Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002) Base-Year to Second Follow-up Data File Documentation (including Field Test report)

The Data File Documentation reports on the procedures and methodologies employed during the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 base year, first, and second follow-ups, with special emphasis on the second follow-up (2006). The document is designed to provide guidance for users of the restricted-use data as released in Electronic Codebook (ECB) format (NCES 2008346) and also contains information that will be valuable to users of the public-use Data Analysis System (DAS). Included in the documentation are the following: an overview of the study and its predecessor studies; an account of instrumentation and high school records (academic transcript) collection; documentation of the sample design, weighting, imputation, and design effects; a summary of the data collection methodology and results, including detailed response rates; a description of data preparation and processing activities including linkage to ancillary external data sets and creation of composite variables; and an overview of data file structure and contents. Numerous appendices supply a glossary of terms and a synopsis of the field test, and treat of topics such as cross-cohort comparison and occupational coding scheme crosswalks.

The Field Test report for the ELS:2002/04 second follow-up data collection can be found in Appendix C of the second follow-up data file documentation manual.

Online Availability

• Download, view and print the entire data file documentation manual as a pdf file.
• Download, view and print chapters 1-7 of the data file documentation as a pdf file.
• Download, view and print appendices A-H of the data file documentation as a pdf file.
• Download, view and print appendices I-K of the data file documentation as a pdf file.
• Download, view and print appendices L-O of the data file documentation as a pdf file.