Codebook: The LSAY 1998 Year 9 Sample Wave 6 (2003) Technical Report No. 30

In 1998, a nationally representative sample of approximately 14,000 Year 9 students was selected to form the second cohort of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth. The sample was constructed by randomly selecting two Year 9 classes from a sample of schools designed to represent state and sector. Reading and numeracy tests were administered to students in their schools to provide information on school achievement for use in later analyses of educational and labour market participation. Students also completed a background questionnaire about their educational and vocational plans and attitudes to school. Details on the 1998 survey are provided in LSAY Technical Report No. 19. In 1999 sample members were administered a brief mail survey sent to their home addresses. Details on the 1999 (Wave 2) survey are included in LSAY Technical Report No. 22, the 2000 (Wave 3) survey in LSAY Technical Report No. 24, the 2001 (Wave 4) survey in LSAY Technical Report No. 26, and the 2002 (Wave 5) survey in LSAY Technical Report No. 29. The 2003 Y98 Telephone Survey was conducted with 7656 of the students who formed the 2002 sample. The 2002 sample was 7762, however a number of students withdrew from the study or indicated that they would be overseas at the time of the interview. Of that group, 6905 useable interviews were completed successfully (90% of the active sample). There were 390 refusals or terminations of interview (5% of the active sample). The modal age of the sample in 2003 was 20 years. This was the fourth year of telephone interviewing for this cohort. The survey instrument collects data on their educational and labour market experiences, as well as housing, family and financial issues. The survey involves around 25 minutes of telephone interview time