Survey of Income and Program Participation

SIPP Utilities Version 3.0 released

Unicon Research Corporation is proud to announce the release of SIPP Utilities Version 3.0. This release adds many topical modules, and the first six panels of core and longitudinal data, to the SIPP data included in prior versions. It also adds important technical features, such as the ability to seamlessly combine data from multiple source files into a single extraction.

SIPP Utilities is a counterpart to our long-established CPS Utilities. It contains a wealth of documentation, search, and extraction features facilitating access to the Census Bureau's Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP).

The data provided with SIPP Utilities now include:

All core and longitudinal data for all released panels (1984-2001)
All data from all panels and waves for the following topical modules:
- Adult Well-being
- Family Background
- Annual Income & Retirement
- Fertility History
- Assets & Liabilities
- Household Relationships
- Child Care
- Marital History
- Child Disability Status
- Migration History
- Child Well-being
- Recipiency History
- Education & Training History
- Taxes
Until further funding can be obtained, work to include the remaining topical modules has been halted. The modules that are not yet included in SIPP Utilities are:
- Child Support Agreements
- Disability Status of Adults
- Employer Provided Health Benefits
- Employment History
- Health Status, Service Utilization, and Insurance
- Job Offers/ Reasons for Not Working/Reservation Wage
- Medical Expenses and Work Disability
- Real Estate, Shelter Costs, Energy Usage, and Vehicles
- School Enrollment and Financing
- Support for Nonhousehold Members
- Time Spent Outside Work Force
- Work-Related Expenses
- Work Schedule

You may order SIPP Utilities directly from our order page. It comes on three 3 DVDs for $750, or 19 CDs for $850. The package includes a binder containing printed copies of the installation instructions, step-by-step instructions for finding variables and performing a sample extraction, a documentation guide, and hints for using the main features of SIPP Utilities.

Features of SIPP Utilities

Efficient search software and simple data extraction process
Choice of output formats including Stata®, SAS®, SPSS®, and spreadsheet
Charts and spreadsheets to clarify relationships between data files
Combine and merge multiple source files into one output
All core and longitudinal data for all released panels
Uniform variable names
Consolidated variable documentation across panels and waves
Tools to find variables of interest
Data extraction subsetted by sources, variables, and values
Optional wide or long output format, regardless of source file format
Output ready for Stata, SAS, SPSS, or spreadsheet
Comprehensive supporting documentation
Helpful free telephone and email support

See below for more details and downloadable goodies.

What is the SIPP?

First conducted in 1984, SIPP examines welfare program participation, income, assets, liabilities, taxes, and related topics. Survey participants are interviewed every four months for as long as four years, making it a valuable source of longitudinal trend data.

From 1984 to 1993, a new SIPP panel was started annually, so there were usually several panels in progress simultaneously. After 1993, larger, non-overlapping, panels were started in 1996, 2001, and 2004. No data have yet been released from the 2004 panel.

The SIPP provides a rich source of data about the national economy. It is widely used by social researchers, and by the government to evaluate the effectiveness of federal, state, and local programs.

Spreadsheets

SIPP Utilities includes many spreadsheets, showing variable names, titles, file locations and lengths, and other details, for the core, topical, and longitudinal files for each of the 12 panels. For the core and longitudinal files, the spreadsheets also include Unicon's variable names and titles, which are consistent across panels, and their periodicity (interval between measurement). A corner of one of these spreadsheets is shown below.

Also included is a spreadsheet showing the exact name and date of each Census Bureau data file used as source data in SIPP Utilities.

You may download a selection of these spreadsheets here.

User's Manual

SIPP Utilities includes a comprehensive User's Manual, containing full details of the usage of SIPP Utilities' tools, and screenshots of many of the interface features. If you're wondering whether to download and install the Demonstration Version, download the Manual first, to help you decide.

Demonstration Version

The SIPP Utilities Demonstration Version includes all the features of SIPP Utilities except the data. With the Demonstration Version, you can examine all the variables, all the spreadsheets and other general documentation, use the search tools, and follow all the steps to define and specify a data extraction. Instead of extracting your specified data, though, it will provide pre-set sample extraction results, allowing you to examine typical sets of output files in whichever format you specify. You may download the Demonstration Version free of charge here.

Screenshots

This picture shows part of one of the spreadsheets included in the SIPP Utilities general documentation.

The picture below shows the important interactive panel-wave chart, showing the calendar dates corresponding to each reference month and rotation group for every panel.

To see more screenshots, simply download the User's Manual, and to interactively browse the whole SIPP Utilities interface, download and install the Demonstration Version, using the links above.

For further details, email or telephone us.

Development of SIPP Utilities is funded by a grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).