Attachment 6 - Advance Letter

National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979
...................................

be the voice of your generation

Dear [Respondent Name],
We are excited to announce the 27th round of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth!
As a participant in the NLSY79, you’ve helped make this study one of the most cited surveys in the country!
This amazing accomplishment could not have been achieved without your continued cooperation and
participation. And for that, we thank you!
After so many years of participation, you might ask “what exactly have I accomplished?” There is no easy,
short answer to this question, and that is a testament to the large impact you have had. Over the last 37
years, this study has been be used in more than 5,358 journal articles, legislation, media outlets, theses, PhD
dissertations, and conferences. The NLSY79 has been cited in media outlets from the Washington Post and
Huffington Post to Fox News and Forbes. Helping researchers to better understand the trends and needs of
your generation has allowed for our society to make better decisions in the labor force and education.
We follow the federal laws that govern the confidentiality of survey respondents, as well as additional policies
and procedures that ensure your answers are safeguarded. Please see the back of this letter for more
information about privacy and confidentiality. The average interview lasts about 60 minutes. And new this
year, you can receive your gift through PayPal.
Because of your participation, just a little over an hour every two years, you’ve had a direct impact on the way
our society understands some of the most critical issues impacting our country. Thanks for your contribution!
Sincerely,
Jeffrey A Groen
Bureau of Labor Statistics

NLSY79.NORC.ORG | 877-853-5908

WHY IS THIS STUDY IMPORTANT? Thanks to your help, researchers and policymakers 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,
because your answers represent the experiences of hundreds of other people your age, missing responses make it more
difficult to understand the issues that concern people in your community and across the country. We thank you for you past
participation, and hope we can count on you 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 NORC 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 ?????????????????. 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 (CIPSEA), 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. CIPSEA strictly limits who may have access to protected data,
sets strict fines and penalties for knowing and willful disclosures of confidential information to unauthorized persons,
and explicitly exempts protected statistical information from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act. All the
employees who work on the survey at the Bureau of Labor Statistics and its contractors must sign a document pledging to
protect the confidentiality of your data.
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 learn more about the survey, visit www/nlsinfo.org. To search for
articles, reports, and other research based on the National Longitudinal Surveys, visit www.nlsbibliography.org.