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LIFE-M: The Longitudinal, Intergenerational Family Electronic Micro-Database

Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) Martha J. Bailey, University of California, Los Angeles; Peter Z. Lin, University of California, Los Angeles; A.R. Shariq Mohammed, Northeastern University; Paul Mohnen, University of Pennsylvania; Jared Murray, University of Texas-Austin; Mengying Zhang, University of Michigan; Alexa Prettyman, University of California, Los Angeles

Version: View help for Version V3

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Data			06/08/2022 12:17:PM
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Project Citation:

Bailey, Martha J., Lin, Peter Z., Mohammed, A.R. Shariq, Mohnen, Paul, Murray, Jared, Zhang, Mengying, and Prettyman, Alexa. LIFE-M: The Longitudinal, Intergenerational Family Electronic Micro-Database. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2022-06-08. https://doi.org/10.3886/E155186V3

Project Description

Summary: The LIFE-M project combines of U.S. vital records (birth, marriage, death certificates) with census information into longitudinal and intergenerational micro-data. Using cutting-edge, machine learning techniques, the resulting dataset consists of four generations and millions of high-quality links for 20th century Americans.

For more details about the project, check out the website (https://life-m.org/).

Additionally, these data can be linked to the LIFE-M Ohio Causes of Death Project (https://doi.org/10.3886/E149841).

Funding Sources: California Center for Population Research at UCLA (P2C HD041022); Population Studies Center at the University of Michigan (R24 HD041028, P2C HD041028); National Science Foundation (SMA 1539228); University of Michigan Associate Professor Fund; National Institute on Aging (R21 AG05691201); National Institutes of Health (R01 AG057704-02); Michigan Center for the Demography of Aging (MiCDA, P30 AG012846-21); Michigan Institute on Research and Teaching in Economics (MITRE)

Scope of Project

Subject Terms: historical linking; intergenerational relations; longitudinal; demography; life course

Geographic Coverage: North Carolina, United States, Ohio

Time Period(s): 1820 – 1975 (Born in the 19th and 20th century); 1900 – 2012 (Died in the 20th and early 21st century)

Data Type(s): administrative records data; census/enumeration data; other

Methodology

Response Rate: Linkage rates are posted on our website (https://life-m.org/).

Sampling: The core sample of birth records are from people born in Ohio and North Carolina between 1900 and 1929. See our website (https://life-m.org/) for more information about how records are linked.

Data Source: Birth, marriage, and death records from Ohio and North Carolina. 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1940 Census data.

Collection Mode(s): other

Weights: Please see Bailey, Cole and Massey (2019) for a step-by-step process to create weights for specific subsamples and purposes, which help adjust the samples for under- or over-representation of certain subgroups or characteristics.

Unit(s) of Observation: individual

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