# Append IPUMS\_Merge to DHS Data

**URL:** https://forum.ipums.org/t/append-ipums-merge-to-dhs-data/2990
**Category:** GLOBAL HEALTH
**Created:** [June 5, 2019, 11:52pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/append-ipums-merge-to-dhs-data/2990 "2019-06-05T23:52:54Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![emmanuelkoku](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/67e7ee/32.png) [@emmanuelkoku](https://forum.ipums.org/u/emmanuelkoku)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2019, 11:52pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/append-ipums-merge-to-dhs-data/2990/1 "2019-06-05T23:52:55Z")

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Hello, Thanks for your recent updates re IPUMS. I have a question about linking merged data produced by IMPUMS to similar dataset from the DHS.

I am examining HIV risk behaviors in sub-Saharan Africa, and will be using data from the following countries:

Angola  
Benin  
Burkina Faso  
Burundi  
Cameroon  
Chad  
Congo  
Congo Democratic Republic  
Cote d’Ivoire  
Eswatini  
Ethiopia  
Gabon  
Gambia  
Ghana  
Guinea  
Kenya  
Lesotho  
Liberia  
Malawi  
Mali  
Mozambique  
Namibia  
Niger  
Rwanda  
Senegal  
Sierra Leone  
South Africa  
Tanzania  
Togo  
Uganda  
Zambia  
Zimbabwe

I plan to use IPUMS to create a pooled dataset containing selected/harmonized variables of interest. However, IPUMS currently does not have data for the following countries (unless I am mistaken):

Chad  
Gabon  
Liberia  
Sierra Leone  
Togo  
Swaziland/Eswatini

If this is the case, my plan is to go ahead generate the pooled dataset using IPUMS. I have access to the data for these subset of six countries. How do I append them to the IPUMS harmonized version and ensure that is is truly harmonized - with variable and value/labels?

thanks - Yawo

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### Author: ![JeffBloem](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.ipums.org/jeffbloem/32/40_2.png) [@JeffBloem](https://forum.ipums.org/u/JeffBloem)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2019, 2:30pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/append-ipums-merge-to-dhs-data/2990/2 "2019-06-06T14:30:30Z")

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You are correct that IPUMS DHS does not currently include data from Chad, Gabon, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Togo, or Swaziland. Unfortunately, the process of harmonizing data which is available directly from the DHS Program but not yet available via IPUMS DHS is relatively time-intensive. This is why there is always a lag between when data is available via the DHS Program website and when the harmonized sample is available via IPUMS DHS. Using the documentation available on our [online data extract system](https://www.idhsdata.org/idhs-action/variables/group?unit_of_analysis=children), you will need to manually re-code the variables you are interested in using so that the variable names, codes, and labels are harmonized for your entire pooled data set.

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### Author: ![Elizabeth\_Boyle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/da6949/32.png) [@Elizabeth\_Boyle](https://forum.ipums.org/u/Elizabeth_Boyle)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2019, 8:40pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/append-ipums-merge-to-dhs-data/2990/3 "2019-06-21T20:40:03Z")

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This question was also posted on the DHS User Forum. For more information, see the responses [there](https://userforum.dhsprogram.com/index.php?t=tree&goto=17828&#page_top).