# Linking Contingent Worker Supplement to ASEC?

**URL:** <https://forum.ipums.org/t/linking-contingent-worker-supplement-to-asec/3773>\
**Category:** CPS\
**Created:** [September 24, 2020, 4:51pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/linking-contingent-worker-supplement-to-asec/3773 "2020-09-24T16:51:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![sk4142](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dec6dc/32.png) [@sk4142](https://forum.ipums.org/u/sk4142)\
**Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 4:51pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/linking-contingent-worker-supplement-to-asec/3773/1 "2020-09-24T16:51:05Z")

</div>

I have just got to learn about the CWS and would like to know if the CWS and ASEC could be merged. If that’s possible, could you let me know which ID I need to use for data merge and which weight for the analyses? Thanks.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![KariWilliams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@KariWilliams](https://forum.ipums.org/u/KariWilliams)\
**Post date:** [September 29, 2020, 4:08pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/linking-contingent-worker-supplement-to-asec/3773/2 "2020-09-29T16:08:18Z")

</div>

You can indeed link about half of the people in the CWS (which is in May) to the ASEC. To learn more about possible linkages in the CPS (and the percentage of the sample you can expect to link across months), I would encourage you to visit the [CPS Rotation Pattern Explorer (RoPES) tool](https://cps.ipums.org/rotation_pattern_explorer#/). The variable [CPSIDP](https://cps.ipums.org/cps-action/variables/cpsidp#description_section) can be used to link persons across time in the CPS, though I will note that this is a technical linking key only; IPUMS recommends that researchers validate linkages with age, sex, and race. I encourage you to review these [resources on linking the CPS](https://cps.ipums.org/cps/cps_linking_documentation.shtml), which include an overview of the RoPES tool, information on the available linking keys, and information about weighting.