The Blackwell Companion to Sociology (113 page)

study has surveyed a nationally representative sample of high school seniors, who receive identical follow-up surveys by mail for several years following their initial participation.

Since 1991, nationally representative samples of eighth and tenth graders have been surveyed as well. The purpose of the MTF is to study changes in young Americans'

beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. Of particular interest, this study is used to document trends in substance use among youth. Statistics, data tables and figures, and publications are available via the Internet. This site also includes links to related sites.

http://www.isr.umich.edu/src/mtf/index.html

Murray Research Center

The Murray Research Center of Radcliffe College focuses its research upon the changing lives of American women. The Center, which maintains a national archive of over 200

studies, promotes the use of existing social science data. The studies cover topics including work, education, mental health, political participation, family, widowhood, and aging. Included in the archive are studies such as Lives in Progress, the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Attachment, and the Life Cycle Study of Children with High Ability, the Harlem Longitudinal Study and the Colorado Adoption Project. Data are available free of charge to all researchers. This site also offers information regarding conferences, workshops, and publications.

http://www.radcliffe.edu/murray/

National Aging Information Center (NAIC)

The NAIC is a national resource center providing researchers and the public with information and data on issues related to aging. This web site provides a searchable bibliographic database, links to publications, statistical resources, and links to other relevant Internet sites.

http://www.aoa.dhhs.gov/naic/

National Archive of Computerized Data on Aging (NACDA)

Located within the ICPSR and funded by the National Institute on Aging, the purpose of the NACDA is to collect, preserve, disseminate, and facilitate the use of data relevant to gerontological research. Abstracts and data sets are available online through this web site. ICPSR rules regarding data access apply.

http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/NACDA/index.html

National Archives and Records Administrations Center for Electronic

Records (NARA)

NARA acquires, preserves and disseminates US Federal Government electronic records.

Data holdings include over 30,000 files created by Congress, the Courts, the Executive Office, and Presidential Commissions. These files include genealogical, agricultural, attitudinal, demographic, medical, economic, educational, environmental, military, scientific, and international data, as well as interesting collections such as the JFK

Assassination Records Collection. The NARA Archival Information Locator (NAIL) is 492

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available to assist in record searches. Records are available for purchase on magnetic tape, cartridges, CD-ROM, or floppy disk on a cost-recovery basis (usually US$80±90).

Hard-copy documentation is also available on a cost-recovery basis.

http://www.nara.gov/nara/electronic/

National Center for Charitable Statistics (NCCS)

Established in 1982, NCCS has been a program of the Center on Nonprofits and

Philanthropy (CNP) at the Urban Institute since July 1996. NCCS serves as the national repository of information on non-profit institutions. It builds compatible national, state, and regional databases and develops uniform standards for reporting on the activities of charitable organizations. This site provides access to IRS information, fact sheets, state profiles, and links to other relevant sites.

http://nccs.urban.org

National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)

The NCES is the primary federal organization responsible for collecting, analyzing, and disseminating data related to education in the USA and other nations. NCES puts out approximately 100 publications per year and conducts surveys regarding elementary/

secondary and post-secondary education. Some of the major studies that this web site provides links to are the National Household Education Survey (NHES), High School and Beyond (HS&B), and NELS 1988.

http://nces.ed.gov/

National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS)

The NCHS is the primary federal organization responsible for collecting, analyzing, and disseminating health statistics. This web site allows researchers to view publications and statistical tables, and to download selected public-use data files. It provides links to ChildStats, a federal interagency forum on child and family statistics, and to health studies concerning aging, natality, mortality, health care and health services utilization, health care expenditures, nutrition, health promotion, health status, marriage and divorce, maternal and child health, reproductive health and behavior, and health risk factors. Some of NCHS's major studies include: the Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (HHANES), the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), the

National Health Interview Survey on Disability (NHIS-D,) the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES I, II, and III), the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG), the National Immunization Survey, and the National Vital Statistics System.

http://www.cdc.gov/nchswww/default.htm

National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information (NCADI)

The NCADI is a major resource center providing current information and statistics regarding alcohol and drug use. It provides reports of research findings and publications, and links to 12 databases of alcohol and drug information, to alcohol and drug resources/

referrals and to related Internet sites.

http://www.health.org/

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National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information

The National Clearinghouse is a major resource center providing current information and statistics regarding child abuse to professionals and researchers concerned with issues of child maltreatment. It provides reports of research findings, a database of documents and audiovisuals, and information regarding state child abuse statutes and laws.

http://www.calib.com/nccanch

National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect (NDACAN)

The NDACAN, maintained at Cornell University, acquires, processes, stores, and facilitates the analysis of high quality data sets relevant to the study of child abuse and neglect. The Current Holdings List provides abstracts of the archive's data. Data and documentation can be obtained on a choice of media, and are available in SAS and SPSS

format. For selected studies, a user's guide and frequency tables of the most commonly requested data are available online. Data sets and their documentation cost US$75, or US$25 for students. This web site also provides links to NDACAN's mailing list and publications.

http://www.ndacan.cornell.edu/

National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88)

Beginning with an eighth grade cohort in 1988, and followed up in 1990, 1992, and 1994, NELS:88 provides longitudinal data about the transitions adolescents experience as they develop, attend school, and embark on their careers. This nationally representative sample resulted in the participation of 24,599 eighth grade students. Data are available through the ICPSR in SAS or SPSS, and can also be obtained through the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).

http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/IAED/nels.html

National Election Studies (NES)

The National Election Studies include national surveys of the American electorate in presidential and midterm election years, time-series data for biennial elections over the past five decades, and pilot studies conducted in odd-numbered years. As well as providing election data, the NES provide excellent information on American religious beliefs and involvement. The web site allows access to data and to the NES Guide to Public Opinion and Electoral Behavior. This site also provides a link to the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES).

http://www.umich.edu:80/~nes/overview/overview.htm

National Health Interview Survey (NHIS)

The NHIS is a continuing nationwide survey of the US household population. In 1992

over 125,000 people were involved in the survey, which questions them regarding their health, disability, and hospitalization history. Data are available on magnetic tape and CD-ROM. This web site also provides a link to the 1994 National Health Interview Survey on Disability, Phase 1, and the 1984 and 1994 Supplements on Aging (SOA). The 494

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NHIS-D includes disability statistics and studies the social, administrative, and mobility patterns of the disabled.

http://www.cdc.gov/nchswww/products/catalogs/subject/nhis/nhis.htm

National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES I, II, and III)

The NHANE surveys, conducted in 1971±5, 1976±80, and 1988±94, are nationwide

probability samples of individuals between the ages of 6 months and 74 years. The purpose of these surveys was to obtain information regarding nutrition, health status, and health behaviors of Americans. Data can be ordered via the Internet, and are available on tape and CD-ROM (CD-ROM only for NHANES III). Prices vary.

http://www.cdc.gov/nchswww/products/catalogs/sitemap.htm

1995 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA)

Conducted since 1971, the NHSDA collects statistical information on the use of illegal drugs, alcohol, and tobacco products by the US population. The study uses a nationally representative sample of the civilian non-institutionalized population of the United States, 12 years and older. The 1995 NHSDA included a sample of 17,747 persons,

with an oversample of blacks, Hispanics and young people. Reports and tables of

information obtained from this study are available at this web site.

http://www.health.org/pubs/95hhs/ar18txt.htm

National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS), Juvenile Justice

The NCJRS refers researchers to Internet resources dealing with the criminal justice system. The Juvenile Justice page contains fact sheets, information regarding juvenile justice issues, links to general resources, and links to other relevant Internet sites and listservs.

http://www.ncjrs.org/jjhome.htm

The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, the Add Health

Project

Add Health is a nationally representative school-based study of the health and health-related behaviors of adolescents in grades 7±12. The study has been designed to explore the causes of adolescent health and behaviors, with an emphasis on the influence of social context. Due to issues of confidentiality, the distribution of data requires great security.

Thus, public-use data include only a subset of respondents, which can be ordered on CD-ROM. Restricted-use data will be distributed only to certified researchers who commit themselves to maintaining limited access. Contact information concerning access to data is provided at this web site. Codebooks can also be downloaded here.

http://www.cpc.unc.edu/addhealth/

National Longitudinal Surveys (NLS)

The National Longitudinal Surveys (NLS), begun in 1966 with the sponsorship of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Department of Labor, are a set of cohort surveys which have gathered information on the labor market experiences of five groups of American men and women. Sample selection procedures insured that the labor market experiences of minorities, youth, women, and the economically disadvantaged would be represented.

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The NLS include the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79), surveys of youth between 14 and 22 years of age in 1979, and the Children of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, surveys of a group of children born to women of one of the national survey groups. NLS data are available for US$20 per cohort-specific compact disc.

http://stats.bls.gov/nlshome.htm

National Long Term Care Survey (NLTCS)

The NLTCS, conducted in 1982, 1984, 1989, and 1994, is a nationally representative sample of the US elderly population. This survey places a particular emphasis upon the aged who are functionally impaired, and links interview data with Medicare Part A and B

service record information. This site provides online access to free public use files and documentation.

http://cds.duke.edu/

National Opinion Research Center (NORC)

NORC, a non-profit survey research center located at the University of Chicago, focuses upon important issues facing government organizations and the public. NORC studies cover topics including economics, education, epidemiology and public health, health services, statistics and methodology, substance abuse, mental health, and disability.

Some of the larger datasets available through NORC are the NLSY, LSOA II, the

National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, the National Health and Social Life Survey, the Occupational Prestige Study, and NELS.

http://www.norc.uchicago.edu/about/homepage.htm

National Survey of America's Families (NSAF)

Part of the Assessing the New Federalism Project at the Urban Institute, the NSAF

focuses on the economic, health, and social characteristics of children, adults under 65, and their families. Conducted in 1997, the NSAF is nationally representative and contains data for over 100,000 people. This site allows researchers to register for and access public-use data free of charge. A second wave, conducted in 1999, will be also be available as soon as possible.

http://newfederalism.urban.org/nsaf/

National Survey of Black Americans Waves I±IV

The four waves of this national multistage probability sample survey were conducted in 1979±80, 1987±8, 1988±9, and 1992. This survey focused upon neighborhood±community integration, services, crime and community contact, the role of religion and the church, physical and mental health, self-esteem, life satisfaction, employment, the effects of chronic unemployment, the effects of race on the job, interaction with family and friends, racial attitudes, race identity, group stereotypes, and race ideology. Data and documentation can be acquired from the ICPSR. ICPSR rules regarding acquisition of data apply.