If you imported questions for your surveys from these questionnaires, please give acknowledgements in your reports or papers.

Files for NFRJ03 Questionnaires

Download the NFRJ03 questionnaire PDF files: for the two versions of questionnaire.

• Questionnaire for young respondents (3,869 kb)
• Questionnaire for middle-aged or senior respondents (3,607 kb)

English translation (PDF):

• Questionnaire for young respondents (238 kb)
• Questionnaire for middle-aged or senior respondents (233 kb)

The website of SSJ Data Archive includes a text file for NFRJ03 questionnaire (with percentage of answers).

• http://ssjda.iss.u-tokyo.ac.jp/chosa-hyo/0517c_cyuukounen.html = Questionnaire for young respondents
• http://ssjda.iss.u-tokyo.ac.jp/chosa-hyo/0517c_jyakunen.html = Questionnaire for middle-aged or senior respondents

Structure of NFRJ03 Questionnaires

The NFRJ03 questionnaires include questions about the basic attributes of the respondent and of the household, about relationship with the relatives, and about various events experienced on lifecourse. We followed the structure of the 1st survey (NFRJ98) questionnaire. However, we made addition, deletion, or modification for some questions. Important changes are deletion of some questions on experience of life events, and new matrix-form question about all members in the household.

NFRJ03 surveyed Japanese people aged 28-77 in 2003. Questionnaires are splitted to two versions:

• questionnaire for young respondents (for those born between 1956 and 1975, hence 48 or elder as of the end of 2003)
• questionnaire for middle-aged or senior respondents (for those born between 1926 and 1955, hence 47 or younger as of the end or 2003)

Most questions are common across both questionnaires. However, the former has special questions about marriage, childbirth, and childcare. The latter has special questions about relations between older parents and thier children. The appropriate questionnaire was selected by the canvasser according to the birth year of the respondent.

NFRJ03 Questions

[Y] and [S] mean “only for young respondents ” and “only for middle-aged or senior respondents”, respectively.

1. Respondent Information (Q1-4)

Gender; year/month of birth and age; living arrangement; level of education

2. Household information (Q5)

Number of people in the household; relationship, gender, year of birth for other residents

if there are other family members temporarily living elsewhere, relationship, gender, year of birth for those living elsewhere

head of household

3. Employment information of the respondent (Q6)

Employment status, position, occupation, size of company

experience with quitting job on childbirth, maternity leave or child care leave

number of work days, work hours, commute time

4. Economic information (Q7-8)

Annual income for the past year, household income for the past year

5. Marital history of the respondent, spouse information, husband-wife relations (Q9)

Marital status; living arrangement with spouse; year/month married at what age;

spouses date of birth, age, divorced/widowed (yes/no), level of education

spouses employment status, position, type of work, size of company, number of work days, work hours, commute time

Annual income for spouse for past year; health of spouse; marriage partner support (consultation on worries and concerns, feedback regarding attitude and effort; encouragement and advice)

Participation in household duties (meal preparation; clean up; shopping; laundry; cleaning)

Satisfaction with husband-wife relations (child rearing; attitude towards parents; participation in house work; household finances, management; sex life; overall relationship)

Trouble or fights with spouse over the past year, respondent’s experience with divorce or death of spouse

[Y] respondent’s expectation to get married

[Y] participation in household duties (plays with children, looks after child)

6. Respondents quality of life (Q10-15)

Family norms (division of labor by gender, affection between couple, premarital sex, living with elderly parents, working mothers, role of man in support, child’s responsibility for parent support, parents responsibility for child delinquency, child’s responsibility for parent’s nursing care);

stress level (12 items)

role strain (concerns about children, spouse, parents/in-laws, sense of alienation within the family, feeling of burden regarding ones role in the family, concern about household finances, feeling of burden regarding one’s work role, feeling of alienation at work, work/life balance)

household finance evaluation; health of respondent; overall satisfaction with life

7. Information about children and relationship with children (Q16)

Number of children

Regarding the first three children: Gender, month/year of birth, level of education, marital status, whether on good terms

[S] living arrangement, employment status, frequency of communications, receiving financial support, receiving non-financial support, trouble or fights

[Y] frequency of playing together, frequency of teaching knowledge or skills, frequency of eating dinner together, trouble or fights

[Y] discipline and interacting with children (9 items)

8. Parental information and relationship with the parents (Q17)

Parents, living or deceased

Following information for both father and mother: Natural parents or foster parents; month/year of birth; employment status; living arrangements; frequency of communication; level of education, receiving/giving financial assistance, receiving/giving non-financial assistance, trouble or fights, whether on good terms.

Continuation of conjugal relations

9. Sibling information and relationship with them (Q18)

Existence of siblings

number of living siblings; number of deceased siblings

about the first three siblings: gender, year/month of birth, living arrangements, level of education, frequency of communications, marital status, receiving/giving financial assistance, receiving/giving non-financial assistance, trouble or fights, whether on good terms

10. Parents-in-law information and relationship (Q19)

Father- and mother-in-law, living or deceased

For both father- and mother-in-law: month/year of birth, employment status, living arrangements, frequency of communication, level of education, receiving/giving financial support, receiving/giving non-financial support, trouble or fights, whether on good terms,

continuation of conjugal relations

11. Nursing or support experience (Q20-22)

Existence of someone requiring nursing care; who you primarily provide nursing assistance to

source of social support outside the family (for depression or confusion, sudden debt, illness or accident, bedridden/nursing care)

[Y] source of assistance outside the family (sudden need to care for children, concern or worry about children)

12. View on childrearing (Q23-24)

[Y] having children and childrearing values (12 items)

[Y] Desire to have children, number of children desired