The estimates presented in this report were produced using the B&B:93/97 and B&B:2000/01 Data Analysis Systems (DAS). (The data from the 1994 and 1997 interviews were combined into one DAS, but no data from 1997 were used in this report.) The DAS software makes it possible for users to specify and generate their own tables. The DAS also contains a detailed description of how each variable was created, and includes question wording for items coming directly from an interview.

With the DAS, users can replicate or expand upon the tables presented in this report. In addition to the table estimates, the DAS calculates the proper standard errors² and weighted sample sizes for these estimates. If the number of valid cases is too small to produce a reliable estimate (fewer than 30 cases), the DAS prints the message “low-N” instead of the estimate. All standard errors for estimates presented in this report can be viewed at http://nces.ed.gov/das/library/reports.asp. In addition to tables, the DAS will also produce a correlation matrix of selected variables to be used for linear regression models. Included in the output with the correlation matrix are the design effects (DEFTs) for each variable in the matrix. Since statistical procedures generally compute regression coefficients based on simple random sample assumptions, the standard errors must be adjusted with the design effects to take into account the stratified sampling method used in the NPSAS surveys.

The DAS can be accessed electronically at http://nces.ed.gov/das. For more information about the Data Analysis System, contact:

Aurora D'Amico
Postsecondary Studies Division
National Center for Education Statistics
1990 K Street, NW
Washington, DC 20006-5652
(202) 502-7334
aurora.d'amico@ed.gov