COR617F2 Summer 1995 The aspirations recoding project is an important element of a dissertation research project which examines socioeconomic status differences in adult mental health. Of particular interest is the degree to which unfulfilled career aspirations affect the psychological well-being of men and women at midlife. It is very important that we accurately code the occupational aspirations stated by WLS respondents when they were high school seniors. These newly coded aspiration variables will allow researchers to examine: whether or not respondents surpassed - or fell short - of their original aspirations; whether or not respondents actually entered occupations that were substantively similar to their young adult aspirations; and the degree to which these discrepancies affect the psychological well-being of the WLS respondents at age 53. Variables to be coded: 1. Each and every screen will already include the ID and an indicator for male or female. 2. Code the following fields: JOB_NXT_YR: This variable is based on Q4 on the original questionnaire. If the respondent indicates a specific job which s/he is going to have next year, type a Y (yes). Otherwise, type N (no). We are interested only in jobs that the respondent is taking next school year. A short-term or summer job should be coded as a No. If the respondent specifies, for instance, that she is going to be working at a restaurant during the upcoming summer, but will be attending a teaching college in the fall, we would type a No here. SPINDNXYR: If "Yes" is the reply to JOB_NXT_YR, then the information provided in Q4 "My job will be (describe)" should be assigned both a three-digit 1970 industry code and occupational code. Industry code is in this first field. Rely heavily on the blue Census book to choose the appropriate code, and verify your choice by examining the orange Census book. Also, industry code "cheat sheets" are provided to simplify your job. SPOCCNXYR: If "Yes" is the reply to JOB_NXT_YR, then the information provided in Q4 "My job will be (describe)" should be assigned both a three-digit 1970 industry code and occupational code. Occupation code is in this field. Rely heavily on the blue Census book to choose the appropriate code, and verify your choice by examining the orange Census book. Also, occupational code "cheat sheets" are provided to simplify your job. Plans to join the military or get married will not be coded. You should spend your time entering the detailed information describing their work activity next year. If you are unable to ascertain a three-digit code for either industry or occupation, leave the field blank. DAD_OCC1 and DAD_OCC2: Each respondent should have placed a check mark in the left-hand column of question 4A to denote his/her father's occupation. A value of 1-9 should be entered in field DAD_OCC1 to best describe the father's occupation. In the event that two categories were checked in that column, enter one code for per each response, using fields DAD_OCC1 and DAD_OCC2. If only one occupational category is checked off, leave the DAD_OCC2 variable blank. JOB_ENTER: A value of 1-9 will be assigned to this variable, based on the sample member's response to Q9b. Be careful to code the information on the far right hand column ("Me"), NOT the information in the left-hand column. Any check marks in the left hand column pertain to the father's occupation not the student's occupational goal. Likewise, students often placed an M in the left-hand column to indicate their mother's jobs. In this field, you should only code the information that applies to respondent's own goal. Your training packet includes a "marked up" copy of a 1957 questionnaire. This will make it easy for you to assign a number to the category that the respondent checked off. The following numbers are to be assigned: 1 Office work (Cashier, clerk, secretary, bookkeeper, etc.) 2 Professional (Doctor, lawyer, minister, teacher, etc.) 3 Executive (manages large business, industry, firm) 4 Factory worker (laborer, janitor, farm hand, etc.) 5 Salesman (insurance, real estate, auto, store, etc.) 6 Owns, rents, manages small business (store, newspaper, cafe, etc.) 7 Owns, rents, manages farm 8 Other occupation (be specific) 9 Blank, no information provided SPJOBENTER: Here you will type in the three-digit 1970 Census occupational code which best describes the aspiration indicated by the respondent. There are several questions which will provide you with information to answer this question. First, respondents may specify the precise job they hope to enter under the category of "Other occupation (be specific)." Secondly, students may have circled or underlined one of the specific occupations listed parenthetically in one of the eight major categories listed above. (e.g. Student put a check mark next to the category "professional," but also underlined the word "teacher." From this you would deduce that the respondent's specific career goal was to be a teacher). Thirdly, respondents may be entering a very specific academic program or trade/apprenticeship program. This is a source of aspirations information. For instance, if a respondent indicates that s/he is entering a nursing school affiliated at a local hospital, or is attending a plumber apprenticeship program, then this information can provide a "clue" for you when deciding on the three-digit occupational code to assign. In the following two fields (i.e. DIDRSPEC and SCHLMAJR), you must indicate whether or not you used any of these "clues." If you are unable to ascertain a three-digit code, leave this field blank. Several "default" codes may be used when the JOB_ENTER field is completed, and no further information is provided: 1 Office work - 395 Not specified clerical worker 4 Factory worker - 695 Not specified operative 5 Salesman - 280 Salesmen and sales clerks, n.e.c. 7 Owns, rents, manages farm - 801 Farmer (owner/tenant) SPJOBENTER IS PERHAPS THE MOST IMPORTANT VARIABLE THAT YOU WILL BE CODING. BE SURE TO THINK ABOUT ALL THE ISSUES WE DISCUSSED DURING THE OCCUPATIONAL CODING SESSION, AND REFER BACK TO THE INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS. ALSO, FEEL FREE TO CONSULT ME IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT A CODING DECISION. DIDRSPEC: In this field, you will type "yes" if the information provided in question 9b alone was sufficient to assign an occupational code. In other words, if you were able to assign a three-digit occupational code to the student's career goal based on the category checked off in question 9; any occupations underlined or circled in that question; or any additional info provided in the "Be specific" line, then type a Y (yes) in this field. If you relied on other sources of info, or if the respondent only checked off a broad category, then type N (no). SCHLMAJR: If you relied on information from the respondent's school major or academic/training program in order to assign an occupational code, type Y (yes) here. Otherwise, type N (no). In most cases, the school major will clearly translate into a career goal (e.g. nursing school, teaching major, engineering major), etc. In several cases, you will be unable to assign a specific job based on college major. For instance, you will not be able to assign a specific occupational code for liberal arts majors, home economics majors, and business majors, if no additional information is provided. PROBLEM: You will type an X in this field ONLY when you have a problem or question that cannot be resolved during your coding session. Each morning, I will search your work for Xs in the PROBLEM field, and I will then attempt to solve the problem.