Data Archive - The Gansu Survey of Children and Families (GSCF)

Version year: 2015

Principal Investigator(s):
Emily Hannum, Department of Sociology, University of Pennsylvania;
Albert Francis Park, Department of Economics, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Webpage:
Gansu Survey of Children & Families
Population Studies Center
University of Pennsylvania
https://china.pop.upenn.edu/

Project information

Project description

The Gansu Survey of Children and Families (GSCF) studies children's welfare outcomes in the Gansu province of China. It is a longitudinal, multi-level study which focuses on the children's education, health, and psycho-social development. Data have been collected in 2000, 2004, 2007, 2009 and 2015.

The following issues are the main foci of the study:

• Children's academic achievement, educational attitudes, behaviors, and experiences, psycho-social development, and physical health
• Attitudes and practices of children, families, and teachers about parenting and schooling
• The mechanisms (home, community, school) linking poverty to children's welfare outcomes
• Rural children's human capital acquisition and subsequent labor outcomes, including migration choices and experiences

Search keywords

Academic achievements, children, communities, education, families, Gansu, gender roles, health, households, human capital acquisition, parenting, poverty, psycho-social development, rural areas, schooling, socioeconomic status, welfare

Scope of project

Data has been collected in Gansu, China.
Five waves of data have been collected in 2000, 2004, 2007, 2009 and 2015 respectively.

Methodology

To study the relationship between social inequality and the development of children, a large-scale longitudinal study was conducted in Gansu, a rural province in China, since 2000.

The sample is composed of 2,000 representative children drawn from the State Statistical Bureau (SSB) census lists. These children were 11 to 14 years old during the first wave in 2000 which was the age to be enrolled in the later grades of elementary schools or in junior high schools. In collaboration with the Gansu Provincial Office of the SSB, interviews and surveys were conducted by the existing census survey data collection personnel and facilities available. Households (including the children and their parents) were interviewed to collect data on the target children. Village leaders were also interviewed to collect information on the economic, demographic and educational circumstances of the communities of the sample individuals. A survey was conducted on all primary and secondary schools and a summary survey was conducted on all teachers in the schools. An extended questionnaire was conducted on homeroom teachers of the target individuals to examine the attitudes and behaviors of the children. Besides, focus-group discussions were carried out among a subset of the sample children, their parents and village teachers to research on attitudes toward education.

The household, school and community data collected in this project were linked backed to the sample children which facilitated the integrated study of poverty and education in China. This method is highly connected to the “resource framework” (Brooks-Gunn et al., 1995) which identified the effects of time, money and emotional resources of parents and institutions and the presence of “social capital” in the communities on the development of the children and adolescents. This framework outlined the approach of the study of the effects of poverty on children’s educational and personal development. This dataset can be used for the generation of important insights for educational policy advancement and welfare provision.

Citation

Emily Hannum and Albert Francis Park. Gansu Survey of Children and Families, 2000-2015.

(Please acknowledge the following supporting parties if you have cited this dataset:

The 2015 wave of Gansu Survey of Children and Families was supported by the Hong Kong Research Grants Council (GRF 692713). Earlier waves of data were supported by the United Kingdom Economic and Social Research Council and Department for International Development (ESRC RES- 167-25-0250), The Spencer Foundation Small and Major Grants Programs, The World Bank, and NIH Grants R01TW005930-01 and 5R01TW005930-02.)

Remarks

Funding: The 2015 wave of Gansu Survey of Children and Families was supported by the Hong Kong Research Grants Council (GRF 692713). Earlier waves of data were supported by the United Kingdom Economic and Social Research Council and Department for International Development (ESRC RES- 167-25-0250), The Spencer Foundation Small and Major Grants Programs, The World Bank, and NIH Grants R01TW005930-01 and 5R01TW005930-02.

Contact information:    Emily Hannum
                                       247 McNeil Building
                                       University of Pennsylvania
                                       Sociology Department
                                       3718 Locust Walk
                                       Philadelphia, PA 19104-6299
                                       (215) 898-9633 (phone)
                                       (215) 573-2081 (fax)
                                       hannumem@soc.upenn.edu

Documentation (files)

Sampling Documentation
•    Statistics Bureau Sampling Memo (Chinese)
•    Statistics Bureau Sampling Memo (English)
•    Wave 2 Coding Description
•    Wave 4 Coding Description

Training Manuals
•    June 2000 Interviewer Training Manual
•    June 2004 Interviewer Training Manual
•    June 2004 Health Survey Training Manual
•    January 2009 Interviewer Training Manual
•    February 2015 Interviewer Training Manual

Cognitive Achievement Tests
•    Wave 1 (2000) Cognitive Test
•    Wave 4 (2009) Literacy Test

Wave 1 (2000) Questionnaires

Wave 2 (2004) Questionnaires

Health Survey (2004) Questionnaires

Wave 3 (2007) Documentation

Wave 4 (2009) Questionnaire

Wave 5 (2015) Questionnaire

Data (files)    Restricted access

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