Roper Dataset Formats and Tools

Dataset files in the archive are available in file formats that are intended to facilitate user data analysis and ensure preservation. File formats found in Roper Center studies are described below. File formats can also be migrated through the use of tools like StatsTransfer and using other open-source programming languages. This page explains aspects of the file formats and provides some useful documentation for file conversion and manipulation of Roper datasets.

Stata

Polls from the most recent years, as well as an increasing number of older studies, are available in Stata 12 file format, and can be easily opened by Stata versions 11 and later.

Click here for instructions on converting ASCII files to Stata

SPSS

Most polls from recent decades and many from earlier periods are available in SPSS portable format. SPSS portable files can be opened by any version of SPSS.

Click here for instructions on converting ASCII files to SPSS

ASCII

Many Roper Center datasets from the 20^th century are available as ASCII files. ASCII is a widely used preservation format, and fifty-year-old ASCII files can still easily be read by text editors. However, ASCII files must be converted to modern formats to be utilized by researchers. Roper Center offers guides on converting ASCII to Stata or ASCII to SPSS. Roper Center’s data team is also able to assist researchers with a limited number of conversions. For large numbers of conversions, research service fees apply.

Instructions on converting ASCII files to SPSS

Instructions on converting ASCII files to Stata

Instructions on converting ASCII files in R

Column binary

The earliest data file format found in the Roper Center collection, column binary was the standard data format for survey research for many years. Column binary files require substantial time and effort to convert to modern format. Roper Center is working diligently to convert all our historical studies out of column binary format. Learn more about Column Binary conversion here. If you require a study to be converted, please email data-services-requests@roper.center. For large numbers of conversions, research service fees apply.

.CSV

Roper’s new offering, .csv files are popular with some users. These files are also an excellent preservation format and can be read by most statistical packages, as well as spreadsheet programs like Excel.