Abstract
This chapter provides an overview of survey and administrative data available in the U.S. to study families. Easy access to large datasets, continually updated, together with computerized statistical analysis software, provide a wealth of data readily available for analysis in conducting family research. Those studying the family employ information that involves multiple aspects of family life that are constantly changing. Included are fertility (and infertility); migration (emigration and immigration); and age-related topics. Also of interest are data pertinent to mental, physical, and developmental health, child care, education, and the economic impact of children. Aging issues include: longevity, caretaking, caregiving, and long-term care. Household information includes: race and ethnicity; economic factors, occupations, and occupational niches; housing, types of dwellings, and cohabitation; marital unions and dissolutions; sexual orientation and family composition. This chapter includes the background of the use of secondary data and a limited summary of thirty sources of data used in family research.
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Notes
- 1.
For further information about ICSPR data storage see: http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/files/datamanagement/guide-for-irs.pdf
- 2.
StataCorp LP, 4905 Lakeway Drive; College Station, Texas 77845-4512, USA www.stata.com
- 3.
IBM Corporation; 1 New Orchard Road; Armonk, New York 10504-1722; United States https://www-01.ibm.com/software/analytics/spss/resources.html
- 4.
SAS Institute Inc.; 100 SAS Campus Drive; Cary, NC 27513-2414, USA http://www.sas.com/en_us/contact.html
- 5.
A free software program GNU developed by Chambers at Bell Laboratories see: https://www.r-project.org/
- 6.
ArcGIS; Esri, 380 New York Street, Redlands, CA 92373 https://www.arcgis.com/features/index.html
- 7.
TIGER U.S. Census; https://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/tiger.html
- 8.
Agencies that provide statistical data to NCHS include: Bureau of Economic Analysis (Commerce Department), Bureau of Justice Statistics (Justice Department), Bureau of Labor Statistics (Labor Department), Bureau of Transportation Statistics (Transportation Department), Census Bureau (Commerce Department), Economic Research Service (Agriculture Department), Energy Information Administration (Energy Department), National Agricultural Statistics Service (Agriculture Department), National Center for Education Statistics (Education Department), National Center for Health Statistics (Health and Human Services Department), National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (National Science Foundation), Office of Research, Evaluation, and Statistics (Social Security Administration), Statistics of Income Division (Treasury Department).
- 9.
Agencies that are members of the Forum as of Spring 2016 are: Department of Agriculture (Economic Research Service);Department of Commerce (U.S. Census Bureau); Department of Defense (Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Military Community and Family Policy); Department of Education (Institute of Education Sciences; National Center for Education Statistics); Department of Health and Human Services (Administration for Children and Families; Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; Maternal and Child Health Bureau; National Center for Health Statistics; National Institute of Mental Health; Office of Adolescent Health; Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation; and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration); Department of Housing and Urban Development (Office of Policy Development and Research); Department of Justice (Bureau of Justice Statistics; National Institute of Justice; Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention); Department of Labor (Bureau of Labor Statistics; Women’s Bureau); Department of Transportation (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration); Environmental Protection Agency (Office of Children’s Health Protection); Office of Management and Budget (Statistical and Science Policy Office) and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
- 10.
The October 2016 issue of the Journal of Marriage and Family was a special National Longitudinal Surveys 50th anniversary Issue with guest editor Elizabeth Cooksey.
- 11.
- 12.
Westat is a private professional service corporation that conducts research in areas of health, education, social policy, transportation and information systems. See: https://www.westat.com/
- 13.
Foundations funding the NSAF: Annie E. Casey Foundation, W. K. Kellogg Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, David and Lucile Packard Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, McKnight Foundation, Commonwealth Fund, Stuart Foundation, Weingart Foundation, Fund for New Jersey, Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, Joyce Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation.
- 14.
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Davis, M.A. (2020). Defining Marriage and Families: Data and Measurement. In: Farris, D.N., Bourque, A.J.J. (eds) International Handbook on the Demography of Marriage and the Family. International Handbooks of Population, vol 7. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35079-6_3
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