Gateway to Global Aging Data

Gateway to Global Aging Data September 17th, 2014 APRU Data Workshop Drystan Phillips

Overview of the Gateway to Global Aging Data • A digital library of survey content • Illustrative flow-charts showing skip patterns • An intelligent search engine to locate relevant survey items • Integration with Stata to match survey items to dataset variables • Harmonized data files for cross-country analysis • A survey concordance to quickly identify comparable Harmonized survey measures • Interactive graphs and charts • A library of relevant user guides and articles (in progress)

Metadata Metadata provide detailed information about all the parts of the survey without providing the actual survey microdata. Included are: • The location of all survey items inside the interview • Survey questions including question text, interviewer prompts, and answer types and choices • How the question was asked and to whom • Links to microdata variables and how the values are formatted • Assigned research topics, keywords, and domains • Suggested similar survey items • User notes

Flow Charts

Intelligent Search Users can search across multiple surveys and waves using our intelligent search engine. The search engine indexes: • Question text • Answer choices • Item descriptions • Associated research topics Searches can be filtered for a single study or multiple studies over any given set of survey years.

Interactive Graphs and Charts

Interactive Graphs and Charts Total Family Income for England in 2004 over 3 age groups

Interactive Graphs and Charts Whether Currently Working for Pay for individuals age 55-64 in 5 countries in 2006

Interactive Graphs and Charts Net Value of Primary Residence in the USfrom 2004-2010

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Integration with Stata Health & Retirement Study Stata Dataset Gateway to Global Aging Data

Data Options Page Specify any commands to include at the beginning of your .do files Indicate dataset locations Check to make sure you have the correctly named datasets List the folder location of each relevant survey wave on user’s machine The folder location should be in a format similar to: Once updated, the cart will reflect that you have specified the dataset location D:\ELSA\ Or /MACHD/ELSA/

Creating Analysis Data • You can create a collection of survey items which are specific to your research using your Item Cart • Searching for relevant survey items • Browsing by Surveys for Relevant Survey Items • Browsing by Topics for Relevant Harmonized Survey Items • Using Pre-Defined Carts

Creating Analysis Data • Example • Select variables from the HRS and the ELSA • Ensure that you have listed the file locations for all variables • Create a cart, add any other relevant variables • Download and run your generated .do file • The result is one dataset with information from two studies without any other extraneous variables We want to compare whether health limits any paid work in 2006 between the US and England

Harmonized Data Files Harmonized Datasets are created to provide harmonized measures of international aging and retirement studies. • Harmonized Datasets define variables as similarly as possible to the RAND HRS definition of a variable • These datasets are structured in a Fat Format where every individual is one record • Variable names are defined using the RAND HRS format e.g. r1work – whether the respondent is currently working in wave 1 • Variable names indicate how similar to the RAND HRS version of the variable. • Spouse versions of most variables are also created e.g. s2work – whether respondent's spouse is currently working in wave 2

Harmonized Data Files • Harmonized ELSA – incorporates the first four waves of ELSA (2002, 2004, 2006, 2008) • Harmonized SHARE – incorporates the first, second, and forth wave of SHARE (2004, 2006, 2010) • Harmonized JSTAR – incorporates the first three waves of JSTAR (2007, 2009, 2011) • Harmonized KLoSA - incorporates the first wave of KLoSA (2006) • Harmonized LASI – incorporates the pilot data of LASI (2010) • Harmonized CHARLS • Harmonized MHAS • Harmonized CRELES • Harmonized TILDA Harmonized data files are either distributed through the Gateway or the originating study. In some cases the data file are created by user based on a code provided by the Gateway.

R1SMOKEN Respondent smokes now 0. No 1. Yes Simple Harmonization SHARE 2004 Harmonized SHARE If BR001= 1

H1ACHCK Wave 1 Household Assets: Savings Complex Harmonization JSTAR Self-completion 2007 Harmonized JSTAR If 31 = No If 31 = Yes If 32 = Yes If 32 = No If 35 = Yes If 35 = No JSTAR CAPI 2007 If G-022-2 = missing If G-022-1 = Yes If G-022-1 = No

Harmonized Codebooks Each Harmonized Dataset is accompanied by its own codebook. • Includes brief overview of statistics for each variable • Details variable creation and any assumptions made in the creation • Highlights any differences between this harmonized variable and other harmonized variables • Lists all the variables from the originating dataset used in the creation of the variable

Harmonized Codebooks

Harmonized Survey Concordance Users can quickly identify comparable Harmonized survey measures between all Harmonized health and retirement surveys. • See which research topics are currently included in each Harmonized study • Compare whether individual survey measures are • Sufficiently comparable • Similar, but not with notable differences • Not available in a specific study • Available, but not yet incorporated into the Harmonized study

Harmonized Analysis • Example • Select variables from the RAND HRS and Harmonized ELSA. Variables will have similar naming conventions. • Download and run your generated .do file • The result is one dataset with easily comparable and similarly named measures from three studies • We want to compare whether health limits any paid work in 2006 between the USand England

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Gateway to Global Aging Data