Attachment 6 - YA advance letter

National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979
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be the voice of your generation

Dear [Respondent Name],
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
between 45 and 52 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.