Hello,
I am analyzing the CPS basic monthly survey for the year 2020. My objective is to understand the impact of COVID-19 on employment-related factors across racial groups. For this I will produce statistics for the months January-present. I have extracted individual level data, but I wonder what the value is of linking individual across months as opposed to not linking. Does IPUMS have any recommendations as to when linking is more appropriate?
Thank you.
Whether or not to link CPS samples depends on the goals of your research and what type of analysis you are looking for. If you do not link the samples, your analysis will allow you to see monthly changes in community-level employment rates. If you link the samples, you will be able to see monthly changes in individual-level employment rates. You can read more about linking the CPS in this documentation; at the bottom of the page is a list of papers about linking the CPS that may be useful to you as you decide how to structure your analysis.