So, that part about knowing the subgroup sample sizes always confused me, which is why I didn't try the By statement route in the first place.  But I guess it's just referring to modeling where you run multiple random subsamples of the population.  So since I have a static sample size, the part "you can use a BY statement to obtain stratum level estimates when the stratum sample sizes are fixed" implies that this is a better method than the duplicate stratum variable?  I liked the duplicate method because the confidence intervals were tighter, but I suppose that's the definition of temptation... ... View more

Thank you! ... View more

FYI, a similar approach can be taken with PROC SQL and a join using the SORTKEY function. ... View more

I have "locked" this discussion and awarded some Helpful answers that addressed at least two of the specific questions.  If you're reading this and find that it doesn't answer your specific query, create a new topic with your own example data and what you're trying to achieve.  SAS can transform character data to any numeric (date, datetime, and so on) and vice versa.  This blog also contains some helpful advice for using PUT and INPUT to convert values. ... View more