The problems inherent in analyzing data in which subjects are "nested" within hierarchical units (such as classrooms or schools), and thus are not independent of one another, are addressed through the use of Joreskog's LISREL model for analyzing covariance matrices. A solution to the problem is proposed and illustrated using data from…

The National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 (NLS) is a federally supported longitudinal study of a national sample of some 23,000 young people first surveyed as high school seniors in the spring of 1972. The historical precedents of such a study include the work of Friend and Haggert in a Boston settlement house, Louis…

The potential of research which uses the data base from the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 (NLS) for affecting federal policy is discussed. Currently, social science research is rarely used as a basis for policy decisions. A reason for this is that social scientists profess interest in policy issues, yet are naive in…