st: RE: RE: creating individuals ID numbers

["Lachenbruch, Peter" <Peter.Lachenbruch@oregonstate.edu>]

I would also suggest that Stata's random number generator be used to generate these ID's and then to save only the random IDs and the original ones in an encrypted file, kept separately from the Stata file.  In that way, you can access the data if you ever must make corrections.



Tony

Peter A. Lachenbruch
Department of Public Health
Oregon State University
Corvallis, OR 97330
Phone: 541-737-3832
FAX: 541-737-4001


-----Original Message-----
From: owner-statalist@hsphsun2.harvard.edu [mailto:owner-statalist@hsphsun2.harvard.edu] On Behalf Of Nick Cox
Sent: Tuesday, September 28, 2010 12:21 PM
To: 'statalist@hsphsun2.harvard.edu'
Subject: st: RE: creating individuals ID numbers

This is an FAQ. Start with 

FAQ     . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating group identifiers
        . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N. J. Cox and W. Gould
        3/01    How do I create individual identifiers numbered
                from 1 upwards?
                http://www.stata.com/support/faqs/data/group.html

and feel free to return with unanswered specific questions. The advice in that FAQ can certainly be combined with prior random shuffling. On this post alone, I would advise that rather than a deterministic rule. 

Nick 
n.j.cox@durham.ac.uk 

delibera@illinois.edu

I have a new database where I have confidential information about individuals, including 
their names, address and ID numbers that can not become public.

I need to create new ID numbers so that the database can become public. I thought 
about doing in some different ways, like to create a new rule for a number based on the 
old ID number, or to create random numbers.

But I would like to ask your opinion about the best way to do it.

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