Survey Response in the Long Run: The Wisconsin Longitudinal Study

Abstract

This article reviews the history and design of the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS), which has successfully followed a sample of more than 10,000 members of Wisconsin’s class of 1957 from high school graduation to the retirement years. It describes methods that have been used to locate the graduates in the 1964, 1975, 1992–1993, and 2003–2005 follow-up surveys and differentials in survey participation. Although typical response differentials by gender and education appear in the WLS, these are explainedby differentials in response by adolescent academic ability, academic performance, and social participation.