I am interested in combining samples from the AHTUS and ATUS from 1975, 2000, and 2003-2018 (ATUS). However, the ATUS files are only harmonized with the ATUS until 2012. Can I simply download the remaining ATUS files from IPUMS ATUS (2013-2018) and use the weights provided there, in a pooled sample, alongside the harmonized Heritage data? Or will this pose a problem for accurately weighting the data?
There is an issue combining ATUS and AHTUS in terms of weights; they are not comparable without a set of transformations. I have a few ideas of how you might proceed depending on your timeline and need for certain coding schemes from AHTUS/ATUS.
If you are most interested in doing a cross-time analysis, you may be interested in using MTUS; this time use dataset is harmonized for comparability with international time diary data, but it includes all U.S. samples (1965 to the present) and applies comparable codes to the full time series. Additionally, MTUS provides a weight that is comparable across time (PROPWT).
If you prefer the codes used in AHTUS and ATUS (there is more detail in the activity codes for these datasets as compared to MTUS), IPUMS Time Use offers the syntax CTUR used to harmonize ATUS data into AHTUS format. You may find this syntax file or codebook helpful in terms of understanding the transformation to weights between the 1965-1998 and ATUS-era years of data.The IPUMS Time Use project is planning to incorporate the 2018 ATUS into the AHTUS dataset, but it probably won’t be ready until this summer. If you don’t need the data urgently and could work with just one year of recent data (2018) as opposed to all of the most recent years (2013-2018), it may be worth waiting.
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Thank you so much for the quick and detailed reply! I appreciate it. The options you provided are all very helpful.
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Are there any updates on when the addition of the 2013-2018 ATUS data to AHTUS can be expected? Thank you very much!
This is on the IPUMS Time Use team’s priority list; we hope to have a clearer timeline to share sometime this summer.
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