Quality assurance

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  • 1. Income Research Paper Series
    Journals and periodicals: 75F0002M
    Description: This series provides detailed documentation on income developments, including survey design issues, data quality evaluation and exploratory research.
    Release date: 2024-02-22
  • 2. Census of Agriculture: Data quality report
    Surveys and statistical programs – Documentation: 32-26-0007
    Description: Census of Agriculture data provide statistical information on farms and farm operators at fine geographic levels and for small subpopulations. Quality evaluation activities are essential to ensure that census data are reliable and that they meet user needs.

    This report provides data quality information pertaining to the Census of Agriculture, such as sources of error, error detection, disclosure control methods, data quality indicators, response rates and collection rates.
    Release date: 2024-02-06
  • 3. Distributions of Household Economic Accounts, estimates of asset, liability and net worth distributions, 2010 to 2023, technical methodology and quality report
    Articles and reports: 13-604-M2024001
    Description: This documentation outlines the methodology used to develop the Distributions of household economic accounts published in January 2024 for the reference years 2010 to 2023. It describes the framework and the steps implemented to produce distributional information aligned with the National Balance Sheet Accounts and other national accounts concepts. It also includes a report on the quality of the estimated distributions.
    Release date: 2024-01-22
  • 4. Distributions of Household Economic Accounts, estimates of asset, liability and net worth distributions, 2010 to 2022, technical methodology and quality report
    Articles and reports: 13-604-M2023001
    Description: This documentation outlines the methodology used to develop the Distributions of household economic accounts published in March 2023 for the reference years 2010 to 2022. It describes the framework and the steps implemented to produce distributional information aligned with the National Balance Sheet Accounts and other national accounts concepts. It also includes a report on the quality of the estimated distributions.
    Release date: 2023-03-31
  • 5. Distributions of Household Economic Accounts, estimates of asset, liability and net worth distributions, 2010 to 2021, technical methodology and quality report
    Articles and reports: 13-604-M2022002
    Description:

    This documentation outlines the methodology used to develop the Distributions of household economic accounts published in August 2022 for the reference years 2010 to 2021. It describes the framework and the steps implemented to produce distributional information aligned with the National Balance Sheet Accounts and other national accounts concepts. It also includes a report on the quality of the estimated distributions.

    Release date: 2022-08-03
  • 6. The Importance of Data Quality
    19-22-0009
    Description:

    Join us as Statistics Canada’s Quality Secretariat will give a presentation on the importance of data quality. We are living in an exciting time for data: sources are more abundant, they are being generated in innovative ways, and they are available quicker than ever. However, a data source is not only worthless if it does not meet basic quality standards – it can be misleading, and worse than having no data at all! Statistics Canada’s Quality Secretariat has a mandate to promote good quality practices within the agency, across the Government of Canada, and internationally. For quality to truly be present, it must be incorporated into each process (from design to analysis) and into the product itself – whether that product is a microdata file or estimates derived from it. We will address why data quality is important and how one can evaluate it in practice. We will cover some basic concepts in data quality (quality assurance vs. control, metadata, etc.), and present data quality as a multidimensional concept. Finally, we will show data quality in action by evaluating a data source together. All data quality literacy levels are welcome. After all, everybody plays a part in quality!

    https://www.statcan.gc.ca/en/services/webinars/19220009

    Release date: 2022-01-26
  • 7. Creation of a composite quality indicator for administrative data-based estimates using clustering Archived
    Articles and reports: 11-522-X202100100015
    Description: National statistical agencies such as Statistics Canada have a responsibility to convey the quality of statistical information to users. The methods traditionally used to do this are based on measures of sampling error. As a result, they are not adapted to the estimates produced using administrative data, for which the main sources of error are not due to sampling. A more suitable approach to reporting the quality of estimates presented in a multidimensional table is described in this paper. Quality indicators were derived for various post-acquisition processing steps, such as linkage, geocoding and imputation, by estimation domain. A clustering algorithm was then used to combine domains with similar quality levels for a given estimate. Ratings to inform users of the relative quality of estimates across domains were assigned to the groups created. This indicator, called the composite quality indicator (CQI), was developed and experimented with in the Canadian Housing Statistics Program (CHSP), which aims to produce official statistics on the residential housing sector in Canada using multiple administrative data sources.

    Keywords: Unsupervised machine learning, quality assurance, administrative data, data integration, clustering.

    Release date: 2021-10-22
  • 8. Empowering analysts to consider the ethics of their work: A case study of the UK Statistics Authority's data ethics framework Archived
    Articles and reports: 11-522-X202100100023
    Description:

    Our increasingly digital society provides multiple opportunities to maximise our use of data for the public good – using a range of sources, data types and technologies to enable us to better inform the public about social and economic matters and contribute to the effective development and evaluation of public policy. Ensuring use of data in ethically appropriate ways is an important enabler for realising the potential to use data for public good research and statistics. Earlier this year the UK Statistics Authority launched the Centre for Applied Data Ethics to provide applied data ethics services, advice, training and guidance to the analytical community across the United Kingdom. The Centre has developed a framework and portfolio of services to empower analysts to consider the ethics of their research quickly and easily, at the research design phase thus promoting a culture of ethics by design. This paper will provide an overview of this framework, the accompanying user support services and the impact of this work.

    Key words: Data ethics, data, research and statistics

    Release date: 2021-10-22
  • 9. Distributions of Household Economic Accounts, estimates of asset, liability and net worth distributions, 2010 to 2020, technical methodology and quality report
    Articles and reports: 13-604-M2021001
    Description:

    This documentation outlines the methodology used to develop the Distributions of household economic accounts published in September 2021 for the reference years 2010 to 2020. It describes the framework and the steps implemented to produce distributional information aligned with the National Balance Sheet Accounts and other national accounts concepts. It also includes a report on the quality of the estimated distributions.

    Release date: 2021-09-07
  • 10. Data Quality in Six Dimensions Archived
    Stats in brief: 89-20-00062020001
    Description:

    In this video, you will be introduced to the fundamentals of data quality, which can be summed up in six dimensions—or six different ways to think about quality. You will also learn how each dimension can be used to evaluate the quality of data.

    Release date: 2020-09-23
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Analysis (171)

Analysis (171) (30 to 40 of 171 results)

  • 31. An Assessment of Life Satisfaction Responses on Recent Statistics Canada Surveys Archived
    Articles and reports: 11F0019M2013351
    Geography: Canada
    Description:

    Measures of subjective well-being are increasingly prominent in international policy discussions about how best to measure "societal progress" and the well-being of national populations. This has implications for national statistical offices, as calls have been made for them to include measures of subjective well-being in their household surveys (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development 2013). Statistics Canada has included measures of subjective well-being - particularly life satisfaction - in its surveys for twenty-five years, although the wording of these questions and the response categories have evolved over time. Statistics Canada's General Social Survey (GSS) and Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) offer a valuable opportunity to examine the stability of life satisfaction responses and their correlates from year to year using a consistent analytical framework.

    Release date: 2013-10-11
  • 32. An examination of the NAACCR method of assessing completeness of case ascertainment using the Canadian Cancer Registry Archived
    Articles and reports: 82-003-X201300811857
    Geography: Canada
    Description:

    Using data from the Canadian Cancer Registry, vital statistics and population statistics, this study examines the assumption of stable age-standardized sex- and cancer-site-specific incidence-to-mortality rate ratios across regions, which underlies the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries' (NAACCR) completeness of case indicator.

    Release date: 2013-08-21
  • 33. Survey Quality Archived
    Articles and reports: 12-001-X201200211751
    Description:

    Survey quality is a multi-faceted concept that originates from two different development paths. One path is the total survey error paradigm that rests on four pillars providing principles that guide survey design, survey implementation, survey evaluation, and survey data analysis. We should design surveys so that the mean squared error of an estimate is minimized given budget and other constraints. It is important to take all known error sources into account, to monitor major error sources during implementation, to periodically evaluate major error sources and combinations of these sources after the survey is completed, and to study the effects of errors on the survey analysis. In this context survey quality can be measured by the mean squared error and controlled by observations made during implementation and improved by evaluation studies. The paradigm has both strengths and weaknesses. One strength is that research can be defined by error sources and one weakness is that most total survey error assessments are incomplete in the sense that it is not possible to include the effects of all the error sources. The second path is influenced by ideas from the quality management sciences. These sciences concern business excellence in providing products and services with a focus on customers and competition from other providers. These ideas have had a great influence on many statistical organizations. One effect is the acceptance among data providers that product quality cannot be achieved without a sufficient underlying process quality and process quality cannot be achieved without a good organizational quality. These levels can be controlled and evaluated by service level agreements, customer surveys, paradata analysis using statistical process control, and organizational assessment using business excellence models or other sets of criteria. All levels can be improved by conducting improvement projects chosen by means of priority functions. The ultimate goal of improvement projects is that the processes involved should gradually approach a state where they are error-free. Of course, this might be an unattainable goal, albeit one to strive for. It is not realistic to hope for continuous measurements of the total survey error using the mean squared error. Instead one can hope that continuous quality improvement using management science ideas and statistical methods can minimize biases and other survey process problems so that the variance becomes an approximation of the mean squared error. If that can be achieved we have made the two development paths approximately coincide.

    Release date: 2012-12-19
  • 34. A statistical approach to detect interviewer falsification of survey data Archived
    Articles and reports: 12-001-X201200111680
    Description:

    Survey data are potentially affected by interviewer falsifications with data fabrication being the most blatant form. Even a small number of fabricated interviews might seriously impair the results of further empirical analysis. Besides reinterviews, some statistical approaches have been proposed for identifying this type of fraudulent behaviour. With the help of a small dataset, this paper demonstrates how cluster analysis, which is not commonly employed in this context, might be used to identify interviewers who falsify their work assignments. Several indicators are combined to classify 'at risk' interviewers based solely on the data collected. This multivariate classification seems superior to the application of a single indicator such as Benford's law.

    Release date: 2012-06-27
  • 35. Assessment of validity of self-reported smoking status Archived
    Articles and reports: 82-003-X201200111625
    Geography: Canada
    Description:

    This study compares estimates of the prevalence of cigarette smoking based on self-report with estimates based on urinary cotinine concentrations. The data are from the 2007 to 2009 Canadian Health Measures Survey, which included self-reported smoking status and the first nationally representative measures of urinary cotinine.

    Release date: 2012-02-15
  • 36. Evaluation of the factor structure of the child-reported parenting questionnaire in the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth Archived
    Articles and reports: 82-003-X201100111404
    Geography: Canada
    Description:

    This study assesses three child-reported parenting behaviour scales (nurturance, rejection and monitoring) in the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth.

    Release date: 2011-02-16
  • 37. Validation of cognitive functioning categories in the Canadian Community Health Survey -Healthy Aging Archived
    Articles and reports: 82-003-X201000411391
    Geography: Canada
    Description:

    This analysis uses data from the Cognition Module of the 2009 Canadian Community Health Survey - Healthy Aging to validate a categorization of levels of cognitive functioning in the household population aged 45 or older.

    Release date: 2010-12-15
  • 38. Validation of self-rated mental health Archived
    Articles and reports: 82-003-X201000311288
    Geography: Canada
    Description:

    This article assesses the association between self-rated mental health and selected World Mental Health-Composite International Diagnostic Interview-measured disorders, self-reported diagnoses of mental disorders, and psychological distress in the Canadian population.

    Release date: 2010-07-21
  • 39. The multidimensional integral business survey response model Archived
    Articles and reports: 12-001-X201000111245
    Description:

    Knowledge of the causes of measurement errors in business surveys is limited, even though such errors may compromise the accuracy of the micro data and economic indicators derived from them. This article, based on an empirical study with a focus from the business perspective, presents new research findings on the response process in business surveys. It proposes the Multidimensional Integral Business Survey Response (MIBSR) model as a tool for investigating the response process and explaining its outcomes, and as the foundation of any strategy dedicated to reducing and preventing measurement errors.

    Release date: 2010-06-29
  • 40. Evaluating the hyperactivity/inattention subscale of the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth Archived
    Articles and reports: 82-003-X201000211234
    Geography: Canada
    Description:

    This article evaluates the parent-reported Hyperactivity/Inattention Subscale of the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth with data from cycle 1 (1994/1995) of the survey.

    Release date: 2010-06-16
Reference (78)

Reference (78) (0 to 10 of 78 results)

  • 1. Census of Agriculture: Data quality report
    Surveys and statistical programs – Documentation: 32-26-0007
    Description: Census of Agriculture data provide statistical information on farms and farm operators at fine geographic levels and for small subpopulations. Quality evaluation activities are essential to ensure that census data are reliable and that they meet user needs.

    This report provides data quality information pertaining to the Census of Agriculture, such as sources of error, error detection, disclosure control methods, data quality indicators, response rates and collection rates.
    Release date: 2024-02-06
  • 2. Statistics Canada Quality Guidelines
    Surveys and statistical programs – Documentation: 12-539-X
    Description:

    This document brings together guidelines and checklists on many issues that need to be considered in the pursuit of quality objectives in the execution of statistical activities. Its focus is on how to assure quality through effective and appropriate design or redesign of a statistical project or program from inception through to data evaluation, dissemination and documentation. These guidelines draw on the collective knowledge and experience of many Statistics Canada employees. It is expected that Quality Guidelines will be useful to staff engaged in the planning and design of surveys and other statistical projects, as well as to those who evaluate and analyze the outputs of these projects.

    Release date: 2019-12-04
  • 3. Data Quality Toolkit
    Surveys and statistical programs – Documentation: 12-606-X
    Description:

    This is a toolkit intended to aid data producers and data users external to Statistics Canada.

    Release date: 2017-09-27
  • 4. Comparison of Place of Residence between the T1 Family File and the Census: Evaluation using record linkage Archived
    Surveys and statistical programs – Documentation: 91F0015M2017013
    Description:

    Using records linkage, this article compares the place of residence in the 2011 Census to that of the 2010 T1 Family File (T1FF). The main result is that although the overall level of consistency in the place of residence is relatively high, it decreases, sometimes substantially, for some segments of the population.

    Release date: 2017-09-26
  • 5. Statistics Canada's Quality Assurance Framework
    Surveys and statistical programs – Documentation: 12-586-X
    Description:

    The Quality Assurance Framework (QAF) serves as the highest-level governance tool for quality management at Statistics Canada. The QAF gives an overview of the quality management and risk mitigation strategies used by the Agency’s program areas. The QAF is used in conjunction with Statistics Canada management practices, such as those described in the Quality Guidelines.

    Release date: 2017-04-21
  • 6. Challenges and results in using Audit trail data to monitor Labour Force Survey data quality Archived
    Surveys and statistical programs – Documentation: 11-522-X201700014707
    Description:

    The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is a monthly household survey of about 56,000 households that provides information on the Canadian labour market. Audit Trail is a Blaise programming option, for surveys like LFS with Computer Assisted Interviewing (CAI), which creates files containing every keystroke and edit and timestamp of every data collection attempt on all households. Combining such a large survey with such a complete source of paradata opens the door to in-depth data quality analysis but also quickly leads to Big Data challenges. How can meaningful information be extracted from this large set of keystrokes and timestamps? How can it help assess the quality of LFS data collection? The presentation will describe some of the challenges that were encountered, solutions that were used to address them, and results of the analysis on data quality.

    Release date: 2016-03-24
  • 7. Comparing Survey Data to Administrative Sources: Immigration, Labour, and Demographic data from the Longitudinal and International Study of Adults Archived
    Surveys and statistical programs – Documentation: 11-522-X201700014716
    Description:

    Administrative data, depending on its source and original purpose, can be considered a more reliable source of information than survey-collected data. It does not require a respondent to be present and understand question wording, and it is not limited by the respondent’s ability to recall events retrospectively. This paper compares selected survey data, such as demographic variables, from the Longitudinal and International Study of Adults (LISA) to various administrative sources for which LISA has linkage agreements in place. The agreement between data sources, and some factors that might affect it, are analyzed for various aspects of the survey.

    Release date: 2016-03-24
  • 8. Student Pathways and Graduate Outcomes Archived
    Surveys and statistical programs – Documentation: 11-522-X201700014717
    Description:

    Files with linked data from the Statistics Canada, Postsecondary Student Information System (PSIS) and tax data can be used to examine the trajectories of students who pursue postsecondary education (PSE) programs and their post-schooling labour market outcomes. On one hand, administrative data on students linked longitudinally can provide aggregate information on student pathways during postsecondary studies such as persistence rates, graduation rates, mobility, etc. On the other hand, the tax data could supplement the PSIS data to provide information on employment outcomes such as average and median earnings or earnings progress by employment sector (industry), field of study, education level and/or other demographic information, year over year after graduation. Two longitudinal pilot studies have been done using administrative data on postsecondary students of Maritimes institutions which have been longitudinally linked and linked to Statistics Canada Ttx data (the T1 Family File) for relevant years. This article first focuses on the quality of information in the administrative data and the methodology used to conduct these longitudinal studies and derive indicators. Second, it will focus on some limitations when using administrative data, rather than a survey, to define some concepts.

    Release date: 2016-03-24
  • 9. Using data linkage to evaluate the consistency of place of residence between census data and tax data Archived
    Surveys and statistical programs – Documentation: 11-522-X201700014725
    Description:

    Tax data are being used more and more to measure and analyze the population and its characteristics. One of the issues raised by the growing use of these type of data relates to the definition of the concept of place of residence. While the census uses the traditional concept of place of residence, tax data provide information based on the mailing address of tax filers. Using record linkage between the census, the National Household Survey and tax data from the T1 Family File, this study examines the consistency level of the place of residence of these two sources and its associated characteristics.

    Release date: 2016-03-24
  • 10. Estimating internal migration: Issues related to using tax data Archived
    Surveys and statistical programs – Documentation: 11-522-X201700014726
    Description:

    Internal migration is one of the components of population growth estimated at Statistics Canada. It is estimated by comparing individuals’ addresses at the beginning and end of a given period. The Canada Child Tax Benefit and T1 Family File are the primary data sources used. Address quality and coverage of more mobile subpopulations are crucial to producing high-quality estimates. The purpose of this article is to present the results of evaluations of these elements using access to more tax data sources at Statistics Canada.

    Release date: 2016-03-24
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