NSFH3/July 2006

		APPENDIX Q - PERSON NUMBERS IN THE NSFH DATA
                               

NSFH1 Person Numbers Maintained in NSFH2

In NSFH1 person numbers (also referred to as household member numbers) 
were assigned to all household members and to all sons and daughters and 
step-sons and daughters mentioned in the interview.  These numbers 
had values of 1 (main respondent), 2-15 (persons in the household) 
and 21-36 (sons and daughters and step-sons and -daughters living 
elsewhere).  When a person who had an NSFH1 person number was mentioned 
in NSFH2, the same NSFH1 person number was assigned.  


Person Numbers Assigned to Persons Not Mentioned in NSFH1

Persons mentioned in NSFH2 who were not mentioned in NSFH1 were assigned new 
person numbers (values ranging from 41-56).  These include new spouses and 
partners; children born since NSFH1; sons and daughters who should have been 
mentioned in NSFH1, but who were omitted; new roommates or relatives living 
in the household; and new spouse/partners children living (living with R or 
elsewhere).  Also included are the ex-spouse's new household members.

The initial assignment of these new person numbers was automated - i.e., the 
computer assigned them sequentially starting with "41" within the interview.
Potentially there were three separate interviews per case - main respondent, 
current spouse/partner, and ex-spouse/partner.   Each interview is 
self-contained and in the interview process there was no way to 
cross-reference information obtained in the interview with another respondent 
(e.g., the main respondent in the case of an interview with a spouse).  The 
person numbers had to be reconciled among the three interview types.  For 
example, a respondent may have separated, divorced, remarried and acquired 
a step-child, and had a baby with the new spouse between NSFH1 and NSFH2.  
The main respondent may have mentioned the new baby first (assigned a 41), 
the new spouse second (42), and the step-child third (43).  In the spouse 
interview, the respondent (i.e., the new spouse) would be assigned a person 
number of 41.  If the spouse mentioned her child (R1's step-child) first 
and the new baby second, the person numbers would be reversed when compared 
to the main respondent's numbers.  If the ex-spouse was living with a 
new partner, the new partner would have been assigned a person number 
of 41.  

We have reassigned person numbers so that each person is assigned a unique 
person number across all interviews for a particular case.  This proved to be 
a very complex and tedious process.  The unambiguous cases are those where 
the names and ages are the same, and the relationships are consistent (R1's 
biological child; spouse's step-child, and the residence is the same (in- or 
out- of Rs household)).  There were a fairly large number of ambiguous 
cases, and there are undoubtedly situations where a person was mentioned at 
NSFH1 and at NSFH2 was assigned a different person number.  

Children and step-children appear and disappear between the two interviews. 
In the case of biological children (and step-children living with R at NSFH1)
we try to account for missed children in the lost child sequence.  We made 
no attempt in the interview to determine where children listed in NSFH2 but 
not in NSFH1 have come from or why they were not reported in NSFH1.


Some Numbers are Not Assigned

Note that there may be sequential numbers that are not assigned - 
for example there may be a 41 and a 43, but no 42.  This may occur
for several reasons, but primarily in situations where the person 
appeared to be a new person, but later examination revealed that it 
was a person mentioned in NSFH1.  It can also occur when the interviewer 
enters a person on a roster and then later deletes the person.


Not Everyone Assigned a Person Number at NSFH1 was Asked About in NSFH2
Those not asked about include:

	non-relatives in household at NSFH1

	relatives other than spouse/partner and R's children and step-
	children in household at NSFH1

	r's step-children at time 1 who are the children of an ex-spouse or 
	partner at NSFH2


Person Numbers in the Parent Interview

In the parent interviews person numbers were assigned by the computer to all 
household members and all sons and daughters and step-sons and -daughters.  
These numbers have values of 61-75.  No attempt has been made to identify 
persons mentioned in the parent interview who were also mentioned in the 
main respondent and/or spouse interviews.  Thus in a few cases, when the 
parent and the respondent lived in the same household, or when the respondent 
and a sibling lived in the same household, the same person will have a 
different person number in the main respondent and parent interviews.  The 
main respondent also will have a different number (other than "1") in the 
parent interview.  There is a variable identifying the main respondent on 
the parent interview file.  For reasons which cannot be identified a large
number of parents did not list the primary respondent when listing their
children.  This is discussed in section X.H.

NSFH3

Persons mentioned for the first time in nsfh3 were given person numbers in 
the range 61 and higher. Those mentioned for the first time in nsfh2 were 
assigned in the range 41 to 55; and those mentioned in nsfh1 are in the 
range 2-15 if they were coresident with the respondent and 21-34 if they lived 
apart from the respondent.

After the data collection process was completed, we conducted a detailed review 
of all person numbers cross checking name, age, relationship and gender with 
previous rounds of data and between spouses.  As a result a fairly large number 
of person numbers we corrected.  Many of these corrections involved the discovery 
that someone who was thought to be a new person was in fact mentioned in a 
previous interview. This may have occurred for a number of reasons including 
interviewer error and because the person was identified with a different name 
in nsfh3 (e.g., Junior now becomes Henry).

In the present version of the wave 3 data file, the corrected person numbers are stored in 
a different location from the initial person numbers.  The new (corrected) person 
numbers are assigned a name with an additional "r" prefix.  For example, re20 is 
who needed help with dressing in the care and assistance sequence.  The variable 
that has the corrected data for this item is rre20.  This should be used in analysis.  
The "rr" variables are at the end of the file, and not in the logical sequence of 
the interview. This is somewhat inconvenient. In future versions of the 
data file, when we have completed the review, we will store the corrected data 
in the original person number locations, and the "rr" variables will be omitted.