523 - Policy and Research Workshop. Using the Wisconsin Longitudinal Survey

Session Submission Type: Invited Session

Abstract

The Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS) is a free publicly available data set that follows a panel of people from late adolescence through age seventy-two. The study is a sample of one in three Wisconsin high school graduates, and a selected sibling, from the class of 1957. WLS is unique among major social scientific resources for the length with which it has followed a large population-based cohort sample and that it includes siblings. We also have Genetic Data (~90 SNPs) for about 7000 participants and anticipate having more measures and samples from more participants in the near future. We recently released the latest round of data collected between March of 2010 and December of 2012. The new data include anthropometric and functioning measures which add yet a new dimension to the many types of WLS data. The survey data cover nearly every aspect of the participants’ lives from early life socioeconomic background, schooling, family and work to health, social participation, civic engagement, well-being, and cognition. The study also has a wealth of unique data including examples such as administrative IQ scores from high school, information collected from high school yearbooks that include measures of attractiveness, proxy measures for obesity, and complete lists of student activities for all respondents. Examples of administrative data include Medicare records, Social Security records, and resource data on primary and secondary schools attended by participants. This workshop will introduce the study to researchers who are not familiar with the data by providing an overview of the study as well as practical information on the structure of the data. Attendees will be provided with a USB containing documentation and the data.

(This session is part of this year's 22nd Annual ASA Research Support Forum.)

Sub Unit

• Policy and Research Workshop

Session Organizer

• Pamela Herd, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Leader

• Pamela Herd, University of Wisconsin-Madison