A Practical Guide to Using Panel Data

Simonetta Longhi is Research Fellow at the Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Essex. She is also Research Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Labour (IZA) and Research Affiliate at the Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM). Her research interests are on migration and labour economics and she has published various journal articles using individual and household datasets. For many years she has taught courses on how to analyse the British Household Panel Survey and the Understanding Society datasets, and she is currently teaching a course on applications of data analysis. Alita Nandi is Research Fellow at the Institute for Social and Economic Research. Her research interests include issues of ethnicity, identity, personality, family formation and dissolution. She has conducted empirical research in these areas using cohort and household panel datasets and published in various journals. She has been part of the Ethnicity Strand of Understanding Society since 2007. For the last few years she has taught courses on applications of data analysis and on how to use and analyse the British Household Panel Survey and Understanding Society datasets.

PART ONE: DATA PREPARATION IN MICRO PANEL SURVEYS Why Panel Surveys Different Types of Panel Surveys A First Look at the Data Using Stata Preparing the Data for Longitudinal Analysis Working with Multiple Datasets Identifying Household Members and Matching Information of Spouses and Partners PART TWO: ANALYSIS OF CROSS-SECTION AND PANEL DATA Sample Design, Non-response and Weights Analysis of Cross-Section Data Analysis of Panel Data for Continuous Dependent Variables Analysis of Panel Data for Discrete Dependent Variables PART THREE: EVENT HISTORY: DATA PREPARATION AND ANALYSIS Introduction to Duration Analysis How to Use Retrospective History Data Files: an Example Analysis of Event History Data PART FOUR: PRESENTING YOUR RESULTS Producing Output Tables and Graphs

This book is exactly what I have been looking for in my teaching, as a valuable guide for graduate and advanced undergraduate students who are thinking of tackling panel data but feel overwhelmed by how complicated it seems compared to working with standard cross-sectional datasets. The authors nicely combine discussion of general statistical principles with lots of example Stata code demonstrating many types of analysis. Critically, the book tells students and researchers not only how to carry out analysis but shows how to prepare and manage panel data. -- Nick Allum This is a unique and refreshing resource in the field of panel data analysis of individuals and households. The book takes the reader by the hand and covers the whole of the research process. In doing so, it provides solutions to very relevant issues faced by longitudinal research practitioners in their day-to-day work lives, striking a fine balance between substantive and practical advice. A must have for researchers, instructors and students interested in the analysis of household panel datasets. -- Francisco (Paco) Perales This is an excellent practical guide to carrying out analysis of individual level panel surveys. Providing the reader with everything they need to know and written with exemplary clarity, it works through issues and approaches in a logical way yet without oversimplifying. I would recommend anyone contemplating analysis of a panel study, whether for an MSc dissertation, a PhD or an academic experienced with cross-sectional data to read - and use - it. -- Lucinda Platt Simonetta Longhi and Alita Nandi's book is a clear and comprehensive guide to panel data in all its complexity. It is a must for any researcher interested in using one of the household longitudinal studies The book is full of useful advice with abundant examples of Stata programs and techniques. I will be recommending it to colleagues and students alike. -- Amanda Sacker This volume is a fantastic addition to the growing social science literature on aspects of quantitative data analysis and should feature on the reading list for any post graduate statistics course in the social sciences. This will be a prerequisite wherever the analysis of panel data is taught for many years. -- Kevin Ralston, University of Edinburgh