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1998 Survey of Consumer Finances
Documentation
Four types of technical documentation for the 1998 SCF are available on this page: the 1998 codebook, a questionnaire-style summary of the survey instrument, the household enumeration folder (HEF), an executable copy of the computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) program. In addition, technical working papers on the survey methodology are available.
Codebook for the 1998 Survey of Consumer Finances
The codebook contains the text, variable names, and responses for the questions asked in the survey. Also provided are a brief summary of the technical features of the survey design, a copy of the source code for the CAPI program, a concordance of variable names in the final data set and those used in the CAPI program, and a list of the variables included in the public data set.
Codebook (3.1 MB ASCII)
Codebook last updated October 22, 2008
Questionnaire-Style Summary of the 1998 SCF CAPI Instrument
This document is based on the questionnaire for the 1992 SCF, the last of the surveys for which a paper questionnaire was used. The questionnaire has been altered to include changes to the instrument since 1992, and each variable in the final data set has been labeled with its corresponding SCF X-variable number. In most cases, the question skip instructions have not been updated. Other relatively small inconsistencies with the actual CAPI instrument also remain. The codebook is the appropriate place to turn for the fine details of the structure of the data, the exact text of the questions asked, and the full list of official codes. Nevertheless, the questionnaire format of this document may be useful for understanding the overall organization of the survey. At key points during the administration of the interview, interviewers show the respondents a series of cards containing information relevant to framing or answering a question. Most of this information is displayed as part of the question text or response categories, but some is more general.
Questionnaire-style summary (8.0 MB PDF)
Showcards (29.0 KB PDF)
Document last updated March 1, 2001
Household Enumeration Folder (HEF)
The 1998 HEF contains forms used for the non-interview reports, the household listing, the first contact with the household, and the record of calls made on the household.
HEF for AP cases (26.0 KB PDF) | HEF for LS cases (25.0 KB PDF)
Executable Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) Program
The 1998 survey data were collected using CAPI. A copy of the source code for the program is included in the codebook above. To see more directly the process faced by survey interviewers, use the executable version of the CAPI program posted below. The main program files are stored in a self-extracting zip file. A short README file describes the installation and running of the program on a DOS or Windows system. The version of the program offered here has been altered so that no data are saved upon exiting the program. No warranty is made for the performance of these files.
Note: CAPI program is not compatible with Windows NT system.
CAPI installation README (4.0 KB ASCII)
CAPI Program Files (1.6 MB EXE)
Install.BAT (1 KB MS-DOS Batch File)
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