Merging two datasets with observations having different spellings

[Varsha Vaishnav]

Hello,

I'm merging two datasets using two variables: state and district, but the spellings differ in the two datasets. How should I go about it?

Example datasets:

Dataset 1

* Example generated by -dataex-. To install: ssc install dataex
clear
input str16 statename str30 distname
"Orissa" "Balasore"           
"Orissa" "Bolangir"           
"Orissa" "Cuttack"            
"Orissa" "Dhenkanal"          
"Orissa" "Ganjam"             
"Orissa" "Kalahandi"          
"Orissa" "Keonjhar"           
"Orissa" "Koraput"            
"Orissa" "Mayurbhanja"        
"Orissa" "Phulbani(Kandhamal)"
"Orissa" "Puri"               
"Orissa" "Sambalpur"          
"Orissa" "Sundargarh"         
"Orissa" "Bhadrak"            
"Orissa" "Jagatsinghapur"     
"Orissa" "Jajapur"            
"Orissa" "Kendrapara"         
"Orissa" "Angul"              
"Orissa" "Gajapati"           
"Orissa" "Nuapada"            
"Orissa" "Malkangiri"         
"Orissa" "Nawarangpur"        
"Orissa" "Rayagada"           
"Orissa" "Khurda"             
"Orissa" "Nayagarh"           
"Orissa" "Boudh"              
"Orissa" "Bargarh"            
"Orissa" "Deogarh"            
"Orissa" "Jharsuguda"         
"Orissa" "Sonepur"            
end

Dataset 2

* Example generated by -dataex-. To install: ssc install dataex
clear
input str25 state str27 dist
"Odisha" "Anugul"        
"Odisha" "Balangir"      
"Odisha" "Baleshwar"     
"Odisha" "Bargarh"       
"Odisha" "Baudh"         
"Odisha" "Bhadrak"       
"Odisha" "Cuttack"       
"Odisha" "Debagarh"      
"Odisha" "Dhenkanal"     
"Odisha" "Gajapati"      
"Odisha" "Ganjam"        
"Odisha" "Jagatsinghapur"
"Odisha" "Jajapur"       
"Odisha" "Jharsuguda"    
"Odisha" "Kalahandi"     
"Odisha" "Kandhamal"     
"Odisha" "Kendrapara"    
"Odisha" "Kendujhar"     
"Odisha" "Khordha"       
"Odisha" "Koraput"       
"Odisha" "Malkangiri"    
"Odisha" "Mayurbhanj"    
"Odisha" "Nabarangapur"  
"Odisha" "Nayagarh"      
"Odisha" "Nuapada"       
"Odisha" "Puri"          
"Odisha" "Rayagada"      
"Odisha" "Sambalpur"     
"Odisha" "Subarnapur"    
"Odisha" "Sundargarh"    
end

Thanks

[George Ford]

There are some "fuzzy" merge functions, but I recommend substituting the names from one dataset into the other when different (within your do file so you have a record).

[Varsha Vaishnav]

Thanks, George.