National Survey of Family Growth

National Survey of Family Growth
Name	National Survey of Family Growth
Country	United States
Agency	National Center for Health Statistics
Started	1973
Frequency	Periodic

National Survey of Family Growth is a recurring United States health survey administered by the National Center for Health Statistics within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that gathers data on family life, marriage and divorce, pregnancy, infertility, use of contraception, and men's and women's health. Respondents include women and men of reproductive age surveyed in cycles influenced by policy debates involving the Department of Health and Human Services, legislative initiatives in the United States Congress, and public health priorities shaped by organizations such as the World Health Organization and the American Medical Association. The survey's findings are widely cited by researchers at institutions like Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, University of California, Berkeley, Columbia University, and University of Michigan.

History

The survey originated in 1973 amid demographic research traditions represented by the United States Census Bureau and earlier fertility studies linked to scholars at University of Chicago and Princeton University, and it evolved through successive cycles referenced by policymakers in the Congressional Budget Office and program managers at the Office of Population Affairs. Major redesigns occurred in years when administrations from the Richard Nixon era through Barack Obama addressed reproductive health, and studies citing data have been published by researchers affiliated with RAND Corporation, Pew Research Center, Kaiser Family Foundation, Brookings Institution, and Guttmacher Institute.

Design and Methodology

The survey employs a cross-sectional and, in some cycles, longitudinal approach informed by sampling theory from statisticians at Carnegie Mellon University and methodologists tied to the National Institutes of Health and National Academy of Sciences. Questionnaire design has drawn on standards from the World Health Organization and instrument development practices used by the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and survey researchers at University of Michigan Institute for Social Research and Rutgers University. Methodological papers have been presented at conferences hosted by the American Statistical Association and the Population Association of America.

Content and Questionnaire Topics

Questionnaire modules cover fertility intentions, contraceptive use, sexual behavior, marital and partnership histories, and reproductive health conditions, topics frequently analyzed by scholars at Yale University, Northwestern University, Duke University, Brown University, and Indiana University. Topics intersect with clinical concerns addressed by specialty organizations such as the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and advocacy groups like the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and research outputs from the Guttmacher Institute and Alan Guttmacher Institute.

Data Collection and Sampling

Data collection methods have included face-to-face interviews, audio computer-assisted self-interviewing, and telephone follow-ups implemented in coordination with contractors and survey firms that have supported projects at Westat, NORC at the University of Chicago, Abt Associates, RTI International, and ICF International. Sampling frames have been constructed using address-based sampling and household rosters similar to practices at the United States Postal Service and analytic approaches employed by the National Longitudinal Surveys and the Panel Study of Income Dynamics.

Data Release and Access

Public-use and restricted-use files are disseminated by the National Center for Health Statistics and accessed by analysts at agencies such as the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, academic centers at Cornell University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and nonprofit researchers at Mathematica Policy Research. Data release cycles align with confidentiality standards influenced by case law and policies involving the Department of Justice and institutional review boards at institutions like Stanford University and University of Pennsylvania.

Major Findings and Impact

Analyses of the survey have documented trends in marriage timing, contraceptive prevalence, unintended pregnancy, and infertility that informed policy discussions in the United States Senate, reports by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and clinical guidelines from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists; findings have been cited in scholarship from Princeton University, MIT, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and think tanks such as the Urban Institute and Heritage Foundation. Research using the survey has influenced family planning programs funded through entities like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and evaluations published by the World Bank and UNICEF.

Criticisms and Limitations

Critiques have been raised by demographers at Population Council, sociologists at New York University, and statisticians associated with the American Association for Public Opinion Research regarding sample sizes, undercoverage of marginalized populations, response bias, and limitations in measuring complex behaviors compared with longitudinal cohorts such as the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health and the Framingham Heart Study. Debates over analytic approaches have involved scholars from Oxford University, Cambridge University, and University of Toronto, and policy analysts at Cato Institute and Center for American Progress.

Category:Surveys