Demographics

Demographic information about American Life Panel (ALP) members is available to approved data users in two different formats.

First, all surveys conducted with the American Life Panel are accompanied by a standard set of demographic measures about each respondent. These measures are collected from panel members once every quarter, are included in downloaded ALP survey data files, and are contemporaneous with the data collection (i.e., a survey conducted in 2013 includes panel member demographic information collected in 2013). The demographic variables accompanying each data file can be found in the Demographics module of each survey on the ALP data pages.

All of the demographic variables listed below have been collected in the ALP since January 2006, with a few exceptions. The data collected for the household information survey closely follows the Current Population Survey (CPS). By default the Demographics module contains the following variables:

  • Gender
  • Year of birth
  • Marital status
  • Born in the United States (yes, no)
  • Region of birth (9 Census regions)
  • Region of current residence (9 Census regions)
  • Urban vs. Rural/small town*
  • Family income (categories)
  • Household size
  • Employment status
  • Educational attainment
  • Type of work (work for self, someone else, other)
  • Occupation (major categories based on 2010 Census)
  • Hispanic/Latino ethnicity (yes, no)
  • Race (White, African American/Black, Asian or Pacific Islander, American Indian/Alaska Native, Other)
  • Health insurance coverage*
  • General health status*
  • Well-being
  • Housing type*
  • Housing tenure (own, rent, other)*
  • Date and time demographic variables were collected

    • * collected starting in 2019

Second, current demographic information for active ALP panel members (rather than those applicable to a particular survey), is available for download from the household information page. These data provide, for example, the distribution of ethnicity among current panel members. For details on which ALP panel members are considered “active” please consult the ALP attrition and completion rates section. If you wish to obtain a data set with demographic data for all ALP panel members ever active within the panel, please contact alp@rand.org.

Information about Additional Variables

Other demographic information about ALP members and their household characteristics may be available to researchers for a fee on a restricted basis. Such information includes state of birth, state of residence, zip code, age in months, citizenship, detailed race and ethnic identity, the relationship of panel members to other household members, and the age and gender of other household members.

For more information about the cost and application process to access restricted data, visit the ALP restricted data page.