Task 2: How to Identify NHANES III Variable Names and File Locations

To identify the variable names and file locations for the variables in your analysis, you will need to check the documentation for each of the four components:

• Demographic and Questionnaire - Adult and Youth
• Examination
• Laboratory

When you are uncertain as to what data are in a particular file or how they might be named, the Data File Index section of the documentation is the best place to look.  It lists

• variable name
• variable's English label (a short description of the variable) 

Step 1: Demographic and Questionnaire

The demographic data are located in the Adult or Youth Questionnaire files.  Check the documentation with the search feature to identify the age and gender variable names.

If you are still at the PDF file of the laboratory survey documentation, click your browser's Back button once to return to the NHANES III page. If you returned to the NHANES homepage, click the Datasets and Related Documentation link, then click the NHANES III link.

Scroll down to NHANES III  Series 11, No. 1A, July 1997, Interview & Exam Components, 1A Data Files and click the Documentation link under the Household Adult File line. Use the Adobe search feature (binoculars) to locate the " Data File Index" .  For your analysis you need the age and gender variables. Find them by using the search feature again and note the variable names and their SAS labels. Your notes might look like the table below.