Downloading data extract on Mac -- Archive Empty Error

USA
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Hello,

I am new to IPUMS and have been searching for answers regarding this issue but haven’t found any.

I am using STATA, and have downloaded the appropriate extract file (dat.gz) and the command do file as well, moving them both to my working directory folder.

When I attempt to open the dat.gz file, it says that the archive is empty (so there’s nothing to decompress).

When I downloaded the extract as a STATA formatted file (dta), all observations were 0.

Is anyone able to help me understand what I need to do to properly access my data here? And all help would be appreciated, thank you!

1 Like
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Usually when this happens, it is because you are using the Select Cases feature, and the combination of conditions you’ve selected somehow rules out everyone in the dataset. For example, if you choose a single state, a small occupation and a small age group there may be no individuals meeting all those criteria in the sample. I suggest checking if this is happening with your extract. If not, please follow up with an email to ipums@umn.edu and we can help you troubleshoot the issue.

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Thank you! All is figured out now :slight_smile: