Data Extracts in .csv show variables but no data

USA
1

I am having some issues with my data extracts, when I open the downloaded CSV, my variables are there, but there is no data within. My previous attempts for the year 1970 worked perfectly, however, subsequent years yielded no data. I have checked, and the data is available, but the data doesn’t download.

Any assistance in this matter would be greatly appreciated.

2

Hi Callum,

I replied to your email, but am sharing my answer here with a few extra details so that it can be helpful to other users who encounter the same challenge. Looking at your extracts, it appears that you’ve added filters using the select cases tool such that there are no available observations that fit your criteria. Specifically, you filter respondents to those with MIGPLAC5 = 200 (living in Mexico 5 years ago) in the 1970 1% form 1 metro sample. However, MIGPLAC5 = 200 is not a valid code in any of the 1970 form 1 samples (see the codes tab for MIGPLAC5). The comparability tab for MIGPLAC5 additionally notes that “for the 1940, 1970 Form 2, and 2000 samples, the specific foreign country where the person lived 5 years ago is reported; for the other samples, only “abroad, not specified” is given for persons living outside the U.S. and its territories 5 years ago.”

The two forms in the 1970 census include some of the same questions and some questions that differ between the forms. Form 1 was given to 5% of the population and form 2 was administered to 15%. An easy way to solve this issue is by changing your analysis to the form 2 respondents to the 1970 census.

Note however, that the same issue appears in the 1980 and 1990 samples as well (i.e. the country of residence five years ago is not identified in any samples for these years). You may instead try combining MIGPLAC5 = 911 (abroad, n.s.) with the variable BPL (birthplace) to identify respondents who lived outside the US five years ago and were born in Mexico. In this case, you will need to multiply PERWT by 2 for the 1980 sample, since, as noted in the comparability tab for MIGPLAC5 for 1980, “responses to questions about migration were coded for only half the persons included in the IPUMS.”