# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
# R programming statements for h248C data
#
# This file contains programming statements needed to import the ASCII data
# file (.dat) into R. The R programming language has the capability to produce
# appropriate standard errors for estimates from a survey with a complex sample
# design such as the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS).
#
# The input file is the ASCII data file (h248C.dat) supplied in this PUF
# release, which can be extracted from the .zip file supplied at the MEPS
# website: https://meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/data_stats/download_data_files.jsp
#
# This code imports the MEPS data into R as a data frame called 'h248C'.
#
# Note that additional packages are needed to successfully run this code. To
# install these packages, run the 'install.packages' function (shown below).
# Once installed, the packages can be called using the 'library' function.
# Packages only need to be installed once, but they must be called using the
# 'library' function every time a new R session is started.
#
# Two options are available to run this code:
#
# 1. Copy and paste the code into an interactive R session.
#
# The user must first download the ASCII (.dat) file from the MEPS website
# and save it to a local directory, which must be defined in the
# 'meps_path' variable below. In this example, the local directory is
# called 'C:/MEPS'. Note that the path structure will differ on Mac and PC.
#
#
# 2. Call this code directly from an interactive R session.
#
# (a) If the ASCII (.dat) file has already been downloaded from the MEPS
# website and saved to a local directory, the following code can be run
# (after re-defining the 'meps_path' variable to point to the location
# of the h248C.dat file.)
#
# meps_path <- "C:/MEPS/h248C.dat"
# source("https://meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/data_stats/download_data/pufs/h248C/h248Cru.txt")
# head(h248C) # view data
#
# (b) Alternatively, the ASCII (.dat) file can be downloaded directly from
# the MEPS website. The following code can be used to download and
# import the h248C data into R without having to manually download,
# unzip, and store the file on your local computer.
#
# url <- "https://meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/data_files/pufs/h248Cdat.zip"
# download.file(url, temp <- tempfile())
#
# meps_path <- unzip(temp, exdir = tempdir())
# source("https://meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/data_stats/download_data/pufs/h248C/h248Cru.txt")
#
# unlink(temp) # Unlink to delete temporary file
#
# head(h248C) # view data
#
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
# DEFINE 'meps_path' -----------------------------------------------------------
# 'meps_path' should point to the file path of the ASCII file (h248C.dat)
# Here, the 'exists' function checks whether meps_path is already defined. This
# feature is useful if calling this file from an external source.
if(!exists("meps_path")) meps_path = "C:/MEPS/h248C.dat"
# INSTALL PACKAGES ------------------------------------------------------------
# Uncomment and run this portion if packages are not yet installed
#
# install.packages("readr")
# **************************************
# LOAD PACKAGES ---------------------------------------------------------------
# Run this for every new R session
library(readr)
# DATA FILE INFO ------------------------------------------
# Define start and end positions to read fixed-width file
pos_start <- c(
1, 8, 11, 21, 37, 38, 40, 41, 49, 57,
65, 73, 81, 88, 95, 103, 110, 117, 125, 134,
135, 148, 152)
pos_end <- c(
7, 10, 20, 36, 37, 39, 40, 48, 56, 64,
72, 80, 87, 94, 102, 109, 116, 124, 133, 134,
147, 151, 152)
var_names <- c(
"DUID", "PID", "DUPERSID", "EVNTIDX", "EVENTRN", "PANEL", "OMTYPE_M18", "OMSF23X", "OMMR23X", "OMMD23X",
"OMPV23X", "OMVA23X", "OMTR23X", "OMOF23X", "OMSL23X", "OMWC23X", "OMOT23X", "OMXP23X", "OMTC23X", "IMPFLAG",
"PERWT23F", "VARSTR", "VARPSU")
var_types <- c(
"n", "n", "c", "c", "n", "n", "n", "n", "n", "n",
"n", "n", "n", "n", "n", "n", "n", "n", "n", "n",
"n", "n", "n")
var_types <- setNames(var_types, var_names)
# IMPORT ASCII file -----------------------
h248C <- read_fwf(
meps_path,
col_positions =
fwf_positions(
start = pos_start,
end = pos_end,
col_names = var_names),
col_types = var_types)
# OPTIONAL: save as .Rdata file for easier loading ----------------------------
# Run this to save a permanent .Rdata file in the local working directory
#
# save(h248C, file ="h248C.Rdata")
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
# NOTES:
#
# 1. This program has been tested on R version 4.4.0
#
# 2. This program will create a temporary data frame in R called 'h248C'.
# You must run the 'save' command to permanently save the data to a local
# folder
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------