WLS Data Documentation
Supplementary Documentation
View supplementary documents for data collected about the respondents.
These data include: Relative body mass index, attractiveness, and H.S. activities from the 1957 H.S. yearbooks;
Job and college characteristics; female graduates' work histories; high school district resources; disability claims forms;
life history and health at midlife; area resources file; and social security earnings data.
Documentation for the WLS 12.23 Release
Conventions NEW WLS USERS please read this.
Learn about variable naming and missing value conventions used in the WLS datasets.
Please see this Change Notice for details regarding the latest release. See complete list of all change notices.
Codebooks and Flowcharts
Browse codebooks grouped by collection wave.
Flowcharts
Visually browse instrument flowcharts for the 2003 - 2006 collection period.
Browse by topic
Find data in the WLS dataset by research interest.
Search
Search for variables in the WLS dataset.
Questionnaires
View paper and mail questionnaires from the study.
Scales (PDF)
Information about the scales constructed from the WLS data.
Appendices
Read detailed information about WLS data collection and variable creation.
Cross-reference Tables
Browse the original cross-reference tables
Browse for variables from the 1957-1994 data.
Note: These cross-reference tables link
to old versions of the codebooks, so the frequencies will not match the current data.
Updated cross-reference information will be available for the new data in the coming months.
WLS Handbook
The Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS) Handbook is a useful resource for researchers who want to use WLS data. The handbook is designed to direct readers to appropriate sources of the WLS data, methodology, and documentation information.
Issues with the Data
Issues with the data or documentation? Let us know.
Please contact us if you notice any problems with the
data or documentation.