AHS Digest

Here are the AHS Digest messages:


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From: AHSlistserv@huduser.gov on 8/25/2002 2:00:48 AM
Subject: AHS Digest
Here are the AHS Digest messages:


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From: AHSlistserv@huduser.gov on 8/18/2002 2:00:43 AM
Subject: AHS Digest
Here are the AHS Digest messages:


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From: David_A._Vandenbroucke@HUD.GOV on 8/7/2002 10:03:14 AM
Subject: Revised 1999 AHS File

There is a revised version of the 1999 national AHS microdata on the HUD
USER web site, https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/ahs.html.  (Yup,
that's "1999.")  Currently only the SAS version is updated.  We will post
an ASCII file as soon as we can.

Here is an explanation of the change from the Census Bureau:

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SUMMARY OF CHANGES TO 1999 DATA

THE PROBLEM:

A processing error was discovered which affected the 1999 data.  In every
1999 case where we had a valid entry in the 1997 survey we over wrote the
1999 answer with the 1997 answer for the variables WHNGET, FRSTOC, CUSHOM,
PREOCC, LPRICE, CPRICE, DWNPAY AND FRSTHO.  We were ONLY supposed to take
the 1997 answer if we had the same housing unit and household in 1999.
These restrictions were not applied.  The 1997 answer was taken even if we
were dealing with a different housing unit and/or household.  The new micro
data public use file (PUF) corrects this problem.

RESULTS OF CORRECTION:

The data for the following owner occupied variables (all from the RET
module) were purposely changed as a result of this correction.

WHNGET  FRSTOCC  CUSHOM  PREOCC  LPRICE CPRICE DWNPAY FRSTHO

The changes in the data for these variables were significant, especially
the changes to WHNGET.  Any previous analysis done using these variables
should be redone.

The data for the following owner occupied variables also changed.  Changes
in these variables where relatively minor.  Previous analysis using these
variables would most likely not change.  All are from the mortgage module.
The changes in these variables were the result of edits in the mortgage
module which depended on the data in the above mentioned purposely changed
RET variables (in most cases the variable WHNGET).  These variables
include.

PMT   PMT2  AMMORT  AMMRT2  MATBUY  MATBY2  NEWMOR  NEWOR2  TERM TERM2
YRMOR  YRMOR2   AMRTZ   AMRTZ2  INTW  INTW2  INTF  INTF2

The following is a list of publication (from the 1999 H-150 publication)
owner occupied items and recodes that change as a result of variable
changes mentioned above.  Beside each item is listed the variables causing
the differences in the data along with an assessment of the severity of the
change.  Minor means that any previous analysis using these data should not
be affected using the new data.  Significant means that the differences
appear to be statistically significantly and that  overall analysis using
these data may be affected.  Major means that any previously done analysis
using the old data will be affected should be redone using the new data.

Monthly Housing Costs-due to PMT and PMT2 changes---Minor

Monthly Housing Costs as Percent of Current Income-due to PMT and PMT2
changes--Minor

Previous Occupancy-due to changes in FRSTOC-Minor

Monthly Payment for Principal and Interest-due to changes in PMT and
PMT2-Minor

Year Unit Acquired-due to changes in WHNGET-Major

First Time Owners-due to changes in FRSTHO-Significant

Purchase Price-due to changes in CUSHOM PREOCC CPRICE LPRICE-Significant

Major Source of Down Payment-due to changes in CUSHOM PREOCC
DWNPY-Significant

Mortgage Origination-due to changes in MATBUY - Minor

Year Primary Mortgage Originated-due to changes in MATBUY, YRMOR and
WHNGET-Major

Term of Primary Mortgage at Origination or Assumption-due to changes in
TERM-Minor

Remaining Years Mortgaged-due to changes in MATBUY, TERM, WHNGET,
YRMOR-Minor

Current Interest Rate-All the changed mortgage variables except for PMT and
PMT2 go into this recode-Significant

Total Outstanding Principal Amount-All the changed mortgage variables
except for PMT and PMT2 go into this recode-Significant

Current Total Loan as Percent of Value-All the changed mortgage variables
except for PMT and PMT2 go into this recode-Minor

There are a total of 67 pages in the H-150 publication that have errors on
them.  As you can see from the discussion above, most of these errors are
minor.

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We are still discussing what changes to make in the reports.  We will
probably NOT release a new paper publication.  We almost certainly WILL
change the tables on the Census Bureau web site.

Dav Vandenbroucke
Economist
U.S. Dept. HUD
david_a._vandenbroucke@hud.gov
202-708-1060 ext. 5890



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From: "Eisenberg, Elliot" <eeisenberg@nahb.com> on 8/7/2002 2:26:34 PM
Subject: RE: Revised 1999 AHS File

Does this imply that there is also a problem with the 2001 national AHS
microdata file?  It seems that if, say, FRSTOC was incorrectly coded in 1999
and the same household was still in the unit in 2001, there's a chance the
program would perpetuate the 1999 error into the 2001 data. I, and many
others, look forward to any insight you can offer.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here is an explanation of the change from the Census Bureau:

SUMMARY OF CHANGES TO 1999 DATA

THE PROBLEM:

A processing error was discovered which affected the 1999 data.  In every
1999 case where we had a valid entry in the 1997 survey we over wrote the
1999 answer with the 1997 answer for the variables WHNGET, FRSTOC, CUSHOM,
PREOCC, LPRICE, CPRICE, DWNPAY AND FRSTHO.  We were ONLY supposed to take
the 1997 answer if we had the same housing unit and household in 1999.
These restrictions were not applied.  The 1997 answer was taken even if we
were dealing with a different housing unit and/or household.  The new micro
data public use file (PUF) corrects this problem.

RESULTS OF CORRECTION:

The data for the following owner occupied variables (all from the RET
module) were purposely changed as a result of this correction.

WHNGET  FRSTOCC  CUSHOM  PREOCC  LPRICE CPRICE DWNPAY FRSTHO

The changes in the data for these variables were significant, especially
the changes to WHNGET.  Any previous analysis done using these variables
should be redone.

The data for the following owner occupied variables also changed.  Changes
in these variables where relatively minor.  Previous analysis using these
variables would most likely not change.  All are from the mortgage module.
The changes in these variables were the result of edits in the mortgage
module which depended on the data in the above mentioned purposely changed
RET variables (in most cases the variable WHNGET).  These variables
include.

PMT   PMT2  AMMORT  AMMRT2  MATBUY  MATBY2  NEWMOR  NEWOR2  TERM TERM2
YRMOR  YRMOR2   AMRTZ   AMRTZ2  INTW  INTW2  INTF  INTF2

The following is a list of publication (from the 1999 H-150 publication)
owner occupied items and recodes that change as a result of variable
changes mentioned above.  Beside each item is listed the variables causing
the differences in the data along with an assessment of the severity of the
change.  Minor means that any previous analysis using these data should not
be affected using the new data.  Significant means that the differences
appear to be statistically significantly and that  overall analysis using
these data may be affected.  Major means that any previously done analysis
using the old data will be affected should be redone using the new data.

Monthly Housing Costs-due to PMT and PMT2 changes---Minor

Monthly Housing Costs as Percent of Current Income-due to PMT and PMT2
changes--Minor

Previous Occupancy-due to changes in FRSTOC-Minor

Monthly Payment for Principal and Interest-due to changes in PMT and
PMT2-Minor

Year Unit Acquired-due to changes in WHNGET-Major

First Time Owners-due to changes in FRSTHO-Significant

Purchase Price-due to changes in CUSHOM PREOCC CPRICE LPRICE-Significant

Major Source of Down Payment-due to changes in CUSHOM PREOCC
DWNPY-Significant

Mortgage Origination-due to changes in MATBUY - Minor

Year Primary Mortgage Originated-due to changes in MATBUY, YRMOR and
WHNGET-Major

Term of Primary Mortgage at Origination or Assumption-due to changes in
TERM-Minor

Remaining Years Mortgaged-due to changes in MATBUY, TERM, WHNGET,
YRMOR-Minor

Current Interest Rate-All the changed mortgage variables except for PMT and
PMT2 go into this recode-Significant

Total Outstanding Principal Amount-All the changed mortgage variables
except for PMT and PMT2 go into this recode-Significant

Current Total Loan as Percent of Value-All the changed mortgage variables
except for PMT and PMT2 go into this recode-Minor

There are a total of 67 pages in the H-150 publication that have errors on
them.  As you can see from the discussion above, most of these errors are
minor.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

We are still discussing what changes to make in the reports.  We will
probably NOT release a new paper publication.  We almost certainly WILL
change the tables on the Census Bureau web site.

Dav Vandenbroucke
Economist
U.S. Dept. HUD
david_a._vandenbroucke@hud.gov
202-708-1060 ext. 5890



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From: David_A._Vandenbroucke@HUD.GOV on 8/7/2002 3:33:21 PM
Subject: RE: Revised 1999 AHS File


>>Does this imply that there is also a problem with the 2001 national AHS
microdata file?  It seems that if, say, FRSTOC was incorrectly coded in
1999 and the same household was still in the unit in 2001, there's a chance
the
program would perpetuate the 1999 error into the 2001 data. I, and many
others, look forward to any insight you can offer.<<

The 2001 file should not be affected.  We knew about the 1999 problem while
we were processing the 2001 data.  We couldn't fix the 1999 problem right
away, because the same people who were to do that were busy getting the
2001 file released.  But the fix was implemented for the 2001 processing.

Dav Vandenbroucke
Economist
U.S. Dept. HUD
david_a._vandenbroucke@hud.gov
202-708-1060 ext. 5890



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From: David_A._Vandenbroucke@HUD.GOV on 8/8/2002 1:54:40 PM
Subject: AHS Web Site Developments

Topics in this message:

1. Revised 1999 ASCII file is online.
2. 1999 Update-only file is in the works.
3. Updated 1999 documentation file is in the works
4. New codebook link moved.
5. AHS Data Users' FAQ released

1. Revised 1999 ASCII file is online.
-------------------------------------

The ASCII version of the revised 1999 national file is now on the HUD USER
web site at https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/ahs.html.

2. 1999 Update-only file is in the works.
-----------------------------------------

Cushing Dolbeare suggested that we put up a file with just the changed
variables in the 1999 file, plus CONTROL, so that current users wouldn't
have to download the whole dataset.  We're working on that.  It should be
ready in a day or two.  It will be an ASCII file, but we will include a
program for easy conversion to SAS.  This file will be removed from the Web
site after a few months, to avoid confusing new users.

3. Updated 1999 documentation file is in the works
--------------------------------------------------

We're working on a zip file containing the new descriptive statistics and
so forth to go with the revised 1999 dataset.  It will be posted as soon as
we have all the pieces assembled.

4. New codebook link moved
--------------------------

Now that the new codebook is in final form, we have moved its link into the
"Download Codebooks" section of
https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/ahs.html.  We've also removed the
link to the Volume 3 codebook, as that document is now obsolete.

5. AHS Data Users' FAQ released
-------------------------------

After a long gestation period, there is now a Frequently Asked Questions
document for AHS data users.  It can be downloaded from
https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/ahs.html.  Look in the "Technical
Supplements" section.  As with all such documents, this one will me
modified regularly.  I will be happy to receive any suggestions for changes
or additions.

Dav Vandenbroucke
Economist
U.S. Dept. HUD
david_a._vandenbroucke@hud.gov
202-708-1060 ext. 5890




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From: David_A._Vandenbroucke@HUD.GOV on 8/15/2002 10:12:08 AM
Subject: AHS: 1999 updates

We have finished putting the updated 1999 files on the HUD USER web site,
at https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/ahs.html.  You will now find
these new or revised items:

1. Updated SAS dataset (announced previously)
2. Updated ASCII dataset
3. Update-only dataset, for those of you that already have the 1999 data
4. Updated documentation

Also, on the 2001 AHS page
(https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/ahs.html):

5. Updated documentation

As I write this, the ASCII dataset (#2 in the list above) still shows the
previous revsion date on the web site.  Don't let that fool you.  The file
_has_ been changed, and the revision date should be fixed shortly.

The update-only dataset (#3 in the list) is a self-extracting zip archive
containing the changed data for the househld and mortg files, the only two
that have changed.  You can merge these with your existing files using
CONTROL.  At 616KB, it's a lot less to download than the 22MB full dataset.
The updated data are in ASCII format, so everyone can use them.  For you
SAS users, we've included a SAS program that will read the files and update
your SAS datasets.  This file will be removed from the web site after a few
months, to avoid confusing new users.

The 2001 documentation (#5 in the list) had to be updated because one of
the documents in that zip file is a comparison between the current survey
and previous ones.  That document now reflects the changed 1999 data.

Dav Vandenbroucke
Economist
U.S. Dept. HUD
david_a._vandenbroucke@hud.gov
202-708-1060 ext. 5890



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From: David_A._Vandenbroucke@HUD.GOV on 8/16/2002 1:30:58 PM
Subject: AHS Update: 2001, 2002, 2005

The 2001 AHS report is about a month from being sent to the printer.  After
that, it should take about 5 weeks before it hits the streets.  Look for it
on Oprah's Book Club sometime in November.

Some computer glitches have delayed the release of the 2001 data on FERRET.
Glitches being what they are, it's hard to guarantee when they will be
fixed.  The best guess is that the data should be available late next week.

The field work for the 2002 Metro Survey is 91% complete.  We are looking
to close out most field operations on September 16.

We are starting to seriously think about content for the 2005 survey.  That
survey will incorporate the information gleaned from the decennial census.
In particular, it will include fortified samples of manufactured housing
and assisted living facilities, based on 2000 census data.  We can't add
large modules to our already extensive interview, but suggestions about
specific questions are welcome, particularly if they would take advantage
of those new cases.

Dav Vandenbroucke
Economist
U.S. Dept. HUD
david_a._vandenbroucke@hud.gov
202-708-1060 ext. 5890



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From: David_A._Vandenbroucke@HUD.GOV on 8/29/2002 10:41:10 AM
Subject: New AHS 2001 File

There is a new version of the 2001 AHS microdata on the HUD USER web site
at https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/ahs.html.  Here is the Census
Bureau descripton of the change:

"Based on the situation reported by a data user, we re-examined the way
that the alterations and remodeling data were processed.  The problem was
that the summary recode (RAN) for the number of jobs completed by a
household sometimes did not match the number of individual job records for
the same household.

"This occurred because slightly different criteria were used to tally a job
in the counter -- that is, the variable, RAN -- than were used to output a
job record (which would include the variables RAS, RAD and RAH).  The
differences were limited to a few job types -- those related to carpeting,
other inside and other outside jobs, and disaster-related work.  Sometimes
more job records were generated than tallied in RAN and sometimes the
reverse occurred.  However, the number of inconsistencies was not large.

"The programs have been rewritten to make the value in RAN agree with the
number of job records.  This change will affect RAN (total number of jobs
done) and RAC (total amount spent).  In addition, the number of RAS codes
of 1 (disaster loss), 51 (carpeting added over subflooring), 52 (carpeting
added over finished flooring), 64 (other major inside improvements) and 70
(other major outside improvements) may change along with the related
variables of RAD (cost of individual job) and RAH (who did the work for the
individual job)."

We at HUD have prepared a new ASCII version, a new documentation archive,
and an update package. However, at the moment only the full SAS version of
the new dataset is on the web site.  The other files should be appearing
shortly.  I will send announcements to the mailing list when that happens.

These changes affect only alterations and repairs.  If you don't work with
that part of the dataset, you may want to simply note this change and
update your files later, when you need these data.  While we don't know of
any other problems in the current dataset, experience teaches that another
update or two would not be out of the ordinary.

Our thanks to Alvaro Martin-Guerrero, of the Joint Center at Harvard, for
discovering the problems.

Dav Vandenbroucke
Economist
U.S. Dept. HUD
david_a._vandenbroucke@hud.gov
202-708-1060 ext. 5890




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