SN 6137 -National Child Development Study: Sweep 8, 2008-2009: First Deposit

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Title:
National Child Development Study: Sweep 8, 2008-2009: First Deposit
(NCDS8)

Series: (National Child Development Study)

Subject Categories:
National Child Development Study - Major studies
General - Education
General - Employment and labour
General - Health
Political behaviour and attitudes - Politics
Social attitudes and behaviour - Society and culture
Child development and child rearing - Social stratification and groupings
Family life and marriage - Social stratification and groupings
Social and occupational mobility - Social stratification and groupings

Depositor(s):
University of London. Institute of Education. Centre for Longitudinal Studies

Principal Investigator(s):
University of London. Institute of Education. Centre for Longitudinal Studies

Data Collector(s):
National Centre for Social Research

Sponsor(s):
Economic and Social Research Council

Other Acknowledgements:
The Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS) would like to thank all the cohort members who generously gave their time to participate in this project and without whom this survey would not have been possible.

Abstract:
The National Child Development Study (NCDS) is a continuing longitudinal study that seeks to follow the lives of all those living in Great Britain who were born in one particular week in 1958. The aim of the study is to improve understanding of the factors affecting human development over the whole lifespan.

The NCDS has its origins in the Perinatal Mortality Survey (PMS) (the original PMS study is held at the UK Data Archive (UKDA) under SN 2137). This study was sponsored by the National Birthday Trust Fund and designed to examine the social and obstetric factors associated with stillbirth and death in early infancy among the 17,000 children born in England, Scotland and Wales in that one week. Selected data from the PMS form NCDS sweep 0, held alongside NCDS sweeps 1-3, under SN 5565.

To date there have been seven attempts to trace all members of the birth cohort in order to monitor their physical, educational and social development. The first three sweeps were carried out by the National Children's Bureau, in 1965, when respondents were aged 7, in 1969, aged 11, in 1974, aged 16 (these sweeps form NCDS1-3, held together with NCDS0 under SN 5565). The fourth sweep, NCDS4, was conducted in 1981, when respondents were aged 23 (held under SN 5566). In 1985 the NCDS moved to the Social Statistics Research Unit (SSRU) - now known as the Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS) - and the fifth sweep was carried out in 1991, when respondents were aged 33, (NCDS5, held under SN 5567). For the sixth wave, conducted in 1999-2000, when respondents were aged 41-42 (NCDS6, held under SN 5578), fieldwork was combined with the 1999-2000 wave of the 1970 Birth Cohort Study (BCS70), which is also conducted by CLS (and held at the UKDA under GN 33229).

Response dataset:
A separate dataset covering response to NCDS over all seven waves is available under SN 5560, National Child Development Study Response Dataset, 1958-2005. Users are advised to order this study alongside the other waves of NCDS.

Additional studies:
In addition to the main NCDS sweeps, some further studies have also been conducted. In 1978, a postal survey was conducted of the schools attended by members of the birth cohort at the time of the third follow-up of 1974, in order to obtain details of public examination entry and performance. Similar details were also sought from sixth-form and further education colleges etc., where these were identified by schools. Also, a 37-year sample survey of the NCDS cohort, focusing on basic skills, is held under SN 4992.

The UKDA also holds a number of NCDS-related files (for example, of data collected in the course of a special study of handicapped school-leavers, at age 18 (held under SN 2024) and the data from a 5% feasibility study, conducted at age 20 (held under SN 2025), which preceded NCDS4. A parent migration dataset, based on NCDS5, is held under SN 4324, and a study detailing partnership histories, compiled from NCDS sweeps 5 and 6, is held under SN 5217.

Further information about the full NCDS series can be found on the CLS NCDS web pages.

NCDS8:
The eighth sweep of NCDS was conducted in 2008-2009, when respondents were aged 50 years. The core aims of the NCDS8 were to update the life history information collected in previous studies and to collect new information to help understand the ageing process. Many of the questions in the NCDS8 follow-up had been asked in earlier waves of the NCDS and the BCS, which will allow for the making of comparisons both across the sweeps of NCDS and with the BCS cohort.

The 2008-2009 survey is comprised of the following elements:

a 55 minute a 'core' interview (included a Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI); Computer Assisted Self Interview (CASI); a series of cognitive assessments)
a paper questionnaire

Edition history:
The NCDS8 has been deposited at the UKDA in stages. In March 2009 an interim dataset was deposited, based on 2,997 interviews completed between August and December 2008. This dataset was comprised of a subset of the full list of variables.

In February 2010 the first full sample edition was deposited (UKDA second edition). This deposit included responses to the bulk of the questions put to cohort members in 2008-2009. The variables which have not been included in this file are essentially those that require the most complex post-fieldwork editing in order to make them usable and in the main are those which relate to the four ‘history’ modules – housing history, relationship history, fertility history and economic activity history. In addition, variables relating to absent children, older children and specific details relating to recently achieved qualifications have not been included in this first deposit (although a series of derived summary variables relating to highest qualification have been included).

Main Topics:
CAPI interview:
The CAPI interview collected updated information about household composition, housing, relationships, births and other pregnancies, periods of lone parenthood, adopted children, absent and older children, parents, family income, economic activity, education and qualifications, work-related training, use of computers, health, smoking, drinking, exercise, height, weight, social participation and social support.

CASI interview:
The CASI interview collected information on voting behaviour and party support, experience of symptoms of the menopause, problematic drinking behaviour, well-being, relationship satisfaction, domestic division of labour, job commitment, attitudes towards pensions and retirement, childhood, efficacy and life satisfaction.

Standard Measures
The interview included several established scales: Kanungo’s Job Involvement Scale; the AUDIT (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test) and the Malaise

The cognitive assessment module is comprised of four tasks: Word list recall test; Animal naming task; Letter cancellation task; Delayed word list recall test.

Coverage:
Dates of Fieldwork: August 2008-May 2009
Country: Great Britain
Spatial Units: Government Office Regions (GORs); Standard Regions. See documentation for further details of region and geographic variables.
Observation Units: Individuals; Families/households
Kind of Data: Numeric data; Individual (micro) level

Universe Sampled:
Location of Units of Observation:National
Population:Adults in Great Britain born in one particular week in 1958 (NCDS respondents were aged 50 at the time of NCDS8).

Methodology:
Time Dimensions: Longitudinal/panel/cohort
Sampling Procedures: No sampling (total universe)
Number of Units: 9,790 cases
Method of Data Collection: Self-completion
Weighting: No weighting used.

Language(s) of Written Materials:
Study Description: English
Study Documentation: English

Access:
Access Conditions: The depositor has specified that registration is required and standard conditions of use apply. The depositor may be informed about usage.
Additional special conditions of use also apply. See terms and conditions for further information.
Availability: ESDS Longitudinal, UK Data Archive
Contact: Help desk: longitudinal@esds.ac.uk

Date of Release:
First Edition: 17 March 2009
Latest Edition: 04 March 2010 ( 2nd Edition )

Copyright:
Copyright Centre for Longitudinal Studies

Documentation:

Format	Name	Size in Kilobytes	Description
PDF	ncds8_final_mainstage_documentation.pdf	2508	Questionnaire (first deposit)
PDF	ncds_2008-9_guide_to_dataset_first_deposit.pdf	674	NCDS8 User Guide (first deposit)
PDF	ncds_2008-9_self_completion_questionnaire.pdf	756	Self-Completion Questionnaire (first deposit)
HTML	UKDA_Study_6137_Information.htm	26	Study information and citation