Data documentation

See our data documentation resources for Growing Up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) data users.

On this page:

Data user guide

Our data user guide has information on:

  • how to use LSAC data
  • survey methodology
  • file structure
  • variable naming conventions

Issues are highlighted to ensure data analysts use the LSAC data appropriately in their research.

Data dictionary

Our data dictionary has documents that provide information about all variables in LSAC over the course of the study, including:

  • variable names and labels
  • items
  • cohort
  • wave
  • populations.

Data issues

Our data issues paper contains summaries of data-related issues that have emerged over the life of LSAC including:

  • missing data
  • cleaning of Time Use Diary data
  • cleaning of income data
  • issues with height data.

Rationale document

Our rationale document is designed to provide contextual information on the scales and items included in the LSAC datasets – for example, item sources, scoring, and psychometric information.

Study questionnaires

Our study questionnaire documents include the questions used in each of the LSAC waves for which data has been released. The questionnaires are annotated with variable names.

Data frequencies

Our data frequencies contain descriptive information for every variable available in the General Release dataset for Waves 1–9C.

Technical papers

Our technical papers provide information on using LSAC data to help users with specific types of data analyses. The papers include weighting and non-response and using Time Use Diary data and My School data.

Discussion papers

Our discussion papers provide information on study methodology, data management issues and key research questions.

Share