National Survey of Family Growth - (2015-2017) Male Respondent File

DOI

10.17605/OSF.IO/MA3GF

Summary

'The National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) is designed and administered by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), an agency with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (DHHS/CDC)....Since the NSFG began in 1973, there have been ten data release files. 'The purpose of the survey is to produce reliable national estimates of: - Factors affecting pregnancy, including sexual activity, contraceptive use, and infertility; - The medical care associated with contraception, infertility, and childbirth; - Factors affecting marriage, divorce, cohabitation, and family building; - Adoption and caring for nonbiological children - Father involvement with their children; - Use of sexual and reproductive health services; and - Attitudes about sex, childbearing, and marriage.'...The survey contains key religion variables that may relate to these topics. 'The survey results are used by the U.S. DHHS [Department of Health and Human Services] and other research and policy organizations to help to understand the use of health services and health education programs, and to do statistical studies on the topics listed above, among others.' (NSFG 2015-2017 User's Guide: Main Text) Each wave of the NSFG survey contains a Female Respondent Survey, Male Respondent Survey, and a Pregnancy Survey. This is the Male Respondent Survey.

The ARDA has added five additional variables to the original data set to enhance the users' experience on our site.

Data File

Cases: 4540
Variables: 2590
Weight Variable: WGT2015_2017

'Since the NSFG data are based on a multi-stage probability-based, nationally representative sample of the household population aged 15-49, ... data users should understand how to account for the complex sample design when doing their analyses in order to obtain statistically valid results... Given that the sample design for the 2015-2017 NSFG is largely the same as that for the 2006-2010, 2011-2013, and 2013-2015 files, much of the information published for those file releases is applicable for 2015-2017.

'In the 2015-2017 NSFG, each person in the NSFG sample represents a different number of people in the U.S. household population and this number is indicated in the respondent's sampling weight. There are several factors that lead to variation in the size of the weights. For example, Hispanics, blacks, and teens were selected at higher rates than others in the 15-49 age group. Women also had a slightly higher probability of selection than men. Sampling weights adjust for these unequal probabilities of selection for different population subgroups. The sampling weights were further adjusted to account for differential response rates and coverage rates, so that accurate national estimates can be made from the sample. The weights were adjusted to U.S. Census Bureau projections of the number of persons in age-sex-race-ethnicity subgroups. Data users should use the weights in all analyses to obtain accurate estimates. Using the weights will permit replication of the nationally representative estimates that appear in published NCHS reports.

'Each of the 2015-2017 data files have a weight variable called 'WGT2015_2017' with values for each of the 5,554 female and 4,540 male respondents who completed NSFG interviews in 2015-2017. When correctly applied for the full set of cases, this 'WGT2015_2017' variable yields estimates representative of the 71.6 million men and 72.2 million women in the household population aged 15-49 of the United States in each dataset at the approximate midpoint of 2015-2017 interviewing (July 2016).' (NSFG 2015-2017 User's Guide: Main Text)

Data Collection

September 2015-September 2017

Original Survey (Instrument)

National Survey of Family Growth 2015-2017

Funded By

National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS)

Collection Procedures

'Fieldwork for the 2015-2017 NSFG was conducted from September 2015 through September 2017... After one sample respondent per household was selected based on screening interviews in NSFG sample households, in-person interviews were conducted with 5,554 women and 4,540 men 15-49 years of age for a total sample size of 10,094. The interviews were conducted by female interviewers trained specifically for the NSFG survey using laptop computers -- a procedure called computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI). ... For 2015-17, the interviews for female respondents averaged 73.0 minutes in length, and the interviews for male respondents averaged 49.9 minutes...' The overall response rate was 65.3 percent; 66.7 percent for women and 63.6 percent for men. (NSFG 2015-2017 User's Guide: Main Text)

Sampling Procedures

The sample is based on a multi-stage probability-based, nationally representative sample of the household population aged 15-49. The NSFG 2015-2017 includes oversamples for Hispanics, blacks, teens, and women. See the Users Guide for more information

Principal Investigators

National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS)

Related Publications

NSFG 2015-2017 User's Guide

Full list of related publications