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Remembrances of things past: Test-retest reliability of retrospective migration histories

Publication ,  Journal Article
Smith, JP; Thomas, D
Published in: Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. Series A: Statistics in Society
December 1, 2003

Matched retrospective life history data collected from the same individuals in two waves of the Malaysian Family Life Survey provide a unique opportunity to evaluate the quality of long-term recall data in a rapidly changing developing country. Recall quality, measured by consistency of incidence and dating of moves reported 12 years apart, is higher among the better educated. Respondents better remember more salient moves, those linked with other important life events such as marriage, childbirth or a job change and moves that lasted a long time. Migrations that dim in memory as time passes are typically shorter duration or local moves, often made while the respondent was young. The dating of moves is also significantly improved when linked with other salient events. Our findings suggest concrete and practical steps that can be followed to improve the quality of retrospective life-histories collected in field surveys. © 2003 Royal Statistical Society.

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Published In

Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. Series A: Statistics in Society

DOI

EISSN

1467-985X

ISSN

0964-1998

Publication Date

December 1, 2003

Volume

166

Issue

1

Start / End Page

23 / 49

Related Subject Headings

  • Statistics & Probability
  • 4905 Statistics
  • 3802 Econometrics
  • 1603 Demography
  • 1403 Econometrics
  • 0104 Statistics
 

Citation

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Smith, J. P., & Thomas, D. (2003). Remembrances of things past: Test-retest reliability of retrospective migration histories. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. Series A: Statistics in Society, 166(1), 23–49. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-985X.00257
Smith, J. P., and D. Thomas. “Remembrances of things past: Test-retest reliability of retrospective migration histories.” Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. Series A: Statistics in Society 166, no. 1 (December 1, 2003): 23–49. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-985X.00257.
Smith JP, Thomas D. Remembrances of things past: Test-retest reliability of retrospective migration histories. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A: Statistics in Society. 2003 Dec 1;166(1):23–49.
Smith, J. P., and D. Thomas. “Remembrances of things past: Test-retest reliability of retrospective migration histories.” Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. Series A: Statistics in Society, vol. 166, no. 1, Dec. 2003, pp. 23–49. Scopus, doi:10.1111/1467-985X.00257.
Smith JP, Thomas D. Remembrances of things past: Test-retest reliability of retrospective migration histories. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A: Statistics in Society. 2003 Dec 1;166(1):23–49.
Journal cover image

Published In

Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. Series A: Statistics in Society

DOI

EISSN

1467-985X

ISSN

0964-1998

Publication Date

December 1, 2003

Volume

166

Issue

1

Start / End Page

23 / 49

Related Subject Headings

  • Statistics & Probability
  • 4905 Statistics
  • 3802 Econometrics
  • 1603 Demography
  • 1403 Econometrics
  • 0104 Statistics