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How to use ATUS microdata files
Researchers can produce their own time-use estimates using the ATUS microdata files. The
ATUS data files include information for over 70,000 respondents total from
2003 to 2007. Because of the size of these data files, it is easiest to
work with them using statistical software such as Stata, SAS, or SPSS.
There are several key pieces of documentation that will aid you when
working with the data files. The ATUS User's Guide (PDF)
includes information about how to link the data files and use them to
produce estimates and standard errors. The Data Dictionaries
include variable definitions. The Activity Coding Lexicons
provide information about the activity codes. If you would like some hints
about useful variables and where to find them, read the ATUS documentation
about Frequently Used
Variables (PDF).
ABOUT THE BASIC ATUS DATA FILES:
- ATUS Respondent File
This file contains case-specific variables collected in ATUS (that
is, variables for which there is one value for each respondent). These
include, for example, labor force and earnings information, total time
providing secondary childcare, and ATUS statistical weights.
There is one record for each ATUS respondent.
Below is a simplified example. The variable TUCASEID identifies each
household, and the variable TULINENO identifies each individual within
the household. The example contains responses from five individuals;
note that the respondent always has TULINENO = 1. In the example, each
respondent has a corresponding statistical weight for use in generating
estimates representative of the U.S. civilian, noninstitutionalized
population (TUFINLWGT), and values for school enrollment (TESCHENR),
labor force status (TELFS), and total number of minutes spent alone on
the diary day (TRTALONE). The actual ATUS Respondent file contains more
variables and records.
TUCASEID
|
TULINENO
|
TUFINLWGT
|
TESCHENR
|
TELFS
|
TRTALONE
|
20060101020210
|
1
|
22261358.19
|
1
|
1
|
40
|
20060101020211
|
1
|
5019645.31
|
1
|
1
|
350
|
20060101020212
|
1
|
2926068.74
|
1
|
5
|
0
|
20060101020213
|
1
|
25780574.07
|
2
|
5
|
556
|
20060101020214
|
1
|
3414645.94
|
1
|
4
|
100
|
- ATUS Roster File
This file contains information about the age, sex, and relationship
to the ATUS respondent of every household member. The same information
also is included for the respondent's own non-household children under
age 18.
There is one record for each individual in the respondent's household
(including the respondent's own non-household children under age
18).
A simplified example appears below. The variable TUCASEID identifies
each household and the variable TULINENO identifies each individual in
the household. In the example below, TUCASEID 20060101020210 has three
persons residing in the household, and TUCASEID 20060101020211 and
TUCASEID 200601010120212 each have one person. The variable TERRP
contains information about the individual's relationship to the ATUS
respondent, TESEX shows the person's sex and TEAGE shows the person's
age. The actual ATUS Roster file contains more variables and many
additional lines.
TUCASEID
|
TULINENO
|
TERRP
|
TESEX
|
TEAGE
|
20060101020210
|
1
|
18
|
2
|
42
|
20060101020210
|
2
|
20
|
1
|
45
|
20060101020210
|
3
|
22
|
1
|
11
|
20060101020211
|
1
|
18
|
1
|
65
|
20060101020212
|
1
|
18
|
2
|
21
|
- ATUS Activity File
This file includes activity-level information collected in the ATUS,
including activity code, location, duration, activity start and stop
times, and whether respondents had a child under 13 in their care during
the activity.
There is one record for each activity.
A simplified example of the ATUS Activity file appears below. This is
an illustration of one respondent's day. Because only one person is
interviewed per household, each TUCASEID on the Activity file identifies
a respondent. Each activity is identified by an activity number
(TUACTIVITY_N). The variable TUACTDUR24 shows the duration, in minutes,
of each activity during the 24-hour diary day, and the variables
TUTIER1CODE, TUTIER2CODE, and TUTIER3CODE correspond to the 1st-, 2nd-,
and 3rd-tier of the ATUS activity codes. (The Activity Coding Lexicons
provide information about the activity codes.) The ATUS Activity file
contains more variables describing each activity as well as many more
lines than the example below.
TUCASEID
|
TUACTIVITY_N
|
TUACTDUR24
|
TUTIER1CODE
|
TUTIER2CODE
|
TUTIER3CODE
|
20060101020210
|
1
|
210
|
01
|
01
|
01
|
20060101020210
|
2
|
40
|
13
|
01
|
31
|
20060101020210
|
3
|
40
|
01
|
02
|
01
|
20060101020210
|
4
|
10
|
11
|
01
|
01
|
20060101020210
|
5
|
30
|
18
|
05
|
01
|
20060101020210
|
6
|
180
|
05
|
01
|
01
|
20060101020210
|
7
|
45
|
11
|
01
|
11
|
20060101020210
|
8
|
300
|
05
|
01
|
01
|
20060101020210
|
9
|
30
|
18
|
05
|
01
|
20060101020210
|
10
|
30
|
12
|
01
|
01
|
20060101020210
|
11
|
30
|
11
|
01
|
01
|
20060101020210
|
12
|
180
|
12
|
03
|
07
|
20060101020210
|
13
|
315
|
01
|
01
|
01
|
- ATUS Activity Summary File
The ATUS Activity Summary file contains information about the total
number of minutes each respondent spent doing each activity. The file
also includes selected variables from the ATUS Respondent, ATUS Roster,
and ATUS-CPS files.
There is one record for each ATUS respondent.
A simplified example of the ATUS Activity Summary file appears below.
The variable TUCASEID is the unique identifier for each respondent and
the variable TEAGE, which also appears on the Roster file, shows each
respondent's age. The variable t010101 contains the total number of
minutes each respondent spent doing activity 010101, "sleeping"; the
variable t010102 contains the total number of minutes each respondent
spent doing activity 010102, "sleeplessness." The ATUS Activity Summary
file contains more variables describing each activity as well as many
more lines than the example below.
TUCASEID
|
TEAGE
|
t010101
|
t010102
|
20060101020210
|
26
|
480
|
0
|
20060101020211
|
53
|
430
|
30
|
20060101020212
|
76
|
457
|
0
|
20060101020213
|
16
|
600
|
0
|
- ATUS Who File
This file contains codes that indicate who was present during each
activity.
There is one record for each "who" code for each activity. There is
one record for activities done alone and multiple records for activities
with multiple people present. "Who" codes are not collected for some
activities, such as when respondents report sleeping or grooming; in
these situations a "-1" denotes that the "who" question was not asked
for that activity.
A simplified example of the ATUS Who file appears below. In the first
activity (TUACTIVITY_N = 1), no who code information was collected.
Only one person was with the respondent during the second activity, so
there is one line for TUACTIVITY_N = 2. Three people were with the
respondent during the third activity, so there are three lines for
TUACTIVITY_N = 3. Two of those present (TUWHO_CODE = 20 and 22) are
members of the respondents household and can be linked to the Roster
file using TULINENO. The third person present (TUWHO_CODE = 51) is not a
member of the respondents household and thus has a value of "-1" for
TULINENO. The actual ATUS Who file contains more variables for each line
as well as many additional lines.
TUCASEID
|
TUACTIVITY_N
|
TUWHO_CODE
|
TULINENO
|
20060101020210
|
1
|
-1
|
-1
|
20060101020210
|
2
|
22
|
3
|
20060101020210
|
3
|
20
|
2
|
20060101020210
|
3
|
22
|
3
|
20060101020210
|
3
|
51
|
-1
|
- ATUS-CPS File
This file contains information collected during the final interview
of the Current Population Survey (CPS) for all persons selected to
participate in ATUS, whether they did or did not participate, and
members of their households. The CPS interviews were conducted two to
five months prior to the ATUS interview. For this reason, some of the
information on the ATUS-CPS file was out of date at the time of the ATUS
interview. When possible, it is best to use variables collected in ATUS
rather than their CPS counterparts.
The file has one record for each household member.
A simplified example of the ATUS-CPS file appears below. In the
example, three households are shown, each represented by a unique value
for TUCASEID. Each TULINENO refers to a different household member.
TULINENO = 1 refers to the household member who was selected to
participate in ATUS. To determine whether this individual participated
in ATUS, it is necessary to link the ATUS-CPS file to another file, such
as the ATUS Respondent file. This example shows some of the variables
that are not updated in ATUS, such as information about educational
attainment (PEEDUCA), race (PTDTRACE), and geographic region (GEREG).
The actual ATUS-CPS file contains more variables for each line as well
as many additional lines.
TUCASEID
|
TULINENO
|
PEEDUCA
|
PTDTRACE
|
GEREG
|
20060101020210
|
1
|
41
|
1
|
4
|
20060101020211
|
1
|
39
|
2
|
3
|
20060101020211
|
2
|
45
|
2
|
3
|
20060101020211
|
3
|
43
|
2
|
3
|
20060101020212
|
1
|
39
|
8
|
1
|
20060101020212
|
2
|
41
|
4
|
1
|
ABOUT THE ADDITIONAL ATUS DATA FILES:
- ATUS Case History File
The ATUS Case History file contains case-specific information about
the interview process, such as interviewer identifiers, outcome codes,
and data quality variables.
There is one record for each person who was selected to participate
in ATUS, whether the selected person did or did not complete an ATUS
interview.
Below is a simplified example. TUCASEID identifies each person
selected to participate in ATUS; this example contains information from
five individuals who were selected for the ATUS sample. Each value of
TUCASEID is associated with variables that list the final outcome code
(TRFNLOUT), the number of activities respondents reported doing on their
diary day (TUTOTACTNO), the average duration of reported activities
(TUAVGDUR), and an interviewer identification number (TUINTID). Note
that two of the cases do not show information for TUTOTACTNO and
TUAVGDUR; this is because they were noncontacts (that is, they did not
participate in ATUS), as is indicated by the value of TRFNLOUT. The
actual ATUS Case History file contains additional variables and many
more lines.
TUCASEID
|
TRFNLOUT
|
TUTOTACTNO
|
TUAVGDUR
|
TUINTID
|
20060101020210
|
001.001
|
27
|
42.4
|
AA01
|
20060101020211
|
001.001
|
16
|
90
|
AA02
|
20060101020212
|
194.001
|
-1
|
-1
|
BB01
|
20060101020213
|
188.001
|
-1
|
-1
|
AA01
|
20060101020214
|
001.001
|
31
|
46.5
|
BB01
|
- ATUS Call History File
The ATUS Call History file contains information about each call
attempt that was made to persons selected to participate in ATUS. It
includes information such as outcome codes for each call, the date and
time of each call attempt, and interviewer identifiers. This file
contains information for all persons selected to participate in ATUS,
whether they did or did not participate in the survey.
There is one record for each ATUS call attempt.
Below is a simplified example. TUCASEID identifies each ATUS case and
TUATTMPTNO identifies each call attempt. The example shows information
from two cases that were selected for the ATUS sample. The first case
(TUCASEID = 20060101020210) received two calls from an ATUS interviewer,
with the second call resulting in a complete interview; the second case
(TUCASEID = 20060101020211) received three calls before resulting in a
complete interview. The variable TRFNLCLL shows the outcome of each
call. An anonymous interviewer identification number (TUHINTID) is
associated with each call attempt.
TUCASEID
|
TUATTMPTNO
|
TUATTMDATE
|
TRFNLCLL
|
TUHINTID
|
20060101020210
|
1
|
20060102
|
188.001
|
AA01
|
20060101020210
|
2
|
20060102
|
001.001
|
BB01
|
20060101020211
|
1
|
20060103
|
188.001
|
BB01
|
20060101020211
|
2
|
20060103
|
188.001
|
AA01
|
20060101020211
|
3
|
20060110
|
001.001
|
BB01
|
- ATUS Trips File
The Trips file contains information about the number of times each
respondent was away from home for 2 nights or more in a specific
reference month. This file does not include weights.
For more information about the Trips file read the Notice about Trips file.
- ATUS Replicate Weights File
The ATUS Replicate Weights file contains weights necessary for
generating standard errors for ATUS estimates. The file contains one
record for each individual selected to participate in ATUS, whether the
person did or did not participate in the survey. Technical information
about the Replicate weights file can be found in the text message that
is enclosed in the Replicate weights zip file. The formula for
calculating standard errors with the replicate weights can be found in
Chapter 7 of the ATUS User's Guide
(PDF).
ABOUT THE ATUS EH MODULE DATA FILES:
- 2006 EH Respondent File
This file contains case-specific variables collected in the 2006 EH Module
that is, variables for which there is one value for each respondent.
These include, for example, general health information, body mass index values, and EH Module statistical weights.
There is one record for each EH Module respondent.
Below is a simplified example. The TUCASEID identifies each household, and
TULINENO identifies each individual within the household. The example contains responses from five individuals;
note that the respondent always has TULINENO=1. In the example, each respondent has a corresponding statistical weight (EUFINLWGT)
for use in generating estimates representative for the U.S. civilian, noninstitutionalized population age 15 and over.
Estimates using EH Module data should be generated using EUFINLWGT instead of the ATUS statistical weight (TUFINLWGT)
because there are fewer EH Module respondents than ATUS respondents due to minimal nonresponse by ATUS respondents to the EH Module.
This example also demonstrates that each respondent has corresponding values denoting general health status (EUGENHTH) and
total time spent in primary eating and drinking (ERTPREAT). The actual EH Respondent file
contains many more variables as well as many more lines.
TUCASEID
|
TULINENO
|
EUFINLWGT
|
EUGENHTH
|
ERTPREAT
|
20060101020210
|
1
|
23264358.19
|
1
|
40
|
20060101020211
|
1
|
7013642.31
|
5
|
350
|
20060101020212
|
1
|
5780754.07
|
2
|
556
|
20060101020213
|
1
|
18426068.74
|
3
|
0
|
20060101020214
|
1
|
2916445.94
|
1
|
100
|
- 2006 EH Activity File
This file includes activity-level information collected in the EH Module,
including activity number, whether secondary eating occurred during the activity,
and duration of secondary eating. Because respondents may engage in both secondary eating and
secondary drinking at the same time, researchers interested in using this data should exercise caution
in summing the secondary eating and drinking variables since these two variables may add up to more than
24 hours in a day. (See the EH Module Users Guide
for more details. The ATUS EH Module User's Guide
is maintained by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service.)
There is one record for each activity.
A simplified example of the EH Activity file appears below. This is an illustration of one respondents day.
Because only one person is interviewed per household, each TUCASEID on the EH Activity file identifies a respondent.
Each activity is identified by an activity number (TUACTIVITY_N). In the example, each activity has corresponding
values denoting whether secondary eating occurred during the activity (EUEATSUM) and how much time
was spent in secondary eating (EUEDUR24). The actual EH Activity file contains more variables describing each
activity as well as many more lines than does the example below.
TUCASEID
|
TUACTIVITY_N
|
EUEATSUM
|
EUEDUR24
|
20060101020210
|
1
|
-1
|
-1
|
20060101020210
|
2
|
1
|
20
|
20060101020210
|
3
|
1
|
10
|
20060101020210
|
4
|
-1
|
-1
|
20060101020210
|
5
|
-1
|
-1
|
- EH Replicate Weights File
The EH Replicate Weights file contains weights necessary for generating standard errors for EH Module estimates.
The file contains one record for each individual who responded to the EH Module.
Technical information about the EH Replicate weights file can be found in the text message that is enclosed
in the EH Module Replicate Weights zip file. The formula for calculating standard errors with the
replicate weights can be found in Chapter 7 of the ATUS User's Guide (PDF).
PRODUCING TIME-USE ESTIMATES:
Researchers often are interested in estimates of the amount of time
Americans spend doing a specific activity, such as the average time
Americans watched television in 2003. This type of estimate can be
generated by using the Basic ATUS data files. The simplest way to generate
an estimate about time use on an average day involves using the ATUS
Activity Summary file. Researchers who wish to investigate more
complicated questions, such as the amount of time Americans spent watching
TV with a family member, will need to link multiple files. To answer this
particular question, researchers would need to link the ATUS Respondent
file (to obtain the statistical weight), the ATUS Activity file (to obtain
activity information and duration), and the ATUS Who file (to obtain
information about who was with the respondent during each activity). Those generating estimates
using the EH Module files in addition to the basic or additional
ATUS files should use the EH Module statistical weight, EUFINLWGT. For
more information about how to calculate estimates, see Chapter 7 and Appendix J of the
ATUS User's Guide
(PDF).
LINKING THE ATUS DATA FILES:
Each of the ATUS microdata files contains useful information, but to
produce most estimates, the files must be linked. All of the microdata
files contain the variable TUCASEID, which is the ATUS identification
number. TUACTIVITY_N (the activity line number) and TULINENO (the person
line number) are two additional linking variables that can be used in
conjunction with TUCASEID.
- BASIC ATUS DATA FILES
File |
Linking Variables |
Respondent file |
TUCASEID TULINENO (always equal to 1 on the Respondent
file) |
Roster file |
TUCASEID TULINENO |
Activity file |
TUCASEID TUACTIVITY_N |
Who file |
TUCASEID TUACTIVITY_N TULINENO |
ATUS-CPS file |
TUCASEID TULINENO |
Activity summary file |
TUCASEID |
- ADDITIONAL ATUS DATA FILES
File |
Linking Variables |
Case history file |
TUCASEID |
Call history file (2004 to 2007) |
TUCASEID |
Trips file (2005 to 2007) |
TUCASEID |
Replicate weights file |
TUCASEID |
- ATUS EH MODULE FILES
File |
Linking Variables |
EH Respondent file |
TUCASEID TULINENO |
EH Activity file |
TUCASEID TUACTIVITY_N |
EH Replicate weights file |
TUCASEID |
The ATUS files can also be linked to CPS files.
More information is available in Appendix K of the ATUS Users Guide.
Last Modified Date: June 25, 2008
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