WLS Codebooks

Note: Codebooks contain frequency data from the private data release. For some variables, these differ from the frequencies in the public release. Variables that differ between the public and private versions include "(not available on public release)" as part of the variable description, or a note indicating the difference between the public and private versions.

Phone: Reciprocal Friend

During the 1975 interview, the respondents were asked to name three
of their best high school friends.  If respondents named each other
as friends and they were both in the 1/3 sample they were coded as
"reciprocal" friends for the 1992-1993 interview.  Respondents who 
were reciprocal friends were asked the questions below.  All other
respondents skipped this section.

  rm001re            Does respondent have reciprocal friend in 1/3 sample?
  rm002rer           Is reciprocal friend living now?
  rm003rer-rm007re   Frequency of contact with reciprocal friend.
  rm008re            How close is respondent to reciprocal friend?
  rm009re-rm011re    Comparison of education, work and finances between
                       respondent and reciprocal friend.
  rm012re-rm013re    Year and state of reciprocal friend's death.
  rm014re            Reciprocal friend's idpriv.

rm001re: Does a reciprocal friendship exist where respondent named a same-sex best high school friend during the 1975 survey who is also in the 1/3 WLS sample and the friend named respondent as one of his/her best friends?

Data source: Graduate Respondent      Collected in: 1992-93      Mode: phone
Source variables: RCFR

Frequencies
Value Label Male Female Total
. System missing - NR 1011 813 1824
1 NO 3327 3494 6821
2 YES, Questions 460-465k WERE Asked 649 1005 1654
3 YES, Questions 460-465k Were NOT Asked 4 14 18
Note: For 18 respondents who had a reciprocal friend there was a
data error so that questions 460-465k were not asked. These
cases are coded 3 for RM001RE and inappropriate for variables
RM002RER - RM013RE.

See RM014RE for the IDPRIV of R's reciprocal friend.

rm002rer: Is your reciprocal friend alive?

Data source: Graduate Respondent      Collected in: 1992-93      Mode: phone
Source variables: 460
Revisions: Updated 9/96     

Frequencies
Value Label Male Female Total
. System missing - NR 1011 813 1824
-3 REFUSED, NOT ASCERTAINED 8 12 20
-2 3331 3508 6839
-1 DON'T KNOW 90 110 200
1 YES 541 875 1416
2 NO 6 5 11
3 Respondent Answered No, However Friend Was Alive At Time Of Interview 3 3 6
4 Respondent Answered Yes, However Friend Was Deceased At Time Of Interview 1 0 1
Note: See Appendix M - COR614, Friend's Death Reports for more
information about codes 3 and 4.

rm003rer: In the last 12 months, how often did you have contact with your reciprocal friend by letter, or by phone?

Data source: Graduate Respondent      Collected in: 1992-93      Mode: phone
Source variables: 460c

Frequencies
Value Label Male Female Total
. System missing - NR 1011 813 1824
-2 3438 3638 7076
-1 DON'T KNOW 1 2 3
0 NEVER 230 331 561
1 131 223 354
2 65 110 175
3 - 4 58 116 174
5 - 180 57 93 150

rm004rer: Unit of contact in last 12 months with reciprocal friend by letter, or by phone.

Data source: Graduate Respondent      Collected in: 1992-93      Mode: phone
Source variables: 460f

Frequencies
Value Label Male Female Total
. System missing - NR 1011 813 1824
-2 3669 3971 7640
1 DAY 5 3 8
2 WEEK 14 10 24
3 MONTH 21 45 66
4 YEAR 271 484 755

rm005re: Summary of frequency of contact with reciprocal friend during the last 12 months by letter, or by phone.

Data source: Graduate Respondent      Collected in: 1992-93      Mode: phone
Source variables: 460c, 460f

Frequencies
Value Label Male Female Total
. System missing - NR 1011 813 1824
-2 3438 3638 7076
-1 DON'T KNOW 1 2 3
0 NEVER 230 331 561
1 ONCE PER YEAR 101 183 284
2 SEVERAL TIMES PER YEAR 170 301 471
3 ONCE PER MONTH 17 31 48
4 SEVERAL TIMES PER MONTH 4 14 18
5 ONCE PER WEEK 10 7 17
6 SEVERAL TIMES PER WEEK 4 3 7
7 ONCE PER DAY 3 2 5
8 SEVERAL TIMES PER DAY 2 1 3
Note: See rm003rer, rm004rer.

This is a very crude summary. All numbers greater than one are
counted as "several". The unit given in RM004RER is then used
to determine the category for RM005RE.

rm006re: If you have not had any contact with your reciprocal friend in the past 12 months, what year did you last see your reciprocal friend?

Data source: Graduate Respondent      Collected in: 1992-93      Mode: phone
Source variables: 460m, 460c

Frequencies
Value Label Male Female Total
. System missing - NR 1011 813 1824
-3 REFUSED, NOT ASCERTAINED 0 1 1
-2 3749 4180 7929
-1 DON'T KNOW 10 39 49
57 1957 6 7 13
58 1958 0 4 4
59 1959 1 9 10
60 1960 1 9 10
61 1961 4 5 9
62 1962 1 6 7
63 1963 2 5 7
64 1964 1 1 2
65 1965 4 3 7
66 1966 1 0 1
67 1967 1 2 3
68 1968 0 2 2
69 1969 1 1 2
70 1970 7 4 11
71 1971 1 1 2
72 1972 2 6 8
73 1973 5 6 11
74 1974 0 4 4
75 1975 9 11 20
76 1976 0 3 3
77 1977 9 5 14
78 1978 3 8 11
79 1979 0 3 3
80 1980 11 4 15
81 1981 1 2 3
82 1982 17 26 43
83 1983 12 13 25
84 1984 6 1 7
85 1985 10 4 14
86 1986 6 7 13
87 1987 24 45 69
88 1988 18 16 34
89 1989 12 10 22
90 1990 23 34 57
91 1991 16 18 34
92 1992 6 8 14

rm007re: Have you had any contact with your reciprocal friend in last 5 years?

Data source: Graduate Respondent      Collected in: 1992-93      Mode: phone
Source variables: 462d, 460c, 460m

Frequencies
Value Label Male Female Total
. System missing - NR 1011 813 1824
-3 REFUSED/NOT ASCERTAINED 8 12 20
-2 3340 3516 6856
-1 DON'T KNOW 0 5 5
1 YES 416 681 1097
2 NO 216 299 515

rm008re: If you have had any contact with your reciprocal friend in the past 5 years, how close are you to your reciprocal friend?

Data source: Graduate Respondent      Collected in: 1992-93      Mode: phone
Source variables: 462f

Frequencies
Value Label Male Female Total
. System missing - NR 1011 813 1824
-2 3564 3832 7396
-1 DON'T KNOW 0 1 1
1 VERY CLOSE 47 98 145
2 SOMEWHAT CLOSE 142 209 351
3 NOT VERY CLOSE 143 232 375
4 NOT AT ALL CLOSE 84 141 225

rm009re: If you have had any contact with your reciprocal friend in the past 5 years, are you doing better or worse than your reciprocal friend in education?

Data source: Graduate Respondent      Collected in: 1992-93      Mode: phone
Source variables: 462m

Frequencies
Value Label Male Female Total
. System missing - NR 1011 813 1824
-3 REFUSED, NOT ASCERTAINED 0 1 1
-2 3564 3832 7396
-1 DON'T KNOW 8 24 32
1 MUCH BETTER 42 79 121
2 BETTER 78 135 213
3 SAME 208 317 525
4 WORSE 64 118 182
5 MUCH WORSE 16 7 23

rm010re: If you have had any contact with your reciprocal friend in the past 5 years, are you doing better or worse than your reciprocal friend in work?

Data source: Graduate Respondent      Collected in: 1992-93      Mode: phone
Source variables: 462s

Frequencies
Value Label Male Female Total
. System missing - NR 1011 813 1824
-3 REFUSED, NOT ASCERTAINED 0 2 2
-2 3564 3832 7396
-1 DON'T KNOW 26 70 96
1 MUCH BETTER 44 81 125
2 BETTER 79 159 238
3 SAME 197 272 469
4 WORSE 62 82 144
5 MUCH WORSE 8 15 23

rm011re: If you have had any contact with your reciprocal friend in the past 5 years, are you doing better or worse than your reciprocal friend financially?

Data source: Graduate Respondent      Collected in: 1992-93      Mode: phone
Source variables: 464

Frequencies
Value Label Male Female Total
. System missing - NR 1011 813 1824
-3 REFUSED, NOT ASCERTAINED 0 3 3
-2 3564 3832 7396
-1 DON'T KNOW 60 128 188
1 MUCH BETTER 45 66 111
2 BETTER 78 148 226
3 SAME 142 220 362
4 WORSE 76 110 186
5 MUCH WORSE 15 6 21

rm012re: In what year did your reciprocal friend die?

Data source: Graduate Respondent      Collected in: 1992-93      Mode: phone
Source variables: 465
*NOT AVAILABLE ON PUBLIC RELEASE*

Frequencies
Value Label Male Female Total
. System missing - NR 1011 813 1824
-2 3971 4505 8476
-1 DON'T KNOW 3 2 5
78 0 1 1
80 2 0 2
81 1 0 1
83 1 0 1
87 0 1 1
90 1 0 1
91 0 1 1
92 1 3 4

rm013re: In what state did your reciprocal friend die?

Data source: Graduate Respondent      Collected in: 1992-93      Mode: phone
Source variables: 465k
*NOT AVAILABLE ON PUBLIC RELEASE*

Frequencies
Value Label Male Female Total
. System missing - NR 1011 813 1824
-2 3971 4505 8476
-1 DON'T KNOW 1 0 1
5 California 1 0 1
8 Delaware 0 1 1
9 Washington, D.C. 1 0 1
14 Illinois 1 1 2
24 Minnesota 0 1 1
50 Wisconsin 5 5 10

rm014re: Reciprocal friend's IDPRIV.

Data source: Graduate Respondent      Collected in: 1992-93      Mode: phone
Source variables: RCFR
Revisions: Updated 2/2014     
*NOT AVAILABLE ON PUBLIC RELEASE*

Frequencies
Value Label Male Female Total
. System missing - NR 1011 813 1824
-2 3327 3494 6821
800014 - 806874 144 190 334
806875 - 813376 118 216 334
813378 - 820274 132 202 334
820280 - 827008 129 205 334
827038 - 833933 130 206 336
Note: Prior to release 13.02, 999999 was assigned to those without a
reciprocal friend in the WLS dataset. From release 13.02 on, these
cases are coded to -2 (inappropriate).

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