A primer for using and understanding weights with national datasets

Using data from the National Study of Postsecondary Faculty and the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Class of 1998-99, the author provides guidelines for incorporating weights and design effects in single-level analysis using Windows-based SPSS and AM software. Examples of analyses that do and do not employ weights and design effects are also provided to illuminate the differential results of key parameter estimates and standard errors using varying degrees of using or not using the weighting and design effect continuum. The author gives recommendations on the most appropriate weighting options, with specific reference to employing a strategy to accommodate both oversampled groups and cluster sampling (i.e., using weights and design effects) that leads to the most accurate parameter estimates and the decreased potential of committing a Type I error. However, using a design effect adjusted weight in SPSS may produce underestimated standard errors when compared with accurate estimates produced by specialized software such as AM.