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BOCYF Projects
Longitudinal Surveys of Children
Publications: Longitudinal Surveys of Children (1998)
This is a period of enormous change in the circumstances of children and youth, partly as a consequence, but also contributing to pervasive changes in family life. As growing numbers of policy makers turn to the federal statistical system to help guide them in the development of policies and programs for children and youth, longitudinal data on children hold the key to knowledge about the factors that impede or foster healthy development.
Given this continuing interest in monitoring and understanding the lives of children and youth, the Board on Children, Youth, and Families and the Committee on National Statistics of the National Research Council convened the Workshop on Longitudinal Surveys of Children on September 12 and 13, 1997. Sponsored by the National Institute of Justice, the workshop was held to:
- Examine conceptual and methodological challenges in surveys that collect longitudinal data on children and their families.
- and foster information sharing.
- collaboration across otherwise independent longitudinal research initiatives on children and youth.
Sixteen surveys were represented at this workshop. The surveys were selected on the basis of such factors as scope, design, and stage of completion, in order to obtain numerous perspectives. The surveys cover a wide range of substantive areas of child development and well-being, including health, education, delinquency and crime, child care, and participation in social welfare programs. The workshop agenda was structured to allow for discussion of cross-cutting methodological and conceptual issues, identification of common policy questions, and consideration of mechanisms for ongoing information sharing.
A report, Longitudinal Surveys of Children, was released in September 1998.
A related project is the 1994 workshop held by the Board on Children, Youth, and Families and the Committee on National Statistics, Integrating Federal Statistics on Children.
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