Understanding America Study

Data Products
Standard Variables

Each Understanding America Study survey data set contains a series of default survey and background demographics variables. These are listed below as well as described here.

Default survey variables

The default survey variables in an UAS survey data set consist of individual, household and sample identifiers, language indicator, time stamps and a rating by the respondent of how much he or she liked the survey:

uasid: the identifier of the respondent. This identifier is assigned to a respondent at recruitment and stays with them throughout each and every survey taken. When analyzing data from multiple surveys, the uasid can be used to merge data sets.
uashhid: the household identifier of the respondent. Every member is assigned a household identifier, stored in the variable uashhid. For the primary respondent this identifier is his or her ‘uasid'. All other eligible members of the primary respondent's household (everyone who is 18 or older in the household) who become UAS respondents receive the uasid of the primary respondent as their household identifier. The identifier uashhid remains constant over time for all respondents. Thus it is always possible to find the original UAS household of an UAS panel member (even after they, for example, have moved out to form another household).
uashhid_current: the current household identifier of the respondent. Uniquely identifies the household a UAS panel member belongs to in a given survey INDEPENDENT of the exact composition of the household in terms of who else in the household are UAS members. Missing (.n) for respondents who are in a single-UAS member household. Available on request in data sets prior to September 1, 2025.
survhhid: uniquely identifies the household a UAS panel member belongs to in a given survey DEPENDENT on the exact composition of the household in terms of who else in the household are UAS members. Is set to missing (.n) if no other household members are UAS panel members at the time of the survey. Is set to unknown (.u) for respondents who last participated in the My Household survey prior to January 21, 2015.
uasmembers: is the number of other household members who are also UAS panel members at the time of the survey. Since individuals can answer the same survey at different points in time (which can be relatively far apart if the survey is kept in the field for a prolonged time), it may be possible that, within the same data set, the primary respondent of a household has a value of "0", whereas the second UAS household respondent has a value of "1". Therefore uasmembers should be interpreted as the number of household and UAS panel members at the time the respondent answers the survey. Note: in the My Household survey uasmembers is set to unknown (".u") for respondents who last participated in the My Household survey prior to January 21, 2015.
sampleframe: indicates the sampling frame from which the household of the respondent was recruited. All UAS recruitment is done through address based sampling (ABS) in which samples are acquired based on postal records. Currently, the variable sampleframe takes on four values reflecting four distinct sample frames used by the UAS over the year (in future data sets the number of sample frames used for recruitment may increase if additional specific populations are targeted in future recruitment batches):

U.S. National Territory: recruited through ABS within the entire U.S.
Areas high concentration Native Americans: recruited through ABS in areas with a high concentration of Native Americans in the zip-code. Within these batches, individuals who are not Native Americans are not invited to join the UAS.
Los Angeles County: recruited through ABS within Los Angeles County.
California: recruited through ABS within California.

Note: this variable was renamed from "sampletype" to "sampleframe" starting March 6, 2024. Older data sets will contain a variable named "sampletype" with slightly different labels for the four sample frames. The answer codes remain the same for each frame.

batch: indicates the batch from which the respondent was recruited. Currently, this variable takes the following values (in future data sets the number of batches may increase as new recruitment batches are added to the UAS):

1: ASDE 2014/01
2: ASDE 2014/01
3: ASDE 2014/11
4: Public records 2015/05
5: MSG 2015/07
6: MSG 2016/01
7: MSG 2016/01
8: MSG 2016/01
9: MSG 2016/02
10: MSG 2016/03
11: MSG 2016/04
12: MSG 2016/05
13: MSG 2016/08
14: MSG 2017/03
15: MSG 2017/11
16: MSG 2018/02
17: MSG 2018/08
18: MSG 2019/04
19: MSG 2019/05
20: MSG 2019/11
21: MSG 2020/08
22: MSG 2020/10
23: MSG 2021/02
24: MSG 2021/08
25: MSG 2021/08
26: MSG 2022/02
27: MSG 2022/02
28: MSG 2022/08
29: MSG 2022/11
30: MSG 2022/11
31: MSG 2023/01
32: MSG 2023/06
33: MSG 2023/09
34: MSG 2023/10
35: MSG 2025/02
36: MSG 2025/09

Note: this variable's answer category labels were renamed starting March 6, 2024. Older data sets will have different value labels, the answer codes remain the same for each batch.

primary respondent: whether the respondent was the first person within the household to become a member or added subsequently. A household in this regard is broadly defined as anyone living together with the primary respondent. That is, a household comprises individuals who live together, e.g. as part of a family relationship (like a spouse/child/parent) or in context of some other relationship (like a roommate or tenant).
hardware: indicates whether the respondent ever received hardware or not. Note: this variable should not be used to determine whether a respondent received hardware at a given point in time and/or whether s/he used the hardware to participate in a survey. Rather, it indicates whether hardware was ever provided. This variable takes a value of 0 for None and a value of 1 for Tablet (includes Internet).
language: the language in which the survey was conducted. This variable takes a value of 1 for English and a value of 2 for Spanish.
start_date (start_year, start_month, start_day, start_hour, start_min, start_sec): indicates the time at which the respondent started the survey.
end_date (end_year, end_month, end_day, end_hour, end_min, end_sec): indicates the time at which the respondent completed the survey. These variables are set to (".c") if the respondent did not complete the survey. Note: for the My Household survey it is possible a respondent has no end date in the data set, but has completed the My Household survey before. This is because this survey is repeated every quarter at which point the end time of the survey is reset (until it obtains a new value once the respondent completes that instance of the survey). To find out if a respondent ever completed My Household please just use the numberoftimes variable. This variable indicates how many times a respondent has completed the My Household survey.
numberoftimes: indicates the number of times the respondent has filled out the My Household survey (which is administered quarterly).
hh_version: indicates the version of My Household that the respondent filled out. Takes a value of 1 = Before January 21, 2015, 2 Before October 8, 2025, 3 After October 8, 2025.
endtime_previous_hh_version: indicates the date and time on which the respondent filled out My Household prior to V3 for the last time. Is set to missing (".v") if the respondent has not filled out My Household V3 yet. Available on request.
lastmyhh_date: indicates the date on which the demographics variables were collected through the My Household survey.

Background demographics

Every UAS survey data set also includes demographic variables, which provide background information about the respondent and household. Demographic information such as age, ethnicity, education, marital status, work status, state of residence, family structure is elicited every quarter through the My Household survey. The demographic variables provided with each survey are taken from the most recent ‘MyHousehold' survey answered by the respondent. The variables are cleaned conform the mapping from the raw to cleaned UAS standard variables as described here. If at the time of a survey, the information in My Household is more than three months old, a respondent is required to check and update the information before being able to take the survey.

The following variables are available in each survey data set and describe a respondent's characteristics as known at the time of the last My Household survey they filled out:

sex: indicates the sex of the respondent as assigned at birth. Is set to gender if the respondent has not filled out My Household after October 8, 2025. Available in data sets after October 8, 2025.
genderid: indicates the current gender of the respondent. Is set to missing (".v") if the respondent has not filled out My Household after October 8, 2025. Available in data sets after October 8, 2025.
sexualorientation: indicates the sexual orientation of the respondent. Is set to missing (".v") if the respondent has not filled out My Household after October 8, 2025. Available in data sets after October 8, 2025.
dateofbirth_year: indicates the year of birth of the respondent.
age: indicates the age of the respondent.
agerange: if the respondent's age cannot be calculate due to missing information, agerange indicates the approximate age. Should a value for both the age and agerange be present, then age takes precedence over agerange.
citizenus: indicates whether the respondent is a U.S. citizen.
bornus:indicates whether the respondent was born in the U.S.
stateborn: indicates the state in which the respondent was born. Is set to missing (".a") if the respondent was not born in the U.S.
countryborn: indicates the country in which the respondent was born. Is set to missing (".a") if the respondent was born in the U.S.
immigrant_status: indicates whether the respondent is an immigrant. It takes one of the following values: 0 Non-immigrant, 1 First generation immigrant (immigrant who migrated to the U.S), 2 Second generation immigrant (U.S.-born children of at least one foreign-born parent), 3 Third generation immigrant (U.S.-born children of at least one U.S.-born parent, where at least one grandparent is foreign-born), or 4 Unknown immigrant status.
statereside: indicates the state in which the respondent is living.
urbanicity: indicates the urbanicity of the area in which the respondent is living. Based on panel members' current census tract of residence and the 2010 Rural-Urban Commuting Area (RUCA) codes released by the US Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service. To preserve confidentiality, the UAS collapses the 10 primary RUCA codes to 4 levels: Metropolitan, Micropolitan, Small/Rural, and Unknown. The Metropolitan level corresponds to primary RUCA codes 1-3, the Micropolitian level corresponds to RUCA codes 4-6, and the Small/Rural UAS classification corresponds to RUCA codes 7-10. For detailed information and definitions of the 10 primary RUCA codes, please visit the USDA ERS Rural-Urban Commuting Area Codes site. Available in data sets created after May 8, 2025. Surveys conducted completely prior to May 8, 2025 will have urbanicity available on request.
maritalstatus: indicates the marital status of the respondent.
livewithpartner: indicates whether the respondent lives with a partner. Is set to (".a") if the respondent is married (marital status is 1 or 2).
education: indicates the highest level of education attained by the respondent.
white: indicates whether the respondent identifies as white (Caucasian). Is set to missing (".e") if no answer for race was given by the respondent.
black: indicates whether the respondent identifies him or herself as black (African-American). Is set to missing (".e") if no answer for race was given by the respondent.
nativeamer: indicates whether the respondent identifies as Native American (American Indian or Alaska Native). Is set to missing (".e") if no answer for race was given by the respondent.
asian: indicates whether the respondent identifies as Asian (Asian-American). Is set to missing (".e") if no answer for race was given by the respondent.
pacific: indicates whether the respondent identifies as Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander. Is set to missing (".e") if no answer for race was given by the respondent.
race: indicates the race of the respondent as singular (e.g., ‘1 White' or ‘2 Black') or as mixed (in case the respondent identifies with two or more races). The value ‘6 Mixed' that the respondent answered ‘Yes' to at least two of the single race categories. This variable is generated based on the values of the different race variables (white, black, nativeamer, asian, pacific).
race_identify: indicates the race the respondent identifies with most (if mixed). Is set to missing (".v") if the respondent has not filled out My Household after October 8, 2025.
hisplatino: indicates whether the respondent identifies as being Hispanic or Latino.
hisplatinogroup: indicates which Hispanic or Latino group a respondent identifies him or herself with. Is set to missing (.) if the respondent does not identify him or herself as being Hispanic or Latino. Available in data sets before October 8, 2025. Available in data sets after October 8, 2025 on request.
mena: indicates whether the respondent identifies as being of Middle Eastern or North African ancestry. Is set to missing (".v") if the respondent has not filled out My Household after October 8, 2025.
working: indicates whether the respondent is working for pay. Is set to missing (".e") if no answer for laborstatus was given by the respondent.
sick_leave: indicates whether the respondent is not working or on leave due to health reason. Is set to missing (".e") if no answer for laborstatus was given by the respondent.
unemp_layoff: indicates whether the respondent is unemployed or on lay off. Is set to missing (".e") if no answer for laborstatus was given by the respondent.
unemp_look: indicates whether the respondent is unemployed and looking for a job. Is set to missing (".e") if no answer for laborstatus was given by the respondent.
retired: indicates whether the respondent is retired. Is set to missing (".e") if no answer for laborstatus was given by the respondent.
disabled: indicates whether the respondent has a disability. Is set to missing (".e") if no answer for laborstatus was given by the respondent.
workemployer: indicates whether the respondent works for an employer. Is set to missing (".e") if no answer for laborstatus was given by the respondent. Is set to missing (".v") if the respondent has not filled out My Household after October 8, 2025.
workself: indicates whether the respondent is self-employed. Is set to missing (".e") if no answer for laborstatus was given by the respondent. Is set to missing (".v") if the respondent has not filled out My Household after October 8, 2025.
homemaker: indicates whether the respondent is a homemaker. Is set to missing (".e") if no answer for laborstatus was given by the respondent. Is set to missing (".v") if the respondent has not filled out My Household after October 8, 2025.
student: indicates whether the respondent is a student. Is set to missing (".e") if no answer for laborstatus was given by the respondent. Is set to missing (".v") if the respondent has not filled out My Household after October 8, 2025.
notworking: indicates whether the respondent is not working and not looking for work. Is set to missing (".e") if no answer for laborstatus was given by the respondent. Is set to missing (".v") if the respondent has not filled out My Household after October 8, 2025.
lf_other: indicates whether the respondent has another labor force status. Is set to missing (".e") if no answer for laborstatus was given by the respondent.
laborstatus: indicates the labor force status of the respondent as singular (e.g., ‘1 Working for pay' or ‘2 On sick or other leave') or as mixed (in case the respondent selects two or more labor statuses). The value ‘8 Mixed' indicates that the respondent answered ‘Yes' to at least two of the single labor force status variables. This variable is generated based on the values of the different labor status variables (working, sick_leave, unempl_layoff, unempl_look, retired, disabled, lf_other).
employmenttype: indicates the employment type of the respondent (employed by the government, by a private company, a nonprofit organization, or self-employed). Is set to missing (.) if the respondent is not currently working or currently on sick or other leave. Available in data sets before October 8, 2025.
workfullpart: indicates the whether the respondent works full or part-time. If the respondent is not currently working or currently on sick or other leave, Is set to missing ("."). Available in data sets before October 8, 2025.
hourswork: indicates the number of hours the respondent works per week. If the respondent is not currently working, or currently on sick or other leave, Is set to missing (".").
hhincome: indicates the total combined income of all members of the respondent's household (living in their household) during the past 12 months.

Household Composition information

anyhhmember: indicates whether there were any members in the respondent's household at the time he/she answered the survey as reported by the respondent. Based on the hhmemberin variables if the respondent has not filled out My Household after October 8, 2025. Based on hhcomp_total if the respondent has filled out My Household after October 8, 2025.
hhmembernumber: indicates the number of household members in the respondent's household at the time of the survey as reported by the respondent. It may be that anyhhmember is ‘Yes', but hhmembernumber is missing if the respondent did not provide the number of household members at the time of the survey. Based on the hhmemberin variables if the respondent has not filled out My Household after October 8, 2025. Based on hhcomp_total if the respondent has filled out My Household after October 8, 2025.
hhcomp_male_0_4: indicates the number of male children ages 0 through 4 who are living in the respondent's household right now (even if they only live with the respondent part-time or temporarily). Is set to missing (".v") if the respondent has not filled out My Household after October 8, 2025.
hhcomp_female_0_4: indicates the number of female children ages 0 through 4 who are living in the respondent's household right now (even if they only live with the respondent part-time or temporarily). Is set to missing (".v") if the respondent has not filled out My Household after October 8, 2025.
hhcomp_other_0_4: indicates the number of other-gendered children ages 0 through 4 who are living in the respondent's household right now (even if they only live with the respondent part-time or temporarily). Is set to missing (".v") if the respondent has not filled out My Household after October 8, 2025.
hhcomp_male_5_12: indicates the number of male children ages 5 through 12 who are living in the respondent's household right now (even if they only live with the respondent part-time or temporarily). Is set to missing (".v") if the respondent has not filled out My Household after October 8, 2025.
hhcomp_female_5_12: indicates the number of female children ages 5 through 12 who are living in the respondent's household right now (even if they only live with the respondent part-time or temporarily). Is set to missing (".v") if the respondent has not filled out My Household after October 8, 2025.
hhcomp_other_5_12: indicates the number of other-gendered children ages 5 through 12 who are living in the respondent's household right now (even if they only live with the respondent part-time or temporarily). Is set to missing (".v") if the respondent has not filled out My Household after October 8, 2025.
hhcomp_male_13_17: indicates the number of male children ages 13 through 17 who are living in the respondent's household right now (even if they only live with the respondent part-time or temporarily). Is set to missing (".v") if the respondent has not filled out My Household after October 8, 2025.
hhcomp_female_13_17: indicates the number of female children ages 13 through 17 who are living in the respondent's household right now (even if they only live with the respondent part-time or temporarily). Is set to missing (".v") if the respondent has not filled out My Household after October 8, 2025.
hhcomp_other_13_17: indicates the number of other-gendered children ages 13 through 17 who are living in the respondent's household right now (even if they only live with the respondent part-time or temporarily). Is set to missing (".v") if the respondent has not filled out My Household after October 8, 2025.
hhcomp_male_18_64: indicates the number of male adults ages 18 through 64 who are living in the respondent's household right now (even if they only live with the respondent part-time or temporarily). Is set to missing (".v") if the respondent has not filled out My Household after October 8, 2025.
hhcomp_female_18_64: indicates the number of female adults ages 18 through 64 who are living in the respondent's household right now (even if they only live with the respondent part-time or temporarily). Is set to missing (".v") if the respondent has not filled out My Household after October 8, 2025.
hhcomp_other_18_64: indicates the number of other-gendered adults ages 18 through 64 who are living in the respondent's household right now (even if they only live with the respondent part-time or temporarily). Is set to missing (".v") if the respondent has not filled out My Household after October 8, 2025.
hhcomp_male_65plus: indicates the number of male adults ages 65 or older who are living in the respondent's household right now (even if they only live with the respondent part-time or temporarily). Is set to missing (".v") if the respondent has not filled out My Household after October 8, 2025.
hhcomp_female_65plus: indicates the number of female adults ages 65 or older who are living in the respondent's household right now (even if they only live with the respondent part-time or temporarily). Is set to missing (".v") if the respondent has not filled out My Household after October 8, 2025.
hhcomp_other_65plus: indicates the number of other-gendered adults ages 65 or older who are living in the respondent's household right now (even if they only live with the respondent part-time or temporarily). Is set to missing (".v") if the respondent has not filled out My Household after October 8, 2025.
hhcomp_total_18_64: indicates the total number of adults 18 through 64 who are living in the respondent's household right now (even if they only live with the respondent part-time or temporarily). Is set to missing (".v") if the respondent has not filled out My Household after October 8, 2025.
hhcomp_total_65plus: indicates the total number of adults 65 or older who are living in the respondent's household right now (even if they only live with the respondent part-time or temporarily). Is set to missing (".v") if the respondent has not filled out My Household after October 8, 2025.
hhcomp_total_adults: indicates the total number of adults who are living in the respondent's household right now (even if they only live with the respondent part-time or temporarily). Is set to missing (".v") if the respondent has not filled out My Household after October 8, 2025.
hhcomp_total_children: indicates the total number of children who are living in the respondent's household right now (even if they only live with the respondent part-time or temporarily). Is set to missing (".v") if the respondent has not filled out My Household after October 8, 2025.
hhcomp_total: indicates the total number of people who are living in the respondent's household right now (even if they only live with the respondent part-time or temporarily). Is set to missing (".v") if the respondent has not filled out My Household after October 8, 2025.
parent_guardian_a: indicates whether the respondent is the parent or guardian of one or more children ages 0 to 4. Is set to missing (".a") if hhcomp_total_children is not greater than 0. Is set to missing (".v") if the respondent has not filled out My Household after October 8, 2025.
parent_guardian_b: indicates whether the respondent is the parent or guardian of one or more children ages 5 to 12. Is set to missing (".a") if hhcomp_total_children is not greater than 0. Is set to missing (".v") if the respondent has not filled out My Household after October 8, 2025.
parent_guardian_c: indicates whether the respondent is the parent or guardian of one or more children ages 13 to 17. Is set to missing (".a") if hhcomp_total_children is not greater than 0. Is set to missing (".v") if the respondent has not filled out My Household after October 8, 2025.

The following variables were provided up until October 8, 2025. Several remain available in data sets after October 8, 2025 on request.

gender: indicates the gender of the respondent. Available in data sets before October 9, 2025.
countryborn_other: indicates the other country of birth, if that country is not on the drop-down list of countries shown to the respondent. Available in data sets after October 8, 2025 on request.
hisplatinogroup: indicates which Hispanic or Latino group a respondent identifies him or herself with. If the respondent does not identify as being Hispanic or Latino, Is set to missing (".a"). Available in data sets prior to October 8, 2025. Available in data sets after October 8, 2025 on request.
employmenttype: indicates the employment type of the respondent (employed by the government, by a private company, a nonprofit organization, or self-employed). Is set to missing (.) if the respondent is not currently working or currently on sick or other leave. Available in data sets after October 8, 2025 on request.
workfullpart: indicates whether the respondent works full or part-time. If the respondent is not currently working or currently on sick or other leave, Is set to missing ("."). Available in data sets after October 8, 2025 on request.
hhmemberin_#: indicates whether a household member is currently in the household as reported by the respondent. Household members are never removed from the stored household roster and their information is always included in survey data sets. The order of the roster is the same order in which household members were specified by the respondent in the My Household survey. The order is identified by the suffix _# (e.g., _1 indicates the first household member, _2 the second household member, etc.). As an example, if the first household member is in the household at the time of the survey, hhmemberin_1 is set to "1 HH Member 1 is in the HH"; if he/she has moved out, hhmemberin_1 is set to "0 HH member 1 is no longer in the HH". Since information of other household members (stored in the variables listed below) is always included in survey data sets, information about hhmemberin_1 is available whether this person is still in the household or has moved out. Available in data sets before October 8, 2025. Available in data sets after October 8, 2025 on request.
hhmembergen_#: indicates the gender of the household member as reported by the respondent. Available in data sets before October 8, 2025. Available in data sets after October 8, 2025 on request.
hhmemberage_#: indicates the age of the household member. The age is derived from the month and year of birth of the household member as reported by the respondent. Available in data sets before October 8, 2025. Available in data sets after October 8, 2025 on request.
hhmemberrel_#: indicates the relationship of the respondent to the household member as reported by the respondent. Available in data sets before October 8, 2025. Available in data sets after October 8, 2025 on request.
hhmemberuasid_#: indicates the uasid of the household member if this person is also a UAS panel member. It is set to missing (".") if this person is not a UAS panel member at the time of the survey. Since this identifier is directly reported by the respondent (chosen from a preloaded list), it may differ from the actual (correct) uasid of the UAS member it refers to because of reporting error. Also, this variable should not be used to identify UAS members in a given household at the time of the survey. This is because the variables hhmemberuasid_# are taken from the most recent My Household and changes in household composition involving UAS members may have occurred between the time of the respondent answered My Household and the time the respondent answers the survey. To follow UAS members of a given household, it is advised to use the identifiers uashhid and survhhid. Note: if the respondent does not have for example a fourth household member, hhmemberuasid_4 takes the value of .m. Available in data sets before October 8, 2025. Available in data sets after October 8, 2025 on request.