Newsletter

December 1996 - Number 3

Last January, the Family Life Surveys merged onto the information superhighway with the establishment of the FLS home page on the World Wide Web under RAND's Labor and Population home page. Over time, the content has expanded, and we hope to ultimately make the FLS home page a one-stop shopping center for information on the FLS data and for access to data and documentation. If you do not have access to the Web, please contact us (see the section at the end of this newsletter on whom to contact at RAND about FLS data) for information about any of the items below.

The FLS home page currently contains the following items:

Descriptions of and Access to Public Release FLS Data

Brief data descriptions are provided along with information on how to obtain data and documentation for each database. For those with Internet and Web access, electronic versions of the publicly released FLS databases are available from the FLS home page or from RAND's anonymous ftp server, info.rand.org. See the newsletter section on "Obtaining FLS Data" for information on downloading via ftp.

Data from the First Malaysian Family Life Survey (MFLS-1), the Second Malaysian Family Life Survey (MFLS-2), and the 1993 Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS-1) are all available on-line. The FLS data is available in two formats: SAS transport files and ascii files.

We are now adding copies of the documentation for the MFLS-2 and IFLS-1. (Unfortunately only hardcopy documentation exists for MFLS-1.) The MFLS-2 and IFLS-1 documentation will be available in PDF format. First-time users will have to download the Adobe Acrobat reader to view these documents. The Adobe Acrobat reader is available free of charge on the Web from Adobe Systems Incorporated at http://www.adobe.com/acrobat/.

Postpublic Release Data Update Information

All FLS data updates are made available via the FLS home page and the anonymous ftp server. We strongly urge FLS data users to periodically check the FLS site for information on recent data updates and availability of revised data files. Although we send e-mail to users alerting them to changes in the FLS updates page, we know that our list is not complete because of the wide accessibility of the FLS data and because not all users have sent us e-mail addresses. In the next section of this newsletter, we ask for information to help us update our list of data users.

FLS Bibliography

A list of papers, publications, theses, and dissertations based on MFLS-1, MFLS-2 and IFLS-1 data is available on the FLS home page. The list contains those items of which we at RAND are aware. The list is updated periodically. The FLS Newsletter lists only those additions since the previous newsletter. The FLS bibliography on the FLS home page is the complete list we have compiled. In the next section of this newsletter, we ask for information to update the FLS bibliography. If you do not have access to the World Wide Web and would like a copy of the current bibliography, please contact us.

Past (and Current) Issues of the FLS Newsletter

Electronic copies of all issues of the FLS Newsletter are available. If you misplaced your newsletters or are a recent hard-copy subscriber, you may always obtain copies of the current and previous issues from the FLS home page. A subscription form for those who wish to receive a hard-copy version of the newsletter is also available.

Web Sites of Interest in FLS Countries

Not all FLS users are initially familiar with the social, cultural, economic, and political infrastructure of FLS countries. The rapid growth of the Internet has increased the amount of such information readily available on-line. As in the United States, more and more government agencies in FLS countries are coming on-line, providing information not only to their own citizens, but to the world community. And, as in the United States, a multitude of sites are available to choose from and explore.

We have included some of the FLS country Web sites (mainly from Malaysia and Indonesia at this point) that we have found to be useful. Many more sites exist. As you find relevant sites, please tell us so we can add a link to them in the FLS home page.