Hello,
For BPLD (Birthplace Detailed) there are a number of countries with regional breakdowns (i.e. Canada, Germany) that have very specific regions listed. Is there a shortcut to combining these (or at least a codebook) that identifies the political country these regions belong to? For example, under the Canada section is St. Pierre and Miquelon, which is technically part of France but located closer to Canada. I was hoping to combine regions into countries, perhaps UN Member States or another official list if possible.
Thank you in advance!
While IPUMS tries to group subcodes under their correct heading, this is not always possible to do with birthplace given extensive geopolitical changes over time. While the case of St. Pierre and Miquelon is somewhat straightforward (assigning it to a subcode under France), assigning respondents born in, for example, Czechoslovakia, to a particular modern-day country is not possible. Any codebook that combines regions into countries would also have to provide its own interpretation of the status of semi-independent regions such as Bermuda or Greenland. IPUMS therefore provides BPL general codes, but no particular guidelines reorganizing birthplaces into countries, leaving the determination to individual researchers themselves.