About this Resource

Having prepared the data, linking is usually straightforward. All you need to be clear about is which files you are linking and which variable is the macro identifier. The process of linking data in SPSS is fairly similar. You can either use the drop down menus or use the following commands in a syntax file.

Example 2: SPSS syntax

MATCH FILES FILE=microdata.sps
/TABLE=macrodata.sps
/BY macrounit

There are also various options you can use if you want the resulting file to include only particular variables.

The University of Manchester; Mimas; ESRC; RDI

Countries and Citizens: Unit 4 Combining macro and micro data by Steve Fisher, University of Oxford is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales Licence.