The PSID is poised to become the only data ever collected on life course and multigenerational health in a long-term panel representative of the full U.S. population.
I'm reading about a number of long-term panel studies at the moment. The longest of them is the Panel Study of Income Dynamics in the US. It started in 1968 and has been running ever since. So it's pretty long.
There's a bit of excitement surrounding the PSID at the moment because some of the people who were born into the study are starting to die. So all these researchers are jumping up and down with glee because they've capture the whole life-cycle. I mostly love their use of the term "poised" to describe the imminent death of some of their longest participants.
PSID records deaths (over 4,000 since 1968) for all panel members
Over 4000! Hurrah.
When you say “born into the study”, does that mean that they were born after 1968? If some of the 4000 were people born after 1968, that’s very sad. After all, 1968 is not that long ago. And “poised” makes them sound like arachnids sitting on the edge of the web, ready to strike, wrap, and suck the life from some poor unsuspecting creature. But the article does sound interesting.
Lesley / 4:17pm / 4 January 2008
It was actually a Powerpoint presentation by the PSID folks.
People born into the study are the children of the people in the first sample. The study follows all the children who are born to parents in the study so that it remains representative.
Ryan / 5:16pm / 4 January 2008
did you see today that Australians now has the highest life expectancy in the world (not Aboriginal)
well it was on the news
howie / 10:10pm / 4 January 2008
That’s interesting and quite surprising to me. It must be our healthy eating habits. Chips, pies, sausages…
Ryan / 8:15am / 5 January 2008