Table of Contents

Component Description

The Acculturation section (variable name prefix ACQ) provides personal interview data on cultural identity and language/media use.

Eligible Sample

Non-Hispanic persons ages 12 years and older are asked only one question in this section: language spoken at home (ACD010).

Hispanic persons ages 12 years and older are asked questions ACD020 – ACD080. These questions are about language use and country of birth of parents.

Interview Setting and Mode of Administration

Home Interview; In-person.

Analytic Notes

ACD010 Language spoken at home (non-Hispanics)

In 2001, this question had too few responses in the categories other than English or Spanish. In 2002, the question was re-written to only include English, Spanish and Other as options. In the 2001-2002 data release files the responses were combined and released as ACD010A, ACD010B, and ACD010C.

ACD040 Language spoken at home (Hispanics)

Data from two versions of the same question were combined into this derived variable. This question was renamed in 2002 when the response option of “not applicable” was removed. The one “Not applicable” response from 2001 was recoded as “Don’t Know”.

ACD070, ACD080 Country of birth of father/mother, respectively

Data from two versions of the same questions were combined into these derived variables. These questions were renamed in 2002 when more response options were added. However, only the response options of US, Puerto Rico, Mexico and Other are released due to low counts for the other responses. The “Other” category includes all other countries that were reported by participants. 

Data Access

The ACQ data are publicly available at www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhanes.htm.

Codebook and Frequencies

SEQN - Respondent sequence number

Variable Name:
SEQN
SAS Label:
Respondent sequence number
English Text:
Respondent sequence number.
Target:
Both males and females 12 YEARS - 150 YEARS

ACQ005 - CHECK ITEM

Variable Name:
ACQ005
English Instructions:
BOX 1. CHECK ITEM ACQ.005: IF SP CODED HISPANIC IN SCREENER, GO TO ACQ.020. OTHERWISE, CONTINUE.
Target:
Both males and females 12 YEARS - 150 YEARS

ACD010A - English usually spoken at home

Variable Name:
ACD010A
SAS Label:
English usually spoken at home
English Text:
What language(s) {do you/does SP} usually speak at home?
English Instructions:
CODE ALL THAT APPLY
Target:
Both males and females 12 YEARS - 150 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
1 English 5447 5447
7 Refused 4 5451
9 Don't know 0 5451
. Missing 2447 7898

ACD010B - Spanish usually spoken at home

Variable Name:
ACD010B
SAS Label:
Spanish usually spoken at home
English Text:
What language(s) {do you/does SP} usually speak at home?
English Instructions:
CODE ALL THAT APPLY
Target:
Both males and females 12 YEARS - 150 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
2 Spanish 14 14
. Missing 7884 7898

ACD010C - Other language(s) usually spoken at home

Variable Name:
ACD010C
SAS Label:
Other language(s) usually spoken at home
English Text:
What language(s) {do you/does SP} usually speak at home?
English Instructions:
CODE ALL THAT APPLY
Target:
Both males and females 12 YEARS - 150 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
3 Other 308 308
. Missing 7590 7898

ACQ015 - CHECK ITEM

Variable Name:
ACQ015
English Instructions:
BOX 2. CHECK ITEM ACQ.015: GO TO END OF SECTION.
Target:
Both males and females 12 YEARS - 150 YEARS

ACQ020 - Language(s) read and spoken

Variable Name:
ACQ020
SAS Label:
Language(s) read and spoken
English Text:
The next questions are about language. In general, what language(s) {do you/does SP} read and speak. Would you say . . .
English Instructions:
HAND CARD ACQ1
Target:
Both males and females 12 YEARS - 150 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
1 Only Spanish, 526 526
2 Spanish better than English, 320 846
3 Both equally, 522 1368
4 English better than Spanish, or 510 1878
5 Only English? 373 2251
7 Refused 0 2251
9 Don't know 3 2254
. Missing 5644 7898

ACQ030 - Language(s) used as child

Variable Name:
ACQ030
SAS Label:
Language(s) used as child
English Text:
What was the language(s) {you/SP} used as a child? Would you say …
English Instructions:
HAND CARD ACQ1
Target:
Both males and females 12 YEARS - 150 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
1 Only Spanish, 1195 1195
2 More Spanish than English, 244 1439
3 Both equally, 240 1679
4 More English than Spanish, or 210 1889
5 Only English? 362 2251
7 Refused 0 2251
9 Don't know 3 2254
. Missing 5644 7898

ACD040 - Language(s) usually spoken at home

Variable Name:
ACD040
SAS Label:
Language(s) usually spoken at home
English Text:
What language(s) {do you/does SP} usually speak at home? Would you say...
English Instructions:
HAND CARD ACQ1
Target:
Both males and females 12 YEARS - 150 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
1 Only Spanish, 802 802
2 More Spanish than English, 219 1021
3 Both equally, 383 1404
4 More English than Spanish, or 310 1714
5 Only English? 537 2251
7 Refused 0 2251
9 Don't know 3 2254
. Missing 5644 7898

ACQ050 - Language(s) usually used to think

Variable Name:
ACQ050
SAS Label:
Language(s) usually used to think
English Text:
In which language(s) {do you/does SP} usually think? Would you say...
English Instructions:
HAND CARD ACQ1
Target:
Both males and females 12 YEARS - 150 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
1 Only Spanish, 698 698
2 More Spanish than English, 166 864
3 Both equally, 395 1259
4 More English than Spanish, or 261 1520
5 Only English? 704 2224
7 Refused 0 2224
9 Don't know 30 2254
. Missing 5644 7898

ACQ060 - Language(s) usually used with friends

Variable Name:
ACQ060
SAS Label:
Language(s) usually used with friends
English Text:
What language(s) {do you/does SP} usually speak with {your/his/her} friends? Would you say...
English Instructions:
HAND CARD ACQ1
Target:
Both males and females 12 YEARS - 150 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
1 Only Spanish, 626 626
2 More Spanish than English, 181 807
3 Both equally, 414 1221
4 More English than Spanish, or 318 1539
5 Only English? 708 2247
7 Refused 0 2247
9 Don't know 7 2254
. Missing 5644 7898

ACD070 - Father's country of birth

Variable Name:
ACD070
SAS Label:
Father's country of birth
English Text:
In what country was {your/SP's} father born?
Target:
Both males and females 12 YEARS - 150 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
1 United States, except Puerto Rico 667 667
2 Puerto Rico 91 758
4 Mexico 1331 2089
5 Other country 149 2238
77 Refused 0 2238
99 Don't know 16 2254
. Missing 5644 7898

ACD080 - Mother's country of birth

Variable Name:
ACD080
SAS Label:
Mother's country of birth
English Text:
In what country was {your/SP's} mother born?
Target:
Both males and females 12 YEARS - 150 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
1 United States, except Puerto Rico 734 734
2 Puerto Rico 86 820
4 Mexico 1284 2104
5 Other country 141 2245
77 Refused 0 2245
99 Don't know 9 2254
. Missing 5644 7898