DOI: 10.3886/icpsr03967.v1
title: Current Population Survey, November 2002: Voting and Registration Supplement
title: Version 1

description: This data collection is comprised of responses from two sets of survey questionnaires, the basic Current Population Survey (CPS) and a survey on the topic of voting and registration in the United States, which was administered as a supplement to the November 2002 CPS questionnaire.The CPS, administered monthly, is a labor force survey providing current estimates of the economic status and activities of the population of the United States age 15 years or older. Specifically, the CPS provides estimates of total employment (both farm and nonfarm), nonfarm self-employed persons, domestics, and unpaid helpers in nonfarm family enterprises, wage and salaried employees, and estimates of total unemployment. Data from the CPS are provided for the week prior to the survey.The Voting and Registration supplement data are collected every two years to monitor trends in the voting and nonvoting behavior of United States citizens in terms of their different demographic and economic characteristics. The supplement was designed to be a proxy response supplement, meaning a single respondent could provide answers for all eligible household members. The supplement questions were asked of all persons who were both United States citizens and 18 years or older. The CPS instrument determined who was eligible for the voting and registration supplement through the use of check items that referred to basic CPS items, including age and citizenship.Questions unique to the Voting and Registration supplement pertain to citizenship status, whether respondents were registered to vote in the most recent election, main reasons for not being registered to vote, main reasons for not voting, whether they voted in person or by mail, and method used to register to vote. Demographic variables include age, sex, race, Hispanic origin, marital status, veteran status, educational attainment, occupation, and income.
description: The data contain seven weight variables: Household Weight -- HWHHWGT -- Used for tallying household characteristics.; Family Weight -- PWFMWGT -- Used only for tallying family characteristics.; Longitudinal Weight -- PWLGWGT -- Found only on adult records matched from month to month (used for gross flows analysis).; Outgoing Rotation Weight -- PWORWGT -- Used for tallying information collected only in outgoing rotations.; Final Weight -- PWSSWGT -- Used for most tabulations, controlled to independent estimates for (1) States; (2) Origin, Sex, and Age; and (3) Age, Race, and Sex.; Veteran's Weight -- PWVETWGT -- Used for tallying veteran's data only.; Composited Final Weight -- PWCMPWGT -- Used to create BLS's published labor force statistics.; There is no supplement weight variable associated with the November 2002 supplement. Use the basic CPS weight, PWSSWGT, for tallying the supplement items. This collection contains data reflecting both 2000 census-based weights and 1990 census-based weights. Because the 2000 census-based weights are likely to be more accurate, it is preferable to use the data based on those weights. Please refer to the User Guide for additional information concerning the creation and use of all CPS weight variables.
description: Datasets: 
 
 DS1: Dataset
description: Current Population Survey Series
description: computer-assisted personal interview (CAPI), computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI) 
Users are strongly encouraged to refer the User Guide (produced by the Principal Investigators), which contains the questionnaire for the supplement, as well as additional detailed technical documentation regarding the study design, sampling frame used, and response rates.
The universe statements for each variable are defined in the basic and supplement record layouts found in Attachment 7 and 8, respectively, of the User Guide.
ICPSR removed all FILLER and PADDING variables from the data. As a result, the column locations in any ICPSR-released data product (e.g., codebook and setup files) will have column locations that are not consistent with locations described in the User Guide.
description: The CPS universe consists of all persons in the civilian noninstitutional population of the United States living in households. The November 2002 Voting and Registration supplement universe represented the full CPS sample comprised of all persons 18 years of age or older.
description: A multistage probability sample based on results of the 1990 decennial Census was used in identifying the housing unit.