MPIDR Technical Report

Guidelines for linking contextual factors and survey data: an application with data from the German Family Panel (pairfam)

Abstract

Geo-coded survey data are a prerequisite for any analysis that examines the impact of contextual factors on individual-level outcomes. The local unit may be districts, municipalities, or blocks of houses. However, regional identifiers are sensitive information and including them in a scientific-use-file of a survey may violate data protection regulations. This Technical Report demonstrates how analyses with geo-coded data from the German Family Panel (pairfam) may be conducted. The procedure that we suggest has been tailored for pairfam, but it is applicable to other data sets as well.