st: ladder question for right-skewed variable

[Gabriel Nelson <lgabrielnelson@gmail.com>]

I have a variable that is right-skewed.  I used the the ladder command
to see suggested transformations. However, no transformations appeared
in the output. I'm guessing that this does not mean the raw form is
better, because there is an option for 'raw' on this list.

Here is the output for the sum, detail command for the variable:



sum disp_2000, detail

      Number displaced 2000 (if data unavailable go up
                           to 2003
-------------------------------------------------------------

      Percentiles      Smallest
 1%            1              1
 5%            2              1
10%            3              1       Obs                1010
25%            6              1       Sum of Wgt.        1010


50%         15.5                      Mean           281.5297
                        Largest       Std. Dev.      1217.168
75%           82           9421
90%        436.5           9505       Variance        1481497

95%         1251          16255       Skewness       9.012044
99%         5953          19569       Kurtosis       108.8061

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
*
*   For searches and help try:
*   http://www.stata.com/help.cgi?search
*   http://www.stata.com/support/faqs/resources/statalist-faq/
*   http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/