This essay describes the new National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1997 Cohort (NLSY97) that is the data set used in the articles in this volume. It briefly describes the background for the survey, its sponsorship by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, its fielding, and...

This article describes the design features and topical coverage of the National Longitudinal Surveys (NLS). The NLS are perhaps the oldest and most widely used panel surveys of individuals in the United States. These surveys were started in the mid-1960s to exam employment issues faced by...