Regional Dimensions: Preparation of 1998-99 HES for Reweighting to Small-area Benchmarks

This Technical Paper describes the processes for creating a key input dataset for the Regional Dimensions project. This input dataset is the so-called HES Linkage File, which feeds into the ‘reweighting’ process for converting a set of national household weights into small-area (SLA) household weights. The processes described here prepare the selected variables from the ABS 1998-99 Household Expenditure Survey (HES) for matching to the Census data, in order for ‘reweighting’ to take place. The preparations included recoding, uprating, and record imputation of person-level, family-level, and household-level variables; as well as the creation of unit records for children and non-private dwelling residents. These preparations involved a suite of SAS programs, which, together with a data dictionary, are also documented in this paper.