Advance Letter/Locator Card

We Need You!
It's time again for the NLSY97! When you share your experiences, you are also speaking for
the 1,900 people you represent. We need you to provide information so public policy will
not be based on preconceptions and guess work. This is your chance to tell us about your
part of your generation and help policy makers determine what really is important to you.
An increased monetary expression of appreciation has been approved for this round.
Your interviewer will tell you the amount when you speak to set up an
appointment. You will receive the cash at the time of the interview, and
we will send you a community service certificate when this round of the
survey ends in early summer 2007.
We realize that you are very busy and that is why we will make a special
effort this year to work around your schedule. NORC interviewers are
very flexible and willing to arrange the interview at a convenient time
and location for you. It is even possible for the interview to be completed
in segments if necessary. Please update your contact information on the bottom of this
card.
Thank You!
Charles Pierret
Director of the National Longitudinal Surveys
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
If you have any questions, or if you would like to set up a time now to complete this year’s
interview, please feel free to contact our toll-free project hotline at (800) 789-1346.

First Name: _______________________________________
Last Name: _______________________________________
Address:__________________________________________
Apt or Unit Number: ________________________________
City, State, Zip Code: ________________________________
Phone (Home): ____________________________________
Phone (Work): ____________________________________
Phone (Cell): ______________________________________
E-mail :___________________________________________
Are you moving? When? ____________________________

WHY IS THIS STUDY IMPORTANT?

Thanks to your help, policymakers and researchers will have a better understanding of the work
experiences, family characteristics, health, financial status, and other important information about the lives of people in your generation. This is a
voluntary study, and there are no penalties for not answering questions. However, missing responses make it more difficult to understand the
issues that concern people in your community and across the country. Your answers represent the experiences of hundreds of other people your
age. We hope we can count on your participation again this year.

WHO AUTHORIZES THIS STUDY? The sponsor of the study is the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor
Statistics. The study is authorized under Title 29, Section 2, of the United States Code. The Center for Human Resource Research at The Ohio State
University and the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago conduct this study under a contract with the Department of
Labor. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved the questionnaire and has assigned 1220-0157 as the study's control
number. This control number expires on October 31, 2007. Without OMB approval and this number, we would not be able to conduct this study.
WHO SEES MY ANSWERS? We want to reassure you that your confidentiality is protected by law.
In accordance with the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act of 2002, the Privacy Act, and other applicable Federal laws,
the Bureau of Labor Statistics, its employees and agents, will, to the full extent permitted by law, use the information you provide for statistical
purposes only, will hold your responses in confidence, and will not disclose them in identifiable form without your informed consent. All the
employees who work on the survey at the Bureau of Labor Statistics and its contractors must sign a document agreeing to protect the
confidentiality of your data. In fact, only a few people have access to information about your identity because they need that information to carry
out their job duties.
Some of your answers will be made available to researchers at the Bureau of Labor Statistics and other government agencies, universities, and
private research organizations through publicly available data files. These publicly available files contain no personal identifiers, such as names,
addresses, Social Security numbers, and places of work, and exclude any information about the States, counties, metropolitan areas, and other,
more detailed geographic locations in which survey participants live, making it much more difficult to figure out the identities of participants.
Some researchers are granted special access to data files that include geographic information, but only after those researchers go through a
thorough application process at the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Those authorized researchers must sign a written agreement making them official
agents of the Bureau of Labor Statistics and requiring them to protect the confidentiality of survey participants. Those researchers are never
provided with the personal identities of participants. The National Archives and Records Administration and the General Services Administration
may receive copies of survey data and materials because those agencies are responsible for storing the Nation's historical documents.

HOW MUCH TIME WILL THE INTERVIEW TAKE? Based on preliminary
tests, we expect the average interview to take about 60 minutes. Your interview may be somewhat shorter or longer depending on your
circumstances. If you have any comments regarding this study or recommendations for reducing its length, send them to the Bureau of Labor
Statistics, National Longitudinal Surveys, 2 Massachusetts Avenue, N.E., Washington, DC 20212.
WHERE CAN I FIND MORE INFORMATION? To find
additional information on the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) visit http://www.bls.gov/nls. Click on the National Longitudinal Survey
of Youth 1997 link under the heading General Overviews.