During SIPP data collection, the ECERT (certificates) and EPROCERT (certifications and licenses) questions are asked of everyone age 18+ or who has at least a high school credential.However, in 2024 SIPP, the edit processes (post-data collection) for these variables were updated so that non-interviewed respondents would be removed and not assigned final values. This means that despite being in universe during data collection, non-interviewed respondents do not have values for these variables in the final 2024 SIPP dataset. These changes impacted 401 unweighted respondents for 2024 SIPP. All but one of these respondents (n = 400) were missing values for these variables prior to editing and would have been allocated values via hotdeck imputation. The universe update for EPROCERT likely had downstream effects on the in-universe EWHOCERT[1-4] (certification type) sample size because its universe is based on EPROCERT values.

These changes to the edit processes for ECERT and EPROCERT were made so that their universes more closely aligned with the attainment (EEDUC) universe, which excludes non-interviewed respondents. The universe for these variables includes EEDUC, and prior to 2024 SIPP, respondents who were out of universe for EEDUC could be in universe for ECERT and EPROCERT. ECERT and EPROCERT will continue to be processed according to these new procedures going forward.

Data users should be aware of these edit universe updates when analyzing certificates, certifications, and licenses data.