SLID 2001 and 2002 SPSS syntax files

Question

I was wondering if anybody has put together the compete SPSS syntax files to the 2001 and 2002 SLID surveys, and would be willing to share? The DLI site presently offers the parts, but not the complete file.

If not, perhaps I could get some advice on the parts of the syntax available for these surveys. I have pasted together the parts of the 2002 SLID persons survey, and edited as necessary, but SPSS does not seem to like the variables list. It has several numbers that end in decimals, or have a number with a decimal in brackets after the column numbers. For example, "icswt26 23 - 32.4 (10.4) " . If I strip out the decimals and numbers in brackets, SPSS will pull in the data, and several frequencies I have run match the documentation. However, I am still a little concerned that the decimal numbers must have been there for a reason, and thought I should check before giving the student access to this and other recent SLID files.

Answer

No need to doubt your SPSS skills. The decimal point in the column range, i.e., 23-32, is incorrect SPSS syntax. I suspect that the SPSS code was generated from SAS code, where the variable "icswt26" is declared correctly for SAS as: icswt26 10.4 .