Using Add Health & AHAA to Predict Add Health WII Survey Outcomes

When using Add Health (Wave I and demographic information) and AHAA transcript data to predict Wave II survey outcomes, researchers must first determine which information for each cohort is relevant to include in their analyses. This decision hinges upon an assessment of each cohort’s academic placement (i.e., Year 1, Year 2, Year 3, or Year 4 of their high school course-taking) when the Add Health Wave I and Wave II surveys were conducted. Figures A and B below provide suggestions for how analysts can select which cohort data to use in their predictive models. For example, Figure B demonstrates that researchers interested in examining correlations between Wave I and AHAA information, and outcomes measured at Wave II should use Year 1 AHAA data for students considered to be 9th graders at Wave I, Year 2 information for 10th graders, and Year 3 information for 11th graders. For some research questions, it may be appropriate to include the 7th, 8th, or 12th grade Add Health cohorts. However, as Figures A and B graphically illustrate, decisions about including these other cohorts into analyses must be based on a clear understanding of the correspondence between their academic placement (Year 1, Year, 2, Year 3, or Year 4) and the timing of the Wave I and Wave II surveys.

Figure A: Conceptual Model for Predicting Add Health WII Survey Outcomes