This article reviews the history and design of the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS), which has successfully followed a sample of more than 10,000 members of Wisconsin’s class of 1957 from high school graduation to the retirement years. It describes methods that have been used to locate the graduates in the 1964, 1975, 1992–1993, and 2003–2005 follow-up surveys and differentials in survey participation. Although typical response differentials by gender and education appear in the WLS, these are explainedby differentials in response by adolescent academic ability, academic performance, and social participation.
Blau, P. M., and O. D. Duncan. 1967. The American occupational structure. New York: John Wiley.
2.
Clarridge, B. R., L. L. Sheehy, and T. S. Hauser. 1977. Tracing members of a panel: A 17-year follow-up. In Sociological methodology, edited by K. F. Schuessler, 185–203. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
3.
Clausen, J. A.1991. Adolescent competence and the shaping of the life course. American Journal of Sociology96 (4): 805–842.
4.
Clausen, J. A.1993. American lives: Lookingback at the children of the Great Depression. New York: Free Press.
5.
Coleman, J. S.1961. The adolescent society. Glencoe, IL: Free Press.
6.
Davis, J. A., T. W. Smith, and P. Marsden. 2003. General social surveys, 1972–2002: Cumulative codebook. Chicago: National Opinion Research Center.
7.
Douglas, J. W. B.1964. The home and the school: A study of ability and attainment in the primary school. London: Macgibbon & Kee.
8.
Douglas, J. W. B., and J. M. Blomfield. 1958. Children under five: The results of a national survey made by a joint committee of the Institute of Child Health (University of London), the Society of Medical Officers of Health, and the Population Investigation Committee. London: Allen & Unwin.
9.
Douglas, J. W. B., J. M. Ross, and H. R. Simpson. 1968. All our future: A longitudinal study of secondary education. London: P. Davies.
10.
Elder, G. H., Jr.1974. Children of the Great Depression. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
11.
Elder, G. H., Jr.2002. Historical times and lives: A journey through time and space. In Looking at lives: American longitudinal studies of the twentieth century, edited by E. Phelps, F. F. Furstenberg, and A. Colby, 194–218. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
12.
Featherman, D. L., and R. M. Hauser. 1978. Opportunity and change. New York: Academic Press.
13.
Fitzgerald, J., P. Gottschalk, and R. Moffitt. 1998a. An analysis of sample attrition in panel data: The Michigan panel study of income dynamics. Journal of Human Resources (special issue, Attrition in Longitudinal Surveys)33 (2): 251–299.
14.
Fitzgerald, J., P.1998b. An analysis of the impact of sample attrition on the second generation of respondents in the Michigan panel study of income dynamics. Journal of Human Resources (special issue, Attrition in Longitudinal Surveys) 33 (2): 300–344.
15.
Froehlich, G. J.1941. The prediction of academic success at the University of Wisconsin, 1909–1941. Madison: Bureaus of Guidance and Records of the University of Wisconsin.
16.
Groves, R. M.2002. Survey nonresponse. New York: John Wiley.
17.
Groves, R. M., and M. Couper. 1998. Nonresponse in household interview surveys. New York: John Wiley.
18.
Groves, R. M., E. Singer, and A. Corning. 2000. Leverage-saliency theory of survey participation: Description and an illustration. Public Opinion Quarterly64 (3): 299–308.
19.
Hauser, R. M.1968. Schools and the stratification process: Some results of an analysis of covariance approach. American Journal of Sociology74 (6): 587–611.
20.
Hauser, R. M.1972. Socioeconomic background and educational performance. Washington, DC: American Sociological Association.
21.
Hauser, R. M., D. Carr, T. Hauser, M. Krecker, D. Kuo, J. Presti, D. Shinberg, M. Sweeney, Theresa Thompson-Colon, and S. C. N. Uhrig. 1994. The class of 1957 after 35 years: Overview and preliminary findings. CDE Working Papers, 93–117. Madison: Center for Demography and Ecology, University of Wisconsin–Madison.
22.
Hauser, R. M., and William H. Sewell. 1986. Familyeffects in simple models of education, occupational status, and earnings: Findings from the Wisconsin and Kalamazoo studies. Journal of Labor Economics4 (3, pt. 2): S83–S115.
23.
Hauser, R. M., J. T. Sheridan, and J. Warren. 1999. Socioeconomic achievements of siblings in the life course: New findings from the Wisconsin longitudinal study. Research on Aging21 (2): 338–378.
24.
Hauser, R. M., S.-L. Tsai, and W. H. Sewell. 1983. A model of stratification with response error in social and psychological variables. Sociology of Education56(1): 20–46.
25.
Hauser, R. M., and R. J. Willis. Forthcoming. Two voyages underway: Survey design and methodology in the Health and Retirement Study and the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study. Population and Development Review30 (supplement).
26.
Henmon, V. A. C., and F. O. Holt. 1931. A report on the administration of scholastic aptitude tests to 34,000 high school seniors in Wisconsin in 1929 and 1930 prepared for the committee on cooperation, Wisconsin secondary schools and colleges. Madison: Bureau of Guidance and Records of the University of Wisconsin.
27.
Juster, F. T., and R. Suzman. 1995. The health and retirement study: Data quality and early results. Journal of Human Resources30(supplement): S7–S56.
28.
Kohn, M. L., and C. Schooler. 1983. Work and personality: An inquiry into the impact of social stratification. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
29.
Little, J. K.1958. A state-wide inquiry into decisions of youth about education beyond high school—follow-up studies. Madison: University of Wisconsin School of Education.
30.
Little, J. K.1959. Explorations into the college plans and experiences of high school graduates: A state-wide inquiry. Madison: University of Wisconsin School of Education.
31.
Little, J. K.1965. The occupations of non-college going youth. Madison: University of Wisconsin–Madison.
32.
Lohnes, P. R., University of Pittsburgh, Project Talent Office, University of Pittsburgh, and School of Education. 1966. Measuring adolescent personality project talent five-year follow-up studies, interim report 1. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh.
33.
Marmot, M. G., G. D. Smith, S. Stansfeld, C. Patel, F. North, J. Head, I. White, E. Brunner, and A. Feeney. 1991. Health inequalities among British civil servants: The Whitehall II study. Lancet337(8754): 1387–1393.
34.
Oden, M. H.1968. The fulfillment of promise: 40-year follow-up of the Terman gifted group. Genetic Psychology Monographs77(1): 3–93.
35.
Pavalko, R. M., and K. G. Lutterman. 1973. Characteristics of willing and reluctant respondents. Pacific Sociological Review16(4): 463–476.
36.
Phelps, E., F. F. Furstenberg, and A. Colby. 2002. Looking at lives: American longitudinal studies of the twentieth century. New York: Russell Sage.
37.
Reiss, A. J., Jr., and A. L. Rhodes. 1961. The distribution of juvenile delinquency in the social class structure. American Sociological Review26(5): 720–732.
38.
Sewell, W. H., A. O. Haller, and G. W. Ohlendorf. 1970. The educational and early occupational status attainment process: Replication and revision. American Sociological Review35(6): 1014–1027.
39.
Sewell, W. H., A. O. Haller, and A. Portes. 1969. The educational and early occupational attainment process. American Sociological Review34(1): 82–92.
40.
Sewell, W. H., and R. M. Hauser. 1972. Causes and consequences of higher education: Models of the status attainment process. American Journal of Agricultural Economics54(6): 851–861.
41.
Sewell, W. H., and R. M. Hauser. 1975. Education, occupation, and earnings: Achievement in the early career. New York: Academic Press.
42.
Sewell, W. H., R. M. Hauser, K. W. Springer, and T. S. Hauser. 2003. As we age: The Wisconsin longitudinal study, 1957–2001. In Research in social stratification and mobility, vol. 20, edited by Kevin Leicht, 3–111. London: Elsevier.
43.
Sewell, W. H., R. M. Hauser, and W. C. Wolf. 1980. Sex, schooling and occupational status. American Journal of Sociology86(3): 551–583.
44.
Sewell, W. H., and V. P. Shah. 1967. Socioeconomic status, intelligence, and the attainment of higher education. Sociology of Education40(Winter): 1–23.
45.
Sweet, J., L. Bumpass, and V. Call. 1988. The design and content of the national survey of families and households. Madison: Center for Demography and Ecology, University of Wisconsin–Madison.
46.
Terman, L. M.1925. Mental and physical traits of a thousand gifted children. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
47.
Terman, L. M., and M. H. Oden. 1959a. The gifted child grows up: Twenty-five years’ follow-up of a superior group. 2nd ed.Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
48.
Terman, L. M., and M. H. Oden. 1959b. The gifted group at mid-life: Thirty-five years’ follow-up of the superior child. 2nd ed.Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
49.
Turner, Ralph H.1960. Sponsored and contest mobility and the school system. American Sociological Review25(6): 855–867.
50.
Turner, Ralph H.1964. The social context of ambition. San Francisco: Chandler.
51.
University of Pittsburgh, Project Talent Office, and J. C. Flanagan. 1964. The American high-school student: The identification, development, and utilization of humantalents. Pittsburgh, PA: School of Education, University of Pittsburgh.
52.
University of Pittsburgh, Project Talent Office, J. C. Flanagan, W. W. Cooley, University of Pittsburgh, and School of Education. 1966. Project talent: One-year follow-up studies. Pittsburgh, PA: School of Education, University of Pittsburgh.
53.
Wadsworth, M. E. J.1991. The imprint of time: Childhood, history, and adult life. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
54.
Warren, J. R., J. T. Sheridan, and R. M. Hauser. 2002. Occupational stratification across the life course: Evidence from the Wisconsin longitudinal study. American Sociological Review67(3): 432–455.
