Data from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 are available in two forms: Public-use and Restricted-use. The Public-use data can be downloaded from the NCES website or sent to you on a CD-ROM by regular surface mail. Restricted-use data are only available by first obtaining a Restricted-use license for the specific Restricted-use data files needed. After the license is awarded, the requested data file(s) are mailed to the license holder by express mail. Licenses can be amended to obtain additional ELS Restricted-use data or Restricted-use data from other NCES surveys.
The ELS Data are Cumulative
The ELS:2002 Public- and Restricted-use data files are cumulative. For example, when the ELS:2002 Base Year to Second Follow-up Public-use data are downloaded or obtained, all the public-use data for all previous follow-ups (BY and F1) are included in the data that are downloaded or obtained. The same is true when Restricted-use data are obtained.
Downloading ELS:2002 data using EDAT (Public-use)
ELS:2002 Public-use data files are available by downloading them from the NCES website using a new EDAT application that is now available. There are two methods for accessing EDAT: method #1, click on the EDAT button above on the ELS menu bar, or method #2, click on the Data Tools button on the menu bar near the top of any page on the NCES website; and then click on "Build Custom Tables and Data Sets" followed by "EDAT." With either of these two methods, after accepting the user agreement, you will be taken to the EDAT tool to download the ELS data you need.
ELS:2002 Electronic Code Book (Public-use)
The ELS:2002 Base Year to First Follow-up Public-use data are also available through requesting them as an Electronic Codebook (ECB), which comes on a CD-ROM, to be installed on your computer as a Windows application. The ECB then performs essentially the same functions as the EDAT tool—the extraction of a particular set of ELS variables from the data for purposes of analysis.
To obtain this ECB, email a request for the NCES 2006-346 data file CD-ROM with your return mailing address to Barbara.Spinner@ed.gov.
Mac users can install the ECB onto a PC; select variables; produce a syntax file; and copy the syntax file to a Mac.
In summary, a menu of all available ELS:2002 Public-use data file download and online analysis tools is:
| ELS:2002 Public-use data | |||
| Brief description of the data file | NCES 2010-338 | NCES 2006-346 | |
| Access point: | EDAT | Request CD-ROM | |
| Follow-ups included: | Base Year to Second Follow-up | Base Year to First Follow-up | |
| BY, F1, and F2 | BY and F1 | ||
| Result: | |||
| Data File format | One of six programming languages (SAS, Stata, SSPS, Sudaan, R, S-Plus) (or ASCII or CSV) | SAS or SPSS data files containing selected variables | |
| Variable selection | EDAT Tag Files | Electronic codebook (ECB) | |
| Analysis capability | None | None | |
A spreadsheet containing lists of all the variables that are included in each of these Public-use ELS data sources can be obtained by contacting John Wirt.
ELS:2002 Electronic Code Book (Restricted-use)
The first step in obtaining Restricted-use data is to obtain a Restricted-use license for one of the two specific Restricted-use data files available. Once a license is granted for one of these two data files, the requested data are sent to the licensee by an IES Security Officer.
There currently are two main sources of Restricted-use data. One is the ELS:2002 Base Year to Second Follow-up Restricted-use data (NCES 2008-346) and the other is the ELS:2002 Base Year to First Follow-up Restricted-use data (NCES 2006-330). These data are available only in the form of an Electronic Codebook (ECB), which is a Windows application that must be installed on your computer. In the end, this ECB performs essentially the same variable selection and analysis file generation functions as the EDAT application.
In summary, a menu of the available ELS:2002 Restricted-use data sources are:
| ELS:2002 Restricted-use data | ||
| Brief description of the data file | NCES 2008-346 | NCES 2006-330 |
| Access point: | Request CD-ROM | Request CD-ROM |
| Follow-ups included: | Base Year to Second Follow-up | Base Year to First Follow-up |
| BY, F1, transcripts, and F2 | BY and F1 | |
| Result: | ||
| Data File format | SAS or SPSS data file containing selected variables | SAS or SPSS data file containing selected variables |
| Variable selection | Electronic codebook(ECB) | Electronic codebook (ECB) |
| Analysis capability | None | None |
A spreadsheet containing lists of all the variables that are included in each of these Restricted-use ELS data sources can be obtained by contacting John Wirt.
Other special purpose ELS:2002 Restricted-Use data files that can be obtained by license amendment once a license is granted are:
A data file of residential Census Tract and Block information for ELS:2002 Base Year.
An Test Item Database containing the item parameters and sample member item scores for all ELS:2002 tests items.
A data file of the Barron’s Competiveness Index for all colleges applied to or attended by an ELS:2002 Second Follow-up sample member.
