# Rectype is not selectable on ipums

**URL:** <https://forum.ipums.org/t/rectype-is-not-selectable-on-ipums/3307>\
**Category:** USA\
**Created:** [December 23, 2019, 9:00pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/rectype-is-not-selectable-on-ipums/3307 "2019-12-23T21:00:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Mustafa\_Aydogdu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Mustafa\_Aydogdu](https://forum.ipums.org/u/Mustafa_Aydogdu)\
**Post date:** [December 23, 2019, 9:00pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/rectype-is-not-selectable-on-ipums/3307/1 "2019-12-23T21:00:38Z")

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Hello everyone, I was trying to download individual data with the help of variable “rectype.” But it says “this variable is not selectable.” Did anyone else run into this problem? How can I solve it? Thanks.

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**Author:** ![Matthew\_Bombyk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Matthew\_Bombyk](https://forum.ipums.org/u/Matthew_Bombyk)\
**Post date:** [December 26, 2019, 10:54pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/rectype-is-not-selectable-on-ipums/3307/2 "2019-12-26T22:54:39Z")

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You don’t need to use RECTYPE to download individual level data. By default, the data you will get from an IPUMS USA extract will be individual records, with household data repeated for each member of the household. RECTYPE is only used for hierarchical data, which has separate person and household records. While this data structure is available for download on IPUMS, in most cases it is easier to use the person-level rectangular data (the default).

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**Author:** ![Mustafa\_Aydogdu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Mustafa\_Aydogdu](https://forum.ipums.org/u/Mustafa_Aydogdu)\
**Post date:** [December 27, 2019, 6:53pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/rectype-is-not-selectable-on-ipums/3307/3 "2019-12-27T18:53:04Z")

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Thank you! It was helpful!