTH (TRUNC) *KEY*
T56845.00 TNFW_TRUNC (2016) FAMILY NET WEALTH (TRUNC) *KEY*
The following number of cases are affected for each survey year:
Survey year |
Cases set to -3/Invalid missing |
# values changed (includes topcode revisions) |
2000 |
19 |
154 |
2004 |
19 |
146 |
2008 |
20 |
149 |
2012 |
12 |
138 |
2016 |
14 |
134 |
The variables listed above have been updated in the most recent public release.