id where1 start1 end1 where2 ... where10 start10 end10
so that
reshape long where start end, i(id)
drop if missing(where) & missing(start) & missing(end)
would then be what you want.
In short, this is a standard -reshape- problem, so that
detailed study of the help and manual entry for -reshape-
should give you enough background. The most likely
small problem may be unsuitable variable names, in which
case some prior use of -rename- is in order. Some
common problems are discussed at
FAQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Problems with reshape
12/03 I am having problems with the reshape command. Can
you give further guidance?
http://www.stata.com/support/faqs/data/reshape3.html
Nick
[email protected]
Buszin, Justin
> Below are two rows of data, each representing an observation
> in a STATA dataset (NOT raw data). The first number is the
> variable person ID, the first word is a variable which
> represents where that person lived at age 0 (thus, where they
> were born). Person 1 was born in central region, person 2
> born in western region. The number after represents the start
> date of the spell, and then the next number is the end date
> of the spell. So person 1 lived in central region until she
> was 10 years old, person 2 lived in western region until she
> was 30 years old. The next word is where that person moved,
> if ever. Person 1 moved to Accra at age 11 and stayed there
> until she was 20, and then moved to Ashanti region when she
> was 21 and stayed there until she was 27, which is her
> current age at time of survey.
>
> Each of these columns represents a variable and follows a
> series (word, number, number). Since person 2 moved no more
> than twice, she will be missing in future variable series
> (thus why you see nothing for person 2 while person 1 shows
> her Ashanti move) until we come upon the next attribute
> (rural/urban). A person could have moved up to 10 times, so
> if she moved less than that number of times, she will be
> missing on subsequent variables and series until the next
> attribute. So person 1 is missing on the series for 4th move,
> 5th move, etc, until we come to the ten-series of rural/urban
> life. Person 1 lived in a rural area from 0-3, person 2 lived
> in an urban area from 0-30, a rural area from 31-32, and so forth.
>
> 1 central 0 10 accra 11 20 ashanti 21 27 rural 0 3
> urban 4 6 rural 7 15 urban 16 20 rural 21 27
> 2 western 0 30 central 31 32 urban 0 30
> rural 31 32
>
> The words are string variables and the number numeric. In
> case there is a problem reading in e-mail, the line breaks
> are after person ID, the word, the start date, the end date,
> etc (each column represents a new variable). Again, if we get
> past the first variable, which is person ID, the sequence of
> variables is: place of residence, age started at that place,
> age ended at that place, 2nd place of residence, age started
> at that place, age ended at that place, 3rd place of residence, etc.
>
> The big question is: How can STATA take this spell file and
> change it into a person-year file?
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