Sociology 229A: Event History Analysis

Short Assignment #1: Survivor, Integrated Hazard, and Hazard Plots

Due: Start of class (2:00) April 15

This assignment requires a dataset on the course website entitled “GSS Assignment 1.dta” and an accompanying do-file.

1. Download the dataset in STATA
2. Create your own “do” file that opens the data
3. My syntax creates some variables and makes some survivor, hazard, and integrated hazard plots. See if you can get that same syntax to run on your computer without error. Make your own do-file, don’t just use mine!
1. Note: Don’t worry if you don’t understand the “stset” command. We’ll discuss that later.
2. Note2: I’ve created a dummy variable that identifies people born prior to 1960. (I suspected that their timing of first childbirth might differ from people born recently.) I was later able to make plots that break out groups based on values of that dummy variable.
4. Construct your own dummy or categorical variable from the GSS data to distinguish two or more interesting subgroups within the data. Examine survivor, hazard, and integrated hazard plots for those groups.
5. Answer questions below.

Question 1: Write a few sentences describing the survivor, hazard, and integrated hazard plots. What do they tell you about the timing of childbirth in the US? What is the overall shape? When is the rate highest? About what proportion never have a first child? (4-5 sentences are sufficient, but you can write more if you wish.)

Question 2: How does the timing of childbirth differ for people in the pre-1960 cohort (versus born after 1960)?

Question 3: What categorical variable did you create? Why did you expect those groups to differ in the timing of childbirth? What did you observe in your plots? Was it what you expected?

Turn in the following:

1. A hazard plot of first childbirth, broken out by the variable you created
2. Answers to the questions.