Replication Files for Skopek & Leopold (2017), Who becomes a grandparent – and when? Educational differences in the chances and timing of grandparenthood, Demographic Research
Release: August 16, 2017.
This package contains complete Stata syntax (version 14.1) for the study. 

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Replicate the study in 8 steps
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Follow these steps to replicate the results:

1. Unzip "stata-syntax.zip"

2. Register as a data user at the research data center of the German Institute of Gerontology(http://www.fdz-deas.de)

3. Download the DEAS 2008, SUF version 2 (DOI:10.5156/DEAS.2008.M.002). Note: DEAS provided for our analysis a weakly anonymised file containing the exact (i.e., non-coarsened) years of birth of respondents, children and and grandchildren. To replicate our analysis you will need this data (see more details below).

4. Store the Stata data files (.dta) in a folder. 

5. Open the do-file "config.do": Set the path to your working directory in global macro "workdir." Set the path to your directory containing the DEAS data in global macro "data" (avoid trailing slashes in the paths!).

6. Run the do-file "config.do"

7. Run the do-file "_PROJECT_MASTER_.do" to replicate the whole project.

8. Check folder "log" for tables and figures

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Premise
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In order to achieve high standards of empirical research we applied several measures of quality while developing the code. We did several revision circles on the syntax, which was tracked. We provide a lot of inline documentation that facilitates an understanding of the code. The code was double-checked by both authors. Nevertheless, even the most rigorous approach to syntax development will not guarantee an absence of errors. Hence, other scholars might critically reassess our work using the files provided in this package. 

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Data
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Our analysis relies on data for the German Ageing Survey, which is published by the research data center of the DZA ('Deutsches Zentrum für Altersfragen', German Centre of Gerontology, http://www.fdz-deas.de). The data is not part of this package, but can be requested on the pages of the research data center. 
Particularly, we used Scientific Use File Deutscher Alterssurvey (SUF DEAS) 2008, Version 2.0, DOI: 10.5156/DEAS.2008.M.002. The original scientific use file contains coarse and categorized dates for birth of children and grandchildren for reasons of disclosure control. However, a correct estimation of timing of grandparenthood requires very precise data. Hence, for the purpose of our study, we obtained the original values for date of birth variables from the data center of the DZA. We are grateful for support provided by Dr. Heribert Engstler. 

Documentation on the German Ageing Survey can be found here:
http://www.dza.de/fdz/deutscher-alterssurvey.html (English pages available)

Engstler, H. and A. Motel-Klingebiel (2010). Datengrundlagen und Methoden des Deutschen Alterssurveys (DEAS). In: Motel-Klingebiel, A., Wurm, S., and Tesch-Römer, C. (eds), Altern im Wandel. Befunde des Deutschen Alterssurveys (DEAS). Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, S. 34-60.

Mahne, K. and  H. Engstler (2010). Deutscher Alterssurvey (DEAS). Kurzbeschreibung des Datensatzes DEAS2008 Version 2.

Motel-Klingebiel, A. et al. (2010). GERMAN AGEING SURVEY (DEAS): THE SECOND HALF OF LIFE. Research Instruments of the Third Wave. German Centre of Gerontology. http://www.dza.de/fileadmin/dza/pdf/Diskussionspapier_Nr_52.pdf