Question:
A researcher writes: “We are working with the GSS Cycle 30, 2016. There are certain items that assess things like internet usage and resilience in people (e.g., IUR_01). Were these items taken from psychometrically validated instruments and inserted in the GSS? We have thoroughly scoured the documentation available online (including codebooks, etc.) and cannot find how these items came to be?”
The Main code book for this GSS cycle kindly notes sources of each variable. I looked at the IUR_01 as well as the resilience questions (RES_xx) and noted that for a couple the source is another Survey (adapted from), but many of them are “new question.” So, if I’m interpreting the researcher’s question correctly, he would like to know on what that “new question” was based.
Answer:
We’ve received the following response from subject matter:
1. “Resilience questions
The resilience questions were based on broad research (academic and NGO) including individual, child and community resilience (see some of the resources consulted below) as well as consultation with subject matter experts both within and outside Statistics Canada. The final stage included the development of a resilience factor table that was used to generate questions most suitable to the target population of the General Social Survey. Where possible, existing questions from within Statistics Canada were used. All new questions developed in house and based on the previous research underwent rigorous qualitative testing and only ones that tested well were retained. In some instances, wording was changed as a result of testing to render the question more user friendly.
Some resources consulted in developing resilience questions:
The Dispositional Resilience Scale - Bartone (1989; 1991; 1995)
The ER 89 - Block & Kremen (1989)
Connor-Davidson Scale - Connor & Davidson (2003)
Youth Resiliency: Assessing Developmental Strengths - Donnon & Hammond (2003)
The Resilience Scale for Adults - Friborg et al. (2003)
Resiliency Attitudes and Skills Profile - Hurtes & Allen (2001)
Adolescent Resilience Scale - Oshio et al. (2003)
The Brief Resilience Scale - Smith et al. (2008)
The Resilience Scale (AUS) - Wagnild & Young (1993)
Psychological Resilience - Windle, Markland & Woods (2008)
Ego Resiliency - Klohnen (1996)
The Resilience Scale for Adolescents - Hjemdal et al. (2006)
- The well-being and resilience paradox, Technical Report; The Young Foundation
- Resilience and well-being: Definitions, measurement and intervention; Doug Coatsworth, Penn State University
- Resilience: A Literature Review; Patrick Martin-Breen and J. Marty Anderies, Rockefeller Center
- Survey of Emergency Preparedness and Resilience in Canada (SEPR); Statistics Canada
2. Internet questions
Research was conducted on the topic of technology and the Internet, to reveal existing knowledge as well as data gaps on specific points of interest. One of such topic was the ownership of technology devices. After the initial research, consultations with experts who designed and conducted Statistics Canada’s Canadian Internet Use Survey, was carried out. There was general consensus that given the accelerated availability and cost reduction of consumer electronics, inquiring about the device types that people own is important for understanding their distribution (and ultimately use). This is the background to the new question on the ownership of technology devices.”
We are pleased to inform you that the following product is now available.
Labour Force Survey (LFS) – February 2019
This public use microdata file contains non-aggregated data for a wide variety of variables collected from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). The LFS collects monthly information on the labour market activities of Canada's working age population. This product is for users who prefer to do their own analysis by focusing on specific subgroups in the population or by cross-classifying variables that are not in our catalogued products. The Labour Force Survey estimates are based on a sample, and are therefore subject to sampling variability. Estimates for smaller geographic areas, industries, occupations or cross tabulations will have more variability. For an explanation of sampling variability of estimates, and how to use standard errors to assess this variability, consult the Data Quality section in the Guide to the Labour Force Survey.
EFT: /MAD_PUMF_FMGD_DAM/Root/3701_LFS_EPA/1976-2019/data/micro2019-02.zip
Nesstar Webview: Labour Force Survey (LFS), February 2019
Question:
I have a researcher who is using the Census 2016 PUMF with STATA. They have the Stata .do file, and the RAW .dat data file.
But they are telling me they need a Stata dictionary file .dct to load the .dat file.
I am not familiar with Stata. The .dat file is loading correctly in SPSS. I see from a little reading that one can create a .dct file describing the data and its location. But doe anyone else work with Stata. How are you generating a .dct file for the Census 2016 PUMF.
Answer:
I’ve been able to get hold of the .dct file and have placed it in the RAW folder (within both the English and French folders). Hopefully this is what the researcher needs!
Question:
Good afternoon DLI,
I have an economics researcher who is interested in finding data on the amount of time that people spend on activities that benefit the environment. A more specific question is the average amount of time that Canadians spend recycling.
I thought that this data would be best found in a time use survey, such as the StatCan General Social Survey 2015 - Time Use (GSS). Searching the variables of this survey, I was able to locate the following variable: DUR19 Duration - Garbage, recycling, unpacking goods. This provides the total duration (in minutes) for taking out the garbage, recycling, compost, unpacking goods. Recycling is grouped with taking out the garbage, composting and unpacking goods which are activities that are not of interest for the researcher.
Given that the survey employs a retrospective 24-hour time diary, and that the responses were coded, is there data available from StatCan for only recycling?
If this data is not available from StatCan, does anyone else on the list have any recommendations on other possible sources?
Answer from subject matter:
“Unfortunately, as you noticed, it is not possible to isolate recycling only from GSS Time Use. We don’t have data on recycling only that I am aware of.”
Answer from DLI member:
While not about time spent on recycling per se, there does appear to be a lot of data sources available on this topic in general:
Searching in ODESI at the variable level for “recycl” found 107 surveys
https://search1.odesi.ca/#/search/_term_term=recycl*&type:1;&fromDate=Earliest&toDate=Present&refineColl_all:false&cora:false&icpsr:false&dlimf:false;&refineOdesi_all:true&statCaMicro:true&statCaAgg:true&pop:true&other:true;&addTerms@;&page:1&sort=date?uri=%2Fdataverse_sp%2Fdoi--10-5683_SP_IYYC4A.xml
We are pleased to inform you that the following are now available on the Statistics Canada Nesstar WebView site.
Canadian Tobacco, Alcohol and Drugs Survey (CTADS) 2017 - Household PUMF
Canadian Tobacco, Alcohol and Drugs Survey (CTADS) 2017 - Person PUMF
Census of Population 2016 PUMF
Question:
The researcher has indicated that:
1. The datafile consists of 24,803 cases.
2. In the concepts and methods, as well as the user guide, it indicates there are 28,410 cases.
3. Where are the 3,607 cases? Are these people under the age of 18?
Answer:
I’ve received the following response from subject matter:
“The file that the client is using would be the PUMF, if it contains 24,803 records. The analytical file contains 28,409 (not 28,410) records and this is the file being referred to in the Concepts and Methods Guide and the Analytical File User Guide. It sounds like the researcher may be using the wrong user guide and should be using the PUMF user guide”
Follow-up Answer:
I’ve uploaded the most up-to-date version of the APS 2012 user guide to the EFT at /MAD_PUMF_FMGD_DAM/Root/3250_APS_EAPA/2012/doc. Please use these versions going forward. I will work on determining if the previous users guides currently on the EFT are correct.
Question:
The name of the survey is "Tuition and Living Accommodation Costs", yet
I have been unable to find any accommodation costs data anywhere. Do
they exist? If so, where? If not, why not?
Answer:
Accommodation costs are in Table 7.
Eg: "TABLE 7. LIVING ACCOMMODATION COSTS FOR RESIDENCES, 2017-2018 (actual), annual (dollars)”
It’s hard to find because you have to scroll to the end of all the worksheets, so it’s not immediately obvious or especially intuitive if you’re not using a large monitor.
