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L.A.FANS-1 Questionnaires

This page summarizes the L.A.FANS-1 questionnaires and respondents. More information can be found in The Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey: Household Questionnaires.

Overview of L.A.FANS-1 Questionnaires

In each L.A.FANS household, one adult respondent was selected at random (designated the RSA or randomly sampled adult). In households with children, one child respondent was also selected at random and designated the RSC (randomly sampled child).

In households with children, we interviewed the primary caregiver (PCG—usually the mother) of the RSC and, if the RSC had one or more siblings in the household, we randomly selected one of them for interview. Thus, in some households with two adults and two children, all four people were interviewed. Note that the RSA and the PCG may be the same person in some households (since the RSA was chosen at random from the adults in the household). The table below summarizes respondents who were interviewed in households with and without children.

L.A.FANS-1 Respondents by Household Type

Household Type
With Children < 18 years Without Children < 18 years
Randomly selected adult (RSA) Randomly selected adult (RSA)
Primary caregiver (PCG)  
Randomly selected child (RSC)  
Sibling of RSC (SIB)  

The questionnaires for the L.A.FANS household survey were divided into seven modules called: (1) the Roster, (2) the Household Questionnaire, (3) the Adult Questionnaire, (4) the Parent Questionnaire, (5) the Primary Caregiver (PCG) Questionnaire, (6) the Child Questionnaire,and (7) Cognitive Assessments.

See the L.A.FANS-1 “Questionnaires by Respondents” Table for information on which respondents answered which questionnaires.

L.A.FANS-1 Questionnaires

The information collected in each questionnaire is summarized below.

Roster: Collected information on all part-time and full-time residents of the dwelling unit, determined relationships among household members and identified parents (or primary caregivers) of all children. Also collected basic characteristics of all household residents (ethnicity, schooling, ever had children, welfare receipt in last month, health insurance coverage in last month, employment in last month). [back]

Household Questionnaire: Collected information on income of family members from all sources during the preceding calendar year, and on assets of respondent and spouse/partner. [back]

Adult Questionnaire: Collected information about the adult respondent and his/her spouse/partner (if the spouse/partner was not interviewed). Topics include: family background, educational history, fertility and marriage/cohabitation history, social ties, residential history, employment, welfare, and health status. The Adult questionnaire included a computerized interactive event history calendar (EHC) which recorded detailed information for the preceding two-year period on spells of residence, employment and unemployment, program participation, and health insurance.

The Adult questionnaire also collected detailed information on neighborhood definition, neighborhood participation and interaction, perceptions of current neighborhood characteristics, and characteristics of the last neighborhood of residence. [back]

Parent Questionnaire: Collected information about the randomly selected child (RSC) and the sibling (SIB) from the Primary Caregiver (usually the mother). Topics include: living arrangements, residential history (for past two years), place of birth and immigrant status, child support, paternity, contact with absent parent(s), school, child care, before/after school care, Head Start, child behavior checklist, child's friends, modified HOME scale, health, and health care utilization. (Health insurance information for RSCs and SIBs for the preceding two years was collected in the event history calendar of the Adult Questionnaire.) [back]

Primary Caregiver Questionnaire: Collected information from the PCG about herself/himself. Topics include: Composite International Diagnostic Interview Short-Form (CIDI-SF) depression inventory, Pearlin Self-Efficacy Scale, family dynamics, social support, and relationship with spouse/partner. [back]

Child Questionnaire: Collected information from children aged 9 to 17 years about the child himself/herself. Administered to RSCs and SIBs. Topics for children aged 9 to 11 years include: neighborhood definition and characteristics, school and school quality, friends and social life, smoking, knowledge of gang members, family relationships, enjoyment of reading and use of library, educational expectations. Children aged 12 to 17 years were also asked about: homework, use of alcohol and drugs, guns and gang membership, relationships and sex, contraceptive use, pregnancy, experience of violence, arrest and incarceration, weight and height, and employment. [back]

Cognitive Assessments: L.A.FANS used several assessments from the Woodcock-Johnson Test of Achievement-Revised (WJ-R) which measure math and reading ability. [Woodcock, RW and MB Johnson (1989) Woodcock-Johnson Test of Achievement-Revised. Chicago: Riverside Publishing Co.]

Children aged 3 to 5 years completed the Letter-Word Identification and Applied Problems assessments. Children aged 6 to 17 years also completed the Passage Comprehension assessment. Primary caregivers completed only the Passage Comprehension assessment. [back]