WEIGHT
Sample Weight

Availability
1850: Both samples
1860: All three samples

Universe
All persons.

Description
WEIGHT describes how many slaves in the U.S. population are represented by a given slave in the sample. Slaves in the flat samples all contain the same weight. Slaves in the other samples were weighted differently depending on the size of the slaveholding and whether or not the holding was drawn from an urban county. Sample design and the calculation of specific weights are described on the sample design overview page. The use of the WEIGHT variable is optional in each year's flat sample, but weights must be used in the other samples.