Citation URL: http://www.urban.org/KevinWang

This report is a collection of occasional papers on technical issues in the design, implementation, and operation of the 2002 round of the NSAF. It is a companion report to the 1999 methodology series Report No. 7 NSAF Collection of Papers and the 1997 methodology series Report No. 16 NSAF Technical Papers. All the papers in this collection were presented at either the annual May American Association for Public Opinion Research conference or the annual August Joint Statistical Meetings.

The 1999 National Survey of America's Families (NSAF), like its 1997 counterpart, is a survey of the economic, health, and social characteristics of children, adults under the age of 65, and their families. NSAF data collection was conducted for the Urban Institute and Child Trends by Westat. Interviews in 1999 were obtained from over 42,000 households, yielding information on more than 109,000 persons under age 65. The scope and design of the 1997 survey was similar, with over 44,000 interviewed households and again about 109,000 nonelderly persons.

Some critics of the welfare system have argued that welfare programs contribute to the creation of a society in which the values and beliefs of people receiving public assistance are fundamentally different from those of people not receiving public assistance. To examine attitudes toward welfare and working mothers, parents were asked a series of questions regarding welfare and working mothers. The responses reflect the attitudes of the parent or primary caregiver who knows the most about the health care and education of children in the household.

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