Problem in merging two datasets

[Fahmida Huq]

Hello,

I am trying to merge two dataset by a variable called hsn. But whenever I'm doing that, it shows - variable hsn does not uniquely identify observations in the data.

I was wondering what can be the problem. Can someone help me? Thanks.

Fahmida

[Rich Goldstein]

the problem is exactly what Stata is telling you - in at least one of your data sets, the variable "hsn" is not distinct (i.e., there are duplicates); they can be found in several ways and you can check in several ways:

isid hsn
duplicates report hsn

sort hsn
browse if hsn==hsn[_n-1] | hsn==hsn[_n+1]

please read the FAQ and provide a data example, using -dataex- if you have additional questions