Playing with Matches: An Assessment of Accuracy in Linked Historical Data
June 2016
Working Paper Number:
carra-2016-05
Abstract
This paper evaluates linkage quality achieved by various record linkage techniques used in historical demography. I create benchmark, or truth, data by linking the 2005 Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the Social Security Administration's Numeric Identification System by Social Security Number. By comparing simulated linkages to the benchmark data, I examine the value added (in terms of number and quality of links) from incorporating text-string comparators, adjusting age, and using a probabilistic matching algorithm. I find that text-string comparators and probabilistic approaches are useful for increasing the linkage rate, but use of text-string comparators may decrease accuracy in some cases. Overall, probabilistic matching offers the best balance between linkage rates and accuracy.
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:
estimating,
data,
census data,
microdata,
survey,
respondent,
longitudinal,
record,
matched,
matching,
census years,
demography,
ancestry,
records census,
census use,
datasets,
census linked,
linkage
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identified to contain references to specific institutions, datasets, and other organizations.
:
Social Security Administration,
Current Population Survey,
Social Security Number,
Protected Identification Key,
Minnesota Population Center,
SSA Numident,
Personally Identifiable Information
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