Variables in PUMS

Jane Kil over 8 years ago

Hi all,

I'm new to the ACS group/forum and am hoping this is the most appropriate place for this question. I am interested in the variable "HHT" (household/family type). It is listed in the data dictionary, but is not available in the PUMS for the California files (1, 3, nor 5 year files). Does anyone know how I can get quick access to a missing variable such as HHT at the state level?

Thanks,
Jane

Tom Bell over 8 years ago

There are 2 PUMS files, one Household file (one record per housing unit) and a population file (one record per person). The HHT variable is in the Household file. You need to download the housing file and merge to the population file.

Tom
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Tom Bell over 8 years ago

I should have added you want to merge by SERIALNO.
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Doug Hillmer over 8 years ago

Jane,

Not sure about the source of your problem, bu the variable HHT is available on the PUMS files for CA. I just went into DataFerrett, created and downloaded a PUMS extract for one PUMA in CA using HHT. It worked fine, although DatFerrett acted a bit funny when I first attempted to download - I used the "batch" option to get it to work.

Tom is correct if you choose to download the PUMS files and not use DataFerrett. You can accomplish the merge that Tom is talking about using DataFerrett, but it is important to know which weight you want to use - housing (WGTP) or person weight(PWGTP). This depends on what type of table or statistic you want to ultimately build using HHT.

Doug Hillmer
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Jane Kil over 8 years ago

Hi Tom & Doug,

Thanks for the quick response. I just accessed DataFerrett, now to familiarize myself with it. I was able to locate and access variable HHT.
Thanks again! I'll be back if I'm stuck again.

Jane
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