FTOTVAL description

CPS
1

The description for FTOTVAL reads: “total income for the respondent’s family. Amounts are expressed as they were reported to the interviewer (i.e., in the survey year’s dollar amounts).”

But the questionaire text is for a categorical variable (SFAMINC).

For example:

1 Less than $5,000 9 30,000 to 34,999
2 5,000 to 7,499 10 35,000 to 39,999
3 7,500 to 9,999 11 40,000 to 49,999

Why is this the case? Is there another question for the value FTOTVAL?

2

Thank you for bringing this to our attention. It looks like the questionnaire text shown FTOTVAL is incorrect. The IPUMS CPS FTOTVAL variable is derived from the variable FTOTVAL in this documentation, which is not a categorical question. There should not be an issue with the data itself, just the questionnaire text that is shown. I’ll send this along to have our CPS Team look into what is happening.