I am trying to get a (small) sample of ancestry 1 and 2 responses from the 2023 ACS. More than 700,000 did not answer #1 and more than 2.5 million did not answer #2, and I am aware that those decisions not to respond have their own interpretive implications. Nevertheless, I am interested in those people who responded to both questions with an answer valid for my purposes (i.e., they have codes other than the residual values from 995 through 999).
I have been able to select the variables and the year, but I do not see the prompts that I expected (from looking at various IPUMS resources) would allow me to eliminate the cases with the 995-999 codes for both variables and to specify a desired sample size.
The odds are strong that I am missing something obvious. I hope that a more knowledgeable person will be able to point me in the correct direction.
It sounds like you are interested in restricting the 2023 ACS to a subsample of only those who responded to both ANCESTR1 and ANCESTR2. The case selection feature on IPUMS USA is designed to do exactly this. After you have selected the variables and samples that you wish to include in your data extract, select Create Data Extract. This will bring you to the Extract Request screen. On this screen (see the first screenshot below), you will have the options to Select Cases and Customize Sample Sizes. On the Select Cases screen, select the variables you want to filter, and you will be able to select all cases except the NIU codes you wish to exclude. See the FAQ on Select Cases for more information.
Another option for limiting your sample size more generally is to use the Customize Sample Sizes option. This option allows you to limit your sample size by the number of households, persons or density. However, for your application limiting sample sizes based on your variables of interest seems more appropriate. Without looking at the unweighted sample sizes, I cannot say for certain, but would be cautious about making any population inferences if you apply both case selection and custom sample sizes for this specific application.
Screenshot 1: Screenshot of the Extract Request screen with red arrows highlighting the Select Cases and Customize Sample Sizes web buttons.
Screenshot 2: Screenshot of the Select Cases screen with ANCESTR1 and ANCESTR2 variables highlighted.
Thank you very much for your informative reply. What I think I missed was that I would still have options after I chose Extract.
Tom
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