Hi there,
I’m calculating the median value of housing (VALUEH) by race in California using the ACS 5-year data set from 2010-2014. Do I have to weight the data (HHWT) in SPSS? The description for VALUEH only mentions adjusting the dollar amounts for inflation.
Thank you!
The need to use HHWT will depend on your intended analysis strategy. If you intend to calculate representative statistics of median home value by race in California, which it sounds like you are planning on doing, then you will need to weight your data. This is because most data available through IPUMS-USA are weighted samples and need to be properly weighted in order to calculate representative statistics. For more details about sample weights, see this page for information.