First time with IPUMS. Downloaded files to my computer. Opened the zip files. Files will not open. Computer suggests downloading an app. What program do I need to open the data? Thanks
By default, IPUMS microdata files are delivered as fixed-width files that are compressed (*.dat.gz). I recommend 7zip as a free decompression software for Windows and The Unarchiver for Macs. This blog post has a bit more information on decompressing the files as well as opportunities requesting data files that are formatted for specific statistical software packages.