What is the Investigator?
The Investigator is a web-based search and extraction program for data from the National Longitudinal Surveys (NLS). This guide will help you search for, identify, and download NLS variables of interest, along with programs that allow you to create SAS, SPSS, STATA, and R data sets.
To help new users understand Investigator, review our Glossary of NLS Terms that are found throughout this guide.
Advantages of Investigator
The Investigator is designed to make finding variables as easy and fast as possible. Key features include the following:
- Variables are provided in three levels (primary, secondary, and tertiary), allowing researchers to decide the level of detail needed. Researchers can access all data by selecting "All Variables."
- Convenient search options include the ability to search for anything on a codebook page by simply typing in some or all of the letters and/or numbers wanted.
- Graphical formats (pie, bar or line chart) are available on the codebook page. "Basic download" function automatically includes the more popular options to speed up extractions.
- Popup codebook pages can be viewed simply by moving the cursor over the question name.
Avoid downloading the entire NLS dataset
The datasets are extremely large and will likely impede the performance of your computer. Please review our Large Dataset Recommendations and the Accessing Data / Cohorts page.