Data fusion for correcting measurement errors

Often in surveys, key items are subject to measurement errors. Given just the data, it can be difficult to determine the extent and distribution of this error process and, hence, to obtain accurate inferences that involve the error-prone variables. In some settings, however, analysts have access to a data source on different individuals with high-quality measurements of the error-prone survey items. We present a data fusion framework for leveraging this information to improve inferences in the error-prone survey. The basic idea is to posit models about the rates at which individuals make errors, coupled with models for the values reported when errors are made. This can avoid the unrealistic assumption of conditional independence typically used in data fusion. We apply the approach on the reported values of educational attainments in the American Community Survey, using the National Survey of College Graduates as the high-quality data source. In doing so, we account for the sampling design used to select the National Survey of College Graduates. We also present a process for assessing the sensitivity of various analyses to different choices for the measurement error models. Supplemental material is available online.

Duke Scholars

Author Jerome P. Reiter Statistical Science