Newsletter

December 1996 - Number 3

FLS Data Updates

The following data updates have become available since the most recent issue of the FLS Newsletter (Number 2, November 1995). Because this newsletter went to press in mid-November 1996, any additions after November 5, 1996 are not included below. Please check the FLS UPDATES page on the FLS home page. The list of updates is also available on RAND's anonymous ftp server in the file called UPDATES (see the earlier article on accessing FLS data via ftp). All updates are dated, so additions after November 5, 1996 can be easily identified.

All files available on-line are the most up-to-date versions. The on-line data are available via the FLS home page and via RAND's anonymous ftp server. The IFLS data on CD-ROM from RAND and the MFLS data on magnetic tape will not be revised; the revised files mentioned below must be obtained from the above on-line sources. The Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), which also distributes the FLS data, has been notified of updates and has received corrected data.

MFLS-2 Updates

Updates to Data Subfiles

MF23SUM: In the ASCII files for MF23SUM, the variable PERSON in columns 20-21 was found to be blank. Also, the input program to read the MF23SUM ASCII data did not include the field for PERSON. The SAS transport files, on the other hand, did not have this problem. The on-line MF23SUM ASCII files (NS and PC) and input program have been revised and PERSON is now correct. These files are in the mfls2raw subdirectory.

IFLS-1 Updates

Updates to "fixes" Files

The following "fixes" files have been updated or newly added since public release of the IFLS-1 on January 1, 1996. The post-public-release fixes code appears at the end of each file and is noted as occurring after public release:

The correction to the BKPPKH01.FIX file from the IFLS-CF data creates a numeric version of the alphanumeric variable IH1 which contains price information. The numeric version is called IHR1. The alphanumeric version, IH1, has the following form: 50 rupiah is represented as _._50. The above "fix" program for BKPPKH01 uses the SAS compress command to remove the underscore and period characters and then assigns the revised character string into the numeric variable IHR1. If you are not using SAS or a package that can manipulate character data, you may need to go into the ASCII version of the BKPPKH01 file and convert those characters to blanks using a text editor before reading in the ASCII data.

Updates to Data Subfiles

BUK2PH1: The SAS transport file, BUK2PH1.EXP, had too few observations (the ASCII version has the correct number of observations). The error has been corrected and the on-line BUK2PH1 transport file in the iflsexp/book2 subdirectory has been revised.

BUK3MG3: The variable MG50R1 in the BUK3MG3 subfiles (i.e., SAS transport and ASCII) was incorrectly created from the original three-part rupiah response in Book 3 question MG50. The error has been corrected and the on-line BUK3MG3 subfiles in the iflsexp/book3 and the iflsraw/book3 subdirectories have been revised.

BUKIJ01: The variable BFACTYPE in the BUKIJ01 subfiles (i.e., SAS transport and ASCII) was incorrectly generated. The error has been corrected and the on-line BUKIJ01 subfiles in the iflsexp/commun and the iflsraw/commun subdirectories have been revised.

BUKCCA3: The variables CA10 and CA13 in the BUKCCA3 subfiles (i.e., SAS transport and ASCII) were incorrectly generated as integer variables instead of variables with one decimal place. The error has been corrected and the on-line BUKCCA3 subfiles in the iflsexp/bookca and the iflsraw/bookca subdirectories have been revised. The program file that reads the ASCII data, iflsraw/hhldpgms/ BUKCAINP.SAS, has also been updated to read CA10 and CA13 correctly.

PROV, KAB, KEC: The original public release files PROV, KAB, and KEC did not have geographic codes and names for province 17 (Bengkulu). This omission has been corrected and the on-line PROV, KAB, and KEC subfiles in the iflsexp/other and the iflsraw/other subdirectories have been revised.

BKBIDINP.SAS: The original public release file BKBIDINP.SAS, which provides input statements for the IFLS-CF raw files related to paramedics, nurses, and midwives, had an error in the input statement for file BKBDA02. The last three variables listed in the IFLS-CF codebook (GA25A1_T, GA25A2_T, GA25A3_T) were accidentally omitted. The omission has been corrected and the on-line file BKBIDINP.SAS in the iflsraw/commpgms subdirectory has been revised.

SAS Transport Files: Please ignore any extraneous variables in the SAS transport files. Only variables listed in the IFLS codebooks are of interest. You may ignore variables with names like _ID1, _I_, and FACID. In file BKBDB02, the variable GB8 is in the transport file and is merely the character version of the public release variable GB8R1. Please use GB8R1.

NEW FILE CREATED: As a result of preparations for IFLS-2, which will be fielded in fall 1997, a data file containing links between living noncoresident children in Section BA of Book 3 and the birth record for those children in Section CH of Book 4 has been created. Only noncoresident children of Book 4 respondents may have such links. To assist IFLS-1 users who may wish to match child records between the BA and CH sections, we have made this file of linked identifiers publicly available.

This new file is called BA_CHKID and contains the following variables:

This new file is available on-line only and accessible via ftp or the FLS home page on the Web. A SAS transport file can be found in the iflsexp/others subdirectory; an ASCII version can be found in the iflsraw/others subdirectory. The SAS input statement file is BACHINP.SAS and is found in the iflsraw/hhldpgms subdirectory.

Updates to Input Programs for ASCII Data

BUK3MG3: The variable MG50R1 in the BUK3MG3 subfiles (i.e., SAS transport and ASCII) was incorrectly created from the original three-part rupiah response in Book 3 question MG50. The error has been corrected and the on-line BUK3MG3 subfiles in the iflsexp/book3 and iflsraw/book3 subdirectories have been revised.

Updates to IFLS Codebooks

A few minor updates have been made to the IFLS codebooks. Please check the FLS Updates page on the FLS home page or the UPDATES file on the anonymous ftp server for a listing of those minor changes. Updates were made to the contraceptive calendar section of the IFLS-HH codebook, to the discussion of FACCODE in the codebook introductions, to Table 1.8 in the IFLS-HH codebook, and to Table 1.7 in the IFLS-CD codebook.