The Design of a Multilevel Survey of Children, Families, and Communities

The Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey

Narayan Sastry, Bonnie Ghosh-Dastidar, John L. Adams, Anne R. Pebley

ResearchPublished 2006

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In this paper, we describe the development and implementation of the multilevel sample design for the Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey, a study of children, adults, families, and neighborhoods in Los Angeles County. This survey was designed to support multilevel analyses on a number of topics, including child development, residential mobility, and welfare reform. We describe the design of the baseline wave, highlighting the analytical and statistical issues that shaped the study. We also present the results of an in-depth statistical investigation of the survey’s ability to support multilevel analyses that was carried out as part of the study design. The results of this study provide important guideposts for future studies of neighborhoods and their effects on adults and children.

Reprinted with permission from Social Science Research, Volume 35, Issue 4, December 2006, pp.1000-1024. © 2005, Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Document Details

  • Copyright: Elsevier Inc.
  • Availability: Web-Only
  • Year: 2006
  • Pages: 28
  • Document Number: RP-1241

Originally published in: Social Science Research, Volume 35, Issue 4, December 2006, pp.1000-1024.

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