The dataset is a format that is considerably different from the way that ASCII versions of AHS data were distributed in the past:
1. The structure of the nine separate files that was used in the SAS dataset has been maintained. The files in the zip archive are:
| CODEBOOK | FILENAME | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|---|
| B/b | bhousehld.txt | Housing Unit Record (Main Record) |
| D/d | bperson.txt | Person Record |
| E/e | bjtw.txt | Worker Record |
| F/f | bhomimp.txt | Work Done Record: replacement or addition to the house |
| H/h | brmov.txt | Mover Group Record |
| I/i | bmortg.txt | Mortgages (Owners only) |
| J/j | bowner.txt | Manager & Owner Record (Renters only) |
| K/k | btoppuf.txt | Recodes, one record per housing unit |
| W/w | bweight.txt | Weights |
2. The files are in COMMA-DELIMITED ASCII. String variables are enclosed in quotes.
3. The first record of each file is a comma-delimited list of the variable names, providing the record layouts.
You can thus import these files into any analysis program that can read comma-delimited ASCII files. Please note that the files are BIG. The zip archive itself is 20 MB. The expanded file is 266 MB (more than a quarter gigabyte). You may want to refer to page 5 of the draft codebook (*.exe, 434 KB) to review the "codes for missing data" section as it applies to ASCII versions of the dataset.
