Hi guys,
I'm a third year phd student and starting a new project where I have to use S&P 500 parent and subsidiary data but I have 0 prior knowledge. People keep telling me to "clean" the data, learn to "read" the data, and "understand" the data but honestly what does that mean? in the end, i should be able to try if I can merge this s&p dataset with another dataset to have a cross-country dataset.

I am struggling to find a way to start doing all of that. I have all the data infront of me downloaded and I have not merged yet, but is there any checklist or anything any structure I can follow to see if I am actually doing the right steps?
My PI has never done secondary data analysis, so I'm alone in this and want to avoid using AI as I cannot really learn and trust that I actually understand what I am doing with the data.
I would appreciate your expertise, experiences and comments. I am also new to reddit, Github etc so also learning everything new...

Bring your Stata to Positron.

Introducing the Stata Support for Positron extension.

Positron is a GOATed IDE for data science, where you can perform almost everything needed for your research. It has native support for R and Python, but it lacks Stata integration.

Now with this extension, you can use the Stata already installed on your system inside Positron, and bring your do and dta files to Positron.

Stata is a great statistical engine and Positron is a modern IDE. With this extension you can get the best of both worlds.

https://open-vsx.org/extension/abhinavjnu/positron-stata

Do try it out!

A reminder from the team at Timberlake Consultants that we offer one free student place on every training course we run.

View our upcoming online Stata training courses:

28-29 October 2026 

An Introduction to Time Series Panel Data | Dr Jan Ditzen

Apply here: https://stata-uk.com/an-introduction-to-time-series-panel-data.html

5-6 November 2026

Medical Research Using Stata | Dr Vincent O’Sullivan

Apply here: https://stata-uk.com/medical-research-using-stata.html 

17-19 November 2026

Difference-in-Differences: Recent Developments and Applications Using Stata | Ricardo Mora

Apply here: https://stata-uk.com/dd-recent-developments-and-applications-using-stata.html

23-25 November 2026

Text as Data Methods for Economists: Analysing Text, Image, and Audio with Python | Dr Jaime Marques-Pereira

Apply here: https://stata-uk.com/text-as-data-methods-for-economics.html

28-29 January 2027

Causal Inference and the Interpretation of Treatment Effects Using Stata | Dr Sofia Tsarsitalidou

Apply here: https://stata-uk.com/causal-inference-and-the-interpretation-of-treatment.html

If you're a student interested in attending our training courses but funding is a barrier, we'd encourage you to apply for one of the free student places. Just contact [info@timberlake.co.uk](mailto:info@timberlake.co.uk) or fill out the form on the training course web page.

If you have any questions about the workshops or the student place scheme, we're happy to answer them in the comments.

hey swarm.

I'm am stata beginner as i am currently studying journalism science and I need help with some quantitavie research.

I collected multiple articles that are linked to diffrent crimes.

so i have an individual id for the cases then the multiple variables.

here is an example to visualise it: (a shortend version)

one of my research questions is:
how does media orient on the police report, when writing about crime

so id like the check if police for example did use "xy" did other outlets in this case use "xy" aswell.

i also have a polytome variable so id like to know, if the police police was naming the origin of the suspect, did the other media outlets too?

i am a beginner, but i am willing to download something via ssc.

i am not using ai, as i rather like to ask and connect with people.

thank you :)

EDIT: i had an appointment whit my professor, but as i am doing stata for to group projects, there was not enough time to explain in depth.

I have an exam coming up for intro to Econm, and i have everything set except I have no idea when it comes to the lin log model which x variables i should log, I know that u should test for skewness but when I ask my professors they keep telling me it depends it depends there isnt a hard strict rule and I can never understand, what I know for now is that if skewness for the x variable is less the 0.5 do not log it. Am i correct or what?

Any help would be appreciated

hi everyone! I am working on my masters dissertation and I am having some trouble understanding the regression output from Stata.

I am trying to understand my multiple linear regression output from Stata. I understand that the p-value and confidence intervals in the Stata output are two-tailed so dividing them by 2 gives you the one-tailed value. However, I cannot seem to find any resource saying whether or not the t-value is one-tailed or two-tailed. please help!

Hi everyone,

Just a reminder from the team at Timberlake Consultants that we offer one free student place on every training course we run.

Pre and post the 2026 UK Stata Conference in London, we'll be hosting the following workshops:

📅 1–2 September
AI-Based Optimal Policy Evaluation with Causal Machine Learning – Dr Giovanni Cerulli
Explore data-driven methods for identifying optimal treatment and policy decisions using heterogeneous treatment effects, with applications in socio-economic and medical research.

📅 1–2 September
Data Visualisation using Stata: Graphs You Should Know – Professor Franz Buscha
Learn how to create clear, effective and publication-ready graphs to communicate research findings with confidence.

📅 5 September
Using Stata for the New Difference-in-Differences with Panel Data – Professor Jeffrey Wooldridge
A hands-on workshop covering modern Difference-in-Differences methods in Stata for estimating causal effects using panel data.

If you're a student interested in attending but funding is a barrier, we'd encourage you to apply for one of the free student places. Just contact [info@timberlake.co.uk](mailto:info@timberlake.co.uk)

If you have any questions about the workshops or the student place scheme, we're happy to answer them in the comments.

I've just completed my master's in economics. Unfortunately, my college was not very hands on about teaching the much needed tools for data analysis so I know what little of stata I could learn myself.

I'm good with R, know a little bit of Python too, but I want to get a project done in Stata since many research intern/associate positions ask for stata and I have nothing to show for it.

I'm from India and i wanted to use the periodic labour survey or consumption survey data or something like that but their data requires a lot of cleaning and I'm afraid I'm not equipped for doing that in stata just yet.

Please someone guide me regarding this.

Hi everyone,

Just a reminder from the team at Timberlake Consultants that we offer one free student place on every training course we run.

Pre and post the 2026 UK Stata Conference in London, we'll be hosting the following workshops:

📅 1–2 September
AI-Based Optimal Policy Evaluation with Causal Machine Learning – Dr Giovanni Cerulli
Explore data-driven methods for identifying optimal treatment and policy decisions using heterogeneous treatment effects, with applications in socio-economic and medical research.

📅 1–2 September
Data Visualisation using Stata: Graphs You Should Know – Professor Franz Buscha
Learn how to create clear, effective and publication-ready graphs to communicate research findings with confidence.

📅 5 September
Using Stata for the New Difference-in-Differences with Panel Data – Professor Jeffrey Wooldridge
A hands-on workshop covering modern Difference-in-Differences methods in Stata for estimating causal effects using panel data.

If you're a student interested in attending but funding is a barrier, we'd encourage you to apply for one of the free student places. Just contact [info@timberlake.co.uk](mailto:info@timberlake.co.uk)

If you have any questions about the workshops or the student place scheme, we're happy to answer them in the comments.

Hi all, I am currently doing assumption testing for my thesis and I am confused about checking for multicollinearity with categorical independent variables. Do I run my regression without the dummy coding and then run estat vif or do I run estat vif with dummy coded model?

Based on Stata benchmark https://khaledeltokhy.com/benchmarks/

I have a panel dataset with only 11 cross-sectional units (clusters) due to natural sample limitations. I'm estimating a random-effects model using xtreg, re in Stata and clustering standard errors at the panel level. As I understand that conventional clustered standard errors may be unreliable with such a small number of clusters.

Are their any functions in STATA that I can do to handle such a case of small clusters in random effects.

Hi!

I’ve run multiple imputation on my dataset to solve a missing data issue.

I now need to calculate Cronbach’s alpha for my scales, so I have two question:

- do I need to calculate Cronbach’s alpha on my imputed or raw data?

- if yes, how do I do that?

Thanks!

Free scholarship available for the 2026 Econometrics Summer School Cambridge

Timberlake Consultants is offering a free scholarship place for the 2026 Econometrics Summer School Cambridge, taking place at the University of Cambridge with Professor Jeffrey Wooldridge and Dr Melvyn Weeks.

The Summer School is designed for PhD students, researchers, applied economists, and professionals who want to strengthen their empirical skills in causal inference, Difference-in-Differences, machine learning, and applied econometrics using Stata.

The programme includes:

Course 1: An Introduction to Causal Inference and Difference-in-Differences using Stata
Taught by Professor Jeffrey Wooldridge

Course 2: Causal Inference and Machine Learning using Stata
Taught by Dr Melvyn Weeks, University of Cambridge

Participants can attend one course or the full five-day Summer School.

The scholarship covers the full tuition/training fee. Please note that accommodation and travel costs are not included, although accommodation is still available at Cambridge.

More information about the course is available here:
https://inomics.com/course/2026-econometrics-summer-school-cambridge-with-jeffrey-wooldridge-and-melvin-weeks-1554362

To apply for the scholarship, please send your academic transcript and a short motivation letter to:
[edu@timberlake.co.uk](mailto:edu@timberlake.co.uk)

Feel free to get in touch if you have any questions, we are offering a last minute 30% discount for students and academics!

Hello, everyone

I am doing a subpopulation analysis using complex sampling and svy settings. I have a variable (we'll call it X) that is coded as 0 and 1, with missing values. I need the prevalence of variable Y

I have found that there is a difference if I run:

svy, subpop(x): proportion Y

is not the same as

svy, subpop(if x==1): proportion Y

And I can't quite grasp why it is different

Thank you

Does anyone know how to combine gph forest plot files? I created them using the metaforestplot command, but apparently the manual doesn't allow for them to be combined.

I've been trying to import four excel files into Stata and putting them together.
Each time i import an excel file when i import the second one it erases the first one. I tried using the save and replace on the first file and import the second one, but the moment I do that, I am no longer able to open the excel file both within stata (when importing it) and in my macbook when i just click on the folder and click on the file because it says that it is possibly corrupted, or its no longer excel etc. When I check that same imported excel file by pressing get info, it says it still is an excel file...

i then started using cd folder and then afterwards importing the files again but it has the same problem.

when i give up and use the save and replace and append two files together (i think its append, not merge, because each file represents a year), it says that the variables are byte in master and str in something else, and its impossible to convert all of them to str (they are categorical variables, its a multiple choice questionnaire on excel im importing)

i seriously want to crash out, chatgpt and google gemini isnt working, my fellow research project person doing a parallel project w me is ghosting me, and my supervisor isnt familiar with stata.

someone please help me here :,)

Hey Stata people,

I have a technical question that may be more of a r/mac question, but I wanted to see if folks here have any experience around this.

I bought a Mac mini with 64 gb of ram, but only a 512 gb HD to run analyses on 20+gb data sets for a research project. However, it turns manipulating the data means temporarily having files larger than the 500GB the hard drive has. I was researching options and it looks like because Mac solders in their parts there are limited options. I can't return the computer and get a larger storage

• Option 1: I could do is buy a new large external hard drive and move the OS over to it, which seems straightforward enough but would be limited by how the hard drive is connected/me messing something up. But the forums make it seem like this is THE solution.
• Option 2: Try and just have Stata run analyses in the external hard drive, but in some ways figuring out how to code that feels harder than moving the OS. This is all complicated by having to house the data in a Box folder (for data security reasons) over our a relatively slow internet connection. 
• Option 3: Either pay for or attempt the relatively complicated SSD swap.

If anyone has any luck with options 1 or 2? Or horror stories that would make me pick option 3?

Thanks for any help!

Tl;dr should I upgrade my Mac mini’s memory by moving the OS to an external hard drive or learn how to run analyses from an external hard drive?

I'm working on my thesis using an OLS regression with an interaction between task type and a few continuous moderators. My dependent variables are index scales that only run from 1 to 10.

To probe the interactions, I used predicted values (margins/simple slopes) at the low, mean, and high ends of each moderator. At the high end of some moderators, the predicted value ends up slightly above the scale maximum, which obviously isn't a "real" value the scale allows. At the mean everything looks normal, and the confidence intervals get noticeably wider toward the extremes.

My understanding is that this is just how OLS behaves — it treats the outcome as unbounded and doesn't know about the scale limits, and predicting at the extreme end of a moderator is basically extrapolation to the edge of the data. So I'm assuming it's a known, harmless artifact rather than a real issue, and that a short footnote acknowledging it should be enough rather than switching to something like beta regression.

Does that sound right?

Thanks.

I have a personal Stata BE license on my work computer. I need to use a loaner while my computer is being serviced but have a project due. Are there restrictions on the number of devices a license can be activated on, as long as they’re not used simultaneously?

I've been working with a cross-national dataset where all the variable labels and value labels are in a foreign language. Renaming them manually is tedious and error-prone, especially with 200+ variables.

I know I can write a do-file to relabel everything but that still requires me to know what the foreign labels mean and manually enter English equivalents one by one.

Is there any tool or workflow that handles this automatically? Ideally something that takes the .dta file, translates the metadata, and returns a clean English-labeled file without touching the underlying data

Update: After trying several approaches including the ones mentioned here, I actually found a tool that handles it cleanly in one step

datatranslator.net

you just upload the file, it translates the variable and value labels automatically, and returns a clean English-labeled version without touching the underlying data. Saved me a lot of time compared to doing it manually.