New Immigrant Survey (NIS) INCOMER1 and ASSETSR1 Variables

A Note from the New Immigrant Survey (NIS) Study Team on the Creation of the INCOMER1 and ASSETSR1 Variables

INCOMER1 and ASSETSR1 are estimates of the income and assets of the main respondent. They were constructed by project investigators for internal use on the project using multiple variables from sections G and H on the main respondent’s first-wave questionnaire. They make use of the bracket questions and Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) values for the different amounts and currencies. The estimates originally were not intended to be part of the public use files but were later added because some
users requested them.

The public datasets include all the information used in constructing INCOMER1 and ASSETSR1, including PPP values for incomes and assets expressed in different currencies and values extracted from the bracketed range questions. There are many possible ways to calculate income and assets, and ultimately it is up to users to decide what information they want to include in estimating those variables.