FSD2124 Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development (JYLS): Life History Calendars of 42-Year-Olds 2001
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Pulkkinen, Lea (n. Pitkänen, Lea) (University of Jyväskylä. Department of Psychology)
Kinnunen, Ulla (University of Jyväskylä. Department of Psychology)
Kokko, Katja (University of Jyväskylä. Department of Psychology)
Other Identification/Acknowlegements
17 students and postgraduate students of psychology participated in the data collection.
Abstract
The data are part of the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development (JYLS), in which the same individuals have been followed over 30 years. At the 2001 research stage, various aspects of the lives of 42-year-old participants were charted with the help of interviews, life situation questionnaires, self-rating questionnaires, personality tests, and medical examinations. In connection with the interviews, the respondents told about their lives from the age of 15 with the help of life history calendars.
The respondents used the life history calendars in telling for example where they had lived each year, when they had moved away from their parents' home, and whether they had ever been homeless. Cohabitations, marriages and childbirths were also marked in the calendars. They were also asked about their education, full-time and part-time jobs, periods of unemployment, and the reasons for them. The respondents indicated when they had been homemakers, conscripted, on leave of absence, or retired. In addition, they were asked to tell about the deaths and serious accidents of their friends and close relatives, as well as whether they had ever been victims of a crime or caught for committing an illegal action, such as speeding, vandalism, theft, or violence.
Keywords
accidents; children; conscription; death; education; housing; labour and employment; life histories; offences; parental leave; parental role; partnerships (personal); unemployment
Topic Classification
developmental psychology; education; educational psychology; psychology; social psychology (FSD Topics Classification)
accidents and injuries; crime; employment; family life and marriage (including household composition and generations); housing; psychology; unemployment; vocational education (CESSDA Topics Classification)
Series Name
Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development (JYLS)
Restrictions
Access to the data granted for scientific purposes only. Two-step application procedure. Please contact FSD for further information.
Collection Date
2001
Nation
Finland
Geographical Coverage
Finland, Jyväskylä
Analysis Unit
Individual
Universe
Sampling Procedure
This survey is part of the longitudinal study which began in 1968, when the respondents were second-graders (ca. 8 years old) in primary schools in Jyväskylä. The sample consisted of twelve school classes randomly selected from three primary schools. Six of the classes were from the city centre school, and the other six from two suburb schools. There were altogether 369 pupils in the classes.
This wave of data collection began with a letter to the research subjects in November 2000 inviting them to participate in a psychological interview, medical examination, and laboratory tests. The letter also included a Life Situation Questionnaire (LSQ3) and consent forms. The psychological interviews were conducted in 2001 in the Department of Psychology at the University of Jyväskylä, in the interviewee's home or some other location chosen by the interviewee. The respondents completed the life history calendars during the interview.
Altogether 243 research subjects were interviewed. Some of the interview questions were presented to 13 subjects in connection with the medical check-up. No systematic reason was found for non-participation. The sample was representative of Finns born in 1959, which is the year when most research subjects were born. Representativeness assessment was based on the data provided by the Statistics Finland. The sample was representative in terms of marital status, household composition, number of children, and employment situation. As regards the education level, the men represented their age group well, but the education level of the women was slightly higher than that of their age group generally.
Collection Mode
The life history calendars were completed during the interview.
Research Instrument
Structured questionnaire
Time Method
Longitudinal: Cohort/Event-based
Collection Size
Data: SPSS portable file. Data available also in other file formats.
Data version
1.0 (10.7.2007)
Other Material
Background information: a pdf file of publications based on the JYLS research data
Codebook: pdf file in Finnish
Questionnaire: pdf file in Finnish
Table on the methods used (in Finnish)
Related Studies
FSD2002 Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development (JYLS): Life Situation Questionnaire of 42-Year-Olds 2001
FSD2034 Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development (JYLS): Interviews of 42-Year-Olds 2001
FSD2109 Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development (JYLS): Self-Ratings of 42-Year-Olds 2001
FSD2108 Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development (JYLS): Personality Tests of 42-Year-Olds 2001
FSD2201 Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development (JYLS): Medical Examinations of 42-Year-Olds 2001
Data Appraisal and Notes
At this stage, the deceased and those who had refused to participate were no longer part of the sampling frame.
Parentheses were used in the anonymisation of the open-ended variables, because the researchers' original comments were in square brackets.
Citation Requirement
The source must be acknowledged in any publication based wholly or in part on the data. The bibliographic citation may be in the form required by the publication, or in the form suggested by the archive.
Bibliographical Citation
Pulkkinen, Lea & Kinnunen, Ulla & Kokko, Katja: Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development (JYLS): Life History Calendars of 42-Year-Olds 2001 [computer file]. FSD2124, version 1.0 (2007-07-10). Tampere: Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor], 2007.
Depositing Requirements
The archive must be informed of all publications where the data have been used.
Special Permissions
Please note: access to the data is possible only by the permission of the depositors Lea Pulkkinen or Katja Kokko. Access decisions are made on a case-to-case basis. The depositors continue to actively use the data.
Disclaimer
The depositor and the archive bear no responsibility for any results or interpretations arising from the secondary use of the data.
Related Publications
To view publications based on the JYLS research data click on the link Background found in a box on the upper hand right corner of this data description.
