There are five ways to select variables to add to your data cart within the Data Center: Variable Search, Cross-Year Index, File, Variable List and Previous Carts. You can use any of the five methods, and you can switch methods while you "shop." To view the variables you have selected, simply click on the shopping cart icon on the right.

While the ‘Cross-year index’ and ‘File’ options cover nearly all variables included in the PSID, the ‘Search’ and ‘Variable List’ options capture all PSID variables.

Very few historical variables that had been collected or generated in special projects and for only selected years are available as Auxiliary Files.

Variable Search
Search by variable name, label, question text, and explanation text of all variables.

File
Scroll through lists of variables contained within specific data files for each interview year.

Previous Carts
Retrieve data carts created by you or others.
 
Cross-Year Index
Browse the data archive where variables are organized by topical categories and you can choose comparable variables across waves.

Variable List
Enter a variable list to be added to your cart.