4326.0.30.002 - Technical Manual: National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing, Confidentialised Unit Record Files, 2007 Quality Declaration 
Latest ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 15/04/2009   
   Page tools: Print Print Page Print all pages in this productPrint All RSS Feed RSS Bookmark and Share Search this Product  
Contents >> Using the CURF microdata >> CONTINUOUS DATA ITEMS

CONTINUOUS DATA ITEMS

When analysing continuous items at the person and household levels, it is necessary to exclude the special codes. The special codes are used for responses that do not represent the data being collected (eg 'don't know'). The codes vary, but will generally be 0, 96, 97, 98, 99 or variations of these. For example, 'Length of time was homeless in days' (DAYSHMLS) has reserved values of:

  • 999,996 for Not stated;
  • 999,998 for Not known; and
  • 999,999 for Refusal.

The data item list provides the special codes for continuous items. Care should be taken to exclude these codes when categorising higher values for ranges, and when calculating means, medians and other summary statistics.





Previous PageNext Page