Income deciles

Question

A faculty member here wants data from both SLID and SHS by income decile (not quintile, as has already been provided for us in SHS 2003). I know that I can use SPSS to generate the deciles, using

FREQUENCIES
VARIABLES=variable
/NTILES= 10
/ORDER= ANALYSIS.

and then, by using these figures to derive another variable, do crosstabs by income decile. What I'm not sure about is whether I
should calculate the deciles to create the derived variable before or after applying the weight variable. Could someone out
there give me some advice?

Answer

If you want the decile variable to indicate membership in the weighted sample, keep the weight variable on when calculating the deciles using the Frequencies command. To satisfy your curiosity, run the Frequencies command with the weight variable on and then off and compare the differences between the deciles of these two runs. You should see differences between the values of the deciles as a result of the sampling design.

When recoding income into deciles, the weight variable will not be invoked and can be either on or off.

NPHS supplement

Question

I have a grad student looking for the Nutrition Supplement Survey for thefollowing years:
1994-1995
1996-1997
1998-1999
2000-2001
2002-2003
2004-2005

In the StatCan online catalogue it lists supplements of NPHS as being available to DLI members.

http://www.statcan.ca:8096/bsolc/english/bsolc?catno=82M0018S

Is this still the case? If so, can we obtain these files for our student?

I do see the 1994-1995 supplemental files on the ftp site but those are the only ones available.

Is this a matter of custom tab or RDC as options for receiving the data?

Answer

First, there was never any supplement on nutrition in either of our surveys. We did have something related to nutrition but it is the Food Insecurity Supplement of the NPHS, and it was done as a one-time special survey in 1996-1997. This Supplement was sponsored by Human Resource Development Canada to help them in developing policies. The file was never released as a public use microdata file, unfortunately, and is available on request in Research Data Centers.

Second, we recently published the CCHS - Nutrition - General Health component, which is focused on nutrition. The Public file will be available at the end of November, and is also available in request in Research Data Centers.

Weather Data

Question

Does anyone know if weather data is available in either ASCII or GIS format? A student wants Hourly data for 200+ weather
stations in Alberta for 1990-2002.

Answer

You'll find what you need at the national climate archive:
http://www.climate.weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/

Posting survey subsets onto WebCT

Question

A lab instructor for a large Research Methods class has inquired about possibly using DLI data for their labs. It is a large class, with 6 sections, and a total of about 180 students. Given the large size of the class, the instructor would like to try to use small subsets of the GSS, 10-15 variables, to correspond to specific research methods. The instructor would post these subsets onto WebCT for the students to use during the labs. The instructor could put these files up before the classes and take them down at the end of the week, or right after the classes if required. The students would complete small assignments during class tie and submit them at the end of the class period. Only students registered in the class would have access to the files. Would this be allowed under the DLI license? The "use" would of course be educational. However, would this be viewed as "redistribution" of the data?

Answer

This is a wonderful example of the teaching value of DLI data. Yes, this is definitely an acceptable use of the data licensed under DLI. In addition, WebCT adds another level of authentication to gaining access since students are required by WebCT to use an ID and password to enter this instructional webspace. The experiences of this lab use would make a great DLI Update article.

NLSCY Cycle 5 - Download Problems

Question

I have downloaded from the ftp site the files for NLSCY Cycle 5. The Coefficient of Variation Interface works fine from my pc, but when I loaded onto our website (using the same file structure and file name), I get the following errors:
Children 0-5 years - Run time error '1004' Method 'Sheets' of object'_Global' failed Children and Youth 8-19 years - Run time error '9' Subscript out of Range (same error for French or English version). Any suggestions?

Answer

I just met with an individual of Special Surveys Division to see if there was a simple answer to your question. We reviewed the files on the FTP and as the product is installing properly on your PC, which is the intended use of the product, there is no support for using the files as you describe. However, they suggested that perhaps not all files were being transferred over? Please ensure that all files listed on the FTP are transferred to the web. Also, they suggest that you create two folders (0-5 and 8-19) and follow the same reporting structure and demonstrated on the FTP. It could be that the program is looking for a file in a certain folder but it is found elsewhere - thus causing the trouble. Apologies for not being able to completely resolve the problem, but I hope the suggestions bring you one step closer.

Low Income Lone Mothers

Question

Is it possible to find a number or percentage of poor (low income or "LICO" status) lone mothers in Vancouver, Toronto and Halifax by Census Tract, or at least, an area smaller than just a CMA?

Answers

1. The lowest geography I found crossing incidence of low income and family type was at the CMA level. I did not see any standard tables with this information at a lower level. The Census PUMF would not be an alternative as the lowest level of geography is the CMA. Unless someone out there knows another source for this information, I would say cost-recovery is your only option for STC stuff.

2. This would be far too detailed a table with income in it. I am quite sure that CMA is the lowest for which standard data would be available. I am not sure about a custom table but one must remember that income is a sensitive varaible.

Number of Jobs by Census Tracts

Last August, I had a special request from a professor working in the Transportation Department of Ecole Polytechnique and I would like to share results of my request with you.

The professor wanted the number of jobs by census tracts in Montreal related to place of work and not residential location. The only documents that answered that request are the following:

http://www.statcan.ca:8096/bsolc/english/bsolc?catno=97C0036

Place of Work Status (3), Industry - 1997 North American Industry Classification System (21) and Work Activity (4) for Employed Labour Force 15 Years and Over Having a Usual Place of Work or Working at Home, for Census Metropolitan Areas, Census Agglomerations and Census Tracts of Work, 2001 Census - 20% Sample Data

http://www.statcan.ca:8096/bsolc/english/bsolc?catno=97C0037
http://www.statcan.ca:8096/bsolc/english/bsolc?catno=97C0038
http://www.statcan.ca:8096/bsolc/english/bsolc?catno=97C0039
http://www.statcan.ca:8096/bsolc/english/bsolc?catno=97C0040
http://www.statcan.ca:8096/bsolc/english/bsolc?catno=97C0041

These files are available in the ftp dli collection. I used the file Dirlist.txt with the command "CTRL F" to find the documents.

Census/2001/B2020/Topic-Based-Tabulations/place-of-work-b2020/ct-sr/workplace_travail:
total 13684
dr-xr-x--- 2 dli dli 512 Jun 17 11:31 ./
dr-xr-x--- 4 dli dli 512 Jun 17 11:31 ../
-r-xr-x--- 1 dli dli 2140777 Jun 17 11:31 97c0036.ivt*
-r-xr-x--- 1 dli dli 796517 Jun 17 11:31 97c0037.ivt*
-r-xr-x--- 1 dli dli 1608198 Jun 17 11:31 97c0038.ivt*
-r-xr-x--- 1 dli dli 1142969 Jun 17 11:31 97c0039.ivt*
-r-xr-x--- 1 dli dli 778060 Jun 17 11:31 97c0040.ivt*
-r-xr-x--- 1 dli dli 463295 Jun 17 11:31 97c0041.ivt*

N.B. The professor will contact the Census Division for Montréal to obtain the data for 1996.