American Sociological Association Didactic Seminar: Doing Research with the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study

Sunday - August 9th, 2009 10:30am – 12:10pm
Hilton San Francisco (Room TBA)

The Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS) is hosting a training workshop for anyone who wants to learn more about the WLS. Along with the history and content of the 51 year-old project, we will discuss the addition of DNA data to the analysis variables and our plans for in-person interviews with the graduate and sibling panel starting in 2010.

For more information about the training workshop please contact Carol Roan (roan@wisc.edu)

Welcome to the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study

The Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS) is a long-term study of a random sample of 10,317 men and women who graduated from Wisconsin high schools in 1957. The WLS provides an opportunity to study the life course, intergenerational transfers and relationships, family functioning, physical and mental health and well-being, and morbidity and mortality from late adolescence through 2008. WLS data also cover social background, youthful aspirations, schooling, military service, labor market experiences, family characteristics and events, social participation, psychological characteristics, and retirement.

Survey data were collected from the original respondents or their parents in 1957, 1964, 1975, 1992, and 2004; from a selected sibling in 1977, 1994, and 2005; from the spouse of the original respondent in 2004; from the spouse of the selected sibling in 2006; and from widow(er)s of the graduates and siblings in 2006. Data are currently available from all collection rounds except the widows. These will be available in the future. Please join the WLS list serv by sending an email to WLSannounce-request@ssc.wisc.edu with a subject line of "Subscribe", and visit this site frequently to ensure you are aware of any updates.

The Wisconsin Longitudinal Study is supported by the Behavioral and Social Research Program of the National Institute on Aging.

NEWSupplementary Data and Documentation

View the Documentation Page to access supplementary documents for data collected about the respondents.

Data Updates

July 1, 2008 - The WLS 12.23 data set is now available. This release contains additional supplementary data pertaining to Wisconsin school district characteristics. The scale documentation has been updated. There are some corrections and updates to previously released variables. Please see Change Notice 30 for details.

View all data update notices

"The Class of 1957 in their Mid-60s: A First Look"
(text only)
(with variable names embedded in the text)
NEW (full color)

"Brothers and Sisters: Findings from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study"
NEW (full color)

Pilot Grant Opportunity: The Center for Demography of Health and Aging (CDHA) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison will award three pilot grants to investigators using the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS) data for scholarly research. For more information, please visit the page for the Pilot Grant Program.

WLS Handbook

The Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS) Handbook is a useful resource for researchers who want to use WLS data. The handbook is designed to direct readers to appropriate sources of the WLS data, methodology, and documentation information.

Download the WLS handbook