Growth of American Families, 1955

CATALOG NUMBER: QP-003-001-1-2-United States-DPLS-1955

TITLE: Growth of American Families, 1955

BIBLIOGRAPHIC CITATION: Freedman, Ronald, Pascal K. Whelpton and Arthur A. Campbell. Growth of American families, 1955. [machine-readable data file]. 1st DPLS ed. 1973. Ann Arbor, MI: Survey Research Center. University of Michigan [producer]. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin. Data and Program Library Service. [distributor]. 1 data file (2713 logical records), plus accompanying documentation.

ORIGINATING ORGANIZATION: Survey Research Center. Institute for Social Research. University of Michigan

DPLS SOURCE: Professor Larry Bumpass, Department of Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

UNIVERSE TO WHICH DATA PERTAIN: white married women 18-39 (inclusive), living with their husbands or temporarily separated because of the husband’s service in the armed forces.

DATE OF DATA COLLECTED: 1955

SAMPLE DESCRIPTION: area probability sample. Schedule was completed for 2713 women. Married population represented by sample constitutes approximately 67% of all women, 75% of all white women, and 91% of all ever married women among those aged 18-39.

NUMBER OF DATA UNITS: 2713 cases, 338 variables.

TYPE OF FILE: Numerical

MODE OF STORAGE: 9-track tape, DAT tape, and CD-ROM; logical record in ASCII format

REFERENCE MATERIALS: codebook, questionnaire and description of sampling methods and sampling error.

PUBLICATIONS: Ronald Freedman, Pascal K. Whelpton, Arthur A. Campbell, Family Planning, Sterility and Population Growth , (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc. 1959)

CONDITION OF DATA: As received from Professor Bumpass (main variables from card data cleaned, transformed and written on tape)

ABSTRACT OF CONTENT: The data file contains responses to questions relating to American wives’ childbearing to date, their expected future childbearing and various factors influencing family size. The latter include demographic and socioeconomic conditions influencing the number of children wanted, the physiological capacity of the couple to have as many children as desired, and their ability to regulate conceptions so as to avoid too many children. Data file also includes variables relating to work experience of wives and their husbands, earnings of both spouses, occupation, age and marriage history, education, geographic location, religious preference, nationality of family of both husband and wife.

GEOGRAPHIC COVERAGE: United States

DESCRIPTORS: fertility, family planning, contraceptive practice, children

CLASSIFICATION: Unrestricted.

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Email: disc@mailplus.wisc.edu