A Practical Guide to Using Panel Data

ISER Research Fellows, Dr Simonetta Longhi and Dr Alita Nandi have published a new text book on panel data. Described by publishers Sage as “this timely, thoughtful book” providing a clear introduction to using panel data in research.

A Practical Guide to Using Panel Data describes the different types of panel datasets commonly used for empirical analysis, and how to use them for cross sectional, panel, and event history analysis. Longhi and Nandi then guide the reader through the data management and estimation process, including the interpretation of the results and the preparation of the final output tables.

Using existing data sets and structured as hands-on exercises, each chapter engages with practical issues associated with using data in research. These include:

  • Data cleaning

  • Data preparation

  • Computation of descriptive statistics

  • Using sample weights

  • Choosing and implementing the right estimator

  • Interpreting results

  • Preparing final output tables

The textbook provides the practical tools needed to use panel data in research.

“This book is exactly what I have been looking for in my teaching, as a valuable guide for graduate and advanced undergraduate students who are thinking of tackling panel data but feel overwhelmed by how complicated it seems compared to working with standard cross-sectional datasets. The authors nicely combine discussion of general statistical principles with lots of example Stata code demonstrating many types of analysis. Critically, the book tells students and researchers not only how to carry out analysis but shows how to prepare and manage panel data.”

– Nick Allum, Professor in the Department of Sociology, University of Essex

A Practical Guide to Using Panel Data is available to order online or from bookshops.

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