The FAQ "Why doesn't summarize accept pweights? What does summarize calculate when you use aweights? " at http://www.stata.com/support/faqs/stat/supweight.html may illuminate some of the logic.
Scott
----- Original Message -----
From: Stephen McKay <[email protected]>
Date: Thursday, March 11, 2004 3:52 am
Subject: st: stata and weighting
> Many (perhaps most) social survey datasets come with non-integer
> weights, reflecting a mix of the sampling schema (e.g. one person
> per
> household randomly selected), and sometimes non-response, and
> sometimes
> calibration/grossing factors too. Increasingly, in the name of
> confidentiality, data depositors are reluctant to identify too
> much
> about the sampling points -- thus making PSU identification not
> always
> possible [and hence svy approaches in stata not really practicable].
>
> At present, stata will let you use some types of weights, some of
> the
> time, on some types of command. The logic of which is hard to fathom.
>
<snip>
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