National Survey of Family Growth

DESCRIPTION : The NSFG was conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) in 1973, 1976, 1988, 1995, 2002, and 2006-2008. The 1973 to 1995 surveys are of women ages 15 to 44 years of age. These data provide reliable national estimates on marriage, divorce, contraception, infertility, and the health of women and infants in the United States. The 2002 cycle surveyed men ages 15-44 as well and covered topics similar to those for females, related to reproductive health and fatherhood. The 2006-2008 cycle was collected in a continuous format, allowing for data to cover longer periods of time and to be released in a more timely manner. Data for this cycle will cover 2006-2010.

CODEBOOKS : Codebooks for 1995 are available in pdf format on the local area network (\Public\Data\NSFG\1995\Codebooks)and on CD-rom obtainable from the CFDR office. Codebooks for 2002 are located (\Public\Data\NSFG\Wave 6). Codebooks for 2006-2008 are located (\Public\Data\NSFG\Cycle 7). Earlier years are available on CD-rom.

DATA : Data are available for 1973, 1976, 1976 couple file, 1976 interval file, 1988, and 1995. Data for the 1995 wave are also available on the CFDR local area network. For 1995, the raw data have been converted into 2 SAS datasets-the interval file (NSFGi95.sas7bdat) and the respondent file (NSFG95r.sas7bdat). The Cycle 6 raw datafiles have been converted into three SAS datasets-the female respondent (female.sas7bdat), male respondents (male.sas7bdat), and pregnancy (preg.sas7bdat). The Cycle 7 raw datafiles for males, females, and pregnancies are available on the server. Earlier years of data not available on the network may be obtained by filling out a CFDR data request form or contacting the CFDR office at (419) 372-7279.

2006-2008 data is now available on the server. More data for Cycle 7 will be released at a later date.

The CDC has created an electronic codebook for the 1995 NSFG called the Statistical Export and Tabulation System which enables users to extract variables and cases from both the respondent and the interval files. This software can be downloaded from the website or obtained from the CFDR staff.

The CDC has created an online codebook for the 2002 and 2006-2008 NSFG called Webdoc. Webdoc enables you to browse sections of the codebooks, user guides, questionnaires, and variable frequencies. The 2002 Webdoc is available here and the 2006-2008 Webdoc is locatedhere.

LIST OF FREQUENCIES: Frequencies are available for all variables and waves in each codebook.

WEBLINKS: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nsfg.htm Full questionnaires are available for download. The Cycle 6 questionnaires (Public\Data\NSFG\Wave 6\NSFG Cycle 6 Questionnaires) and the Cycle 7 (Public\Data\NSFG\Cycle 7\ Questionnaires) questionnaires are available on the server.

CONDITIONS FOR USE : The CDC requires that the user agree not to attempt to identify any respondents.