We have baseline data from male and female partners of the same couple (394 unique observations, 197 dyadic couples). They are linked through one variable called famcode which is unique to each couple. I want to analyze the data by couple for some measures but cannot figure out how to link them for all analyses. For example, both the male and female data have a family functioning score and I need to calculate the average difference in score for each couple (not difference in overall mean score but specifically average difference between female and male within each couple). Similarly, the female data includes variables on intimate partner violence that are not in the male dataset, but I would like to analyze some of the male data by the female partner's reporting of IPV (e.g. if the man's female partner reported IPV, what is the probability he perpetrated child abuse). Therefore, my questions are: 1) What is the best way to merge/append the data so that the couple data is linked by the family code (var=famcode)? I currently use the below code to append the female and male datasets but it may not be the past way to ensure my data are linked: proc sort data=sah.drcbw_final OUT=sah.drcbw_sort; by famcode; run; proc sort data=sah.drcbm_final OUT=sah.drcbm_sort; by famcode; run; data sah.drcb; set sah.drcbw_sort; run; proc append base=sah.drcb data=sah.drcbm_sort force; run; 2) Is there a way to copy or link variables from the female dataset onto the male dataset, matching by couple? For example, so I can analyze male factors by female reporting of IPV? Any advice on how to approach this without having to manually copy data from the female dataset onto the male dataset would be welcome, as that is my current approach. I use Base SAS Software (which I know is due to expire in March, but is the version that my university provided for free).
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