I’m seeking guidance on the appropriate weights to use for my analysis. My goal is to estimate changes in union membership within a specific occupational group and compare the uninsurance rates and weekly earnings based on union membership at person level.
To conduct this analysis, I have matched the union membership, weekly earnings, and demographic variables from ORG and the health insurance variables from ASEC data.
Now, I’m wondering which weights I should utilize for this particular analysis? Could someone please advise me on this matter?
It is not entirely clear to me whether you are linking individuals across time periods or not; the correct weight to use will depend on this factor.
One possibility is that you are looking at one or multiple ASEC samples and retaining individuals who are members of an outgoing rotation group (ELIGORG = 1). In this case, no linking across time is occurring and your sample is defined by being a member of an ORG in any particular ASEC sample. EARNWT is the correct weight to use in this type of analysis. Using ASECWT would underestimate your population since your sample excludes ASEC respondents who are not ORG members.
Alternatively, you might be using the rotating panel structure of the ASEC to link ASEC and ORG responses of individuals across time periods. For example, you might link a respondent who was part of an ORG in April with health insurance information on the individual collected in March. Note first that ASEC respondents who are part of the ASEC oversample (ASECOVERP = 1) cannot be linked to their responses in other months. For respondents who can be linked, IPUMS provides several longitudinal weights for analysis. The correct weight depends on the samples being linked with the current guidance being focused on BMS and ASEC linkages.