Analysis

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This paper provides detailed information on public, private, domestic and foreign sources of funding for Canadian health research.

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This paper presents an index of specialization (the location quotient) for Canada's 50 largest communities. It also presents the initial analysis comparing changes in specialization in selected high-technology industries with changes in employment in these communities.

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This document provides an overview of currently available data on federal government support for scientific activities by industry groups. The statistics presented are derived from government listings of the recipients of federal payments made in connection with scientific activity from1997/98 to 2001/02.

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Survey statisticians have long known that the question-answer process is a source of response effects that contribute to non-random measurement error. In the past two decades there has been substantial progress toward understanding these sources of error by applying concepts from social and cognitive psychology to the study of the question-answer process. This essay reviews the development of these approaches, discusses the present state of our knowledge, and suggests some research priorities for the future.

Description:

In survey sampling, Taylor linearization is often used to obtain variance estimators for calibration estimators of totals and nonlinear finite population (or census) parameters, such as ratios, regression and correlation coefficients, which can be expressed as smooth functions of totals. Taylor linearization is generally applicable to any sampling design, but it can lead to multiple variance estimators that are asymptotically design unbiased under repeated sampling. The choice among the variance estimators requires other considerations such as (i) approximate unbiasedness for the model variance of the estimator under an assumed model, (ii) validity under a conditional repeated sampling framework. In this paper, a new approach to deriving Taylor linearization variance estimators is proposed. It leads directly to a variance estimator which satisfies the above considerations at least in a number of important cases. The method is applied to a variety of problems, covering estimators of a total as well as other estimators defined either explicitly or implicitly as solutions of estimating equations. In particular, estimators of logistic regression parameters with calibration weights are studied. It leads to a new variance estimator for a general class of calibration estimators that includes generalized raking ratio and generalized regression estimators. The proposed method is extended to two-phase sampling to obtain a variance estimator that makes fuller use of the first phase sample data compared to traditional linearization variance estimators.

Description:

In the U.S. Census of Population and Housing, a sample of about one-in-six of the households receives a longer version of the census questionnaire called the long form. All others receive a version called the short form. Raking, using selected control totals from the short form, has been used to create two sets of weights for long form estimation; one for individuals and one for households. We describe a weight construction method based on quadratic programming that produces household weights such that the weighted sum for individual characteristics and for household characteristics agree closely with selected short form totals. The method is broadly applicable to situations where weights are to be constructed to meet both size bounds and sum-to-control restrictions. Application to the situation where the controls are estimates with an estimated covariance matrix is described.

Description:

The weighting cell estimator corrects for unit nonresponse by dividing the sample into homogeneous groups (cells) and applying a ratio correction to the respondents within each cell. Previous studies of the statistical properties of weighting cell estimators have assumed that these cells correspond to known population cells with homogeneous characteristics. In this article, we study the properties of the weighting cell estimator under a response probability model that does not require correct specification of homogeneous population cells. Instead, we assume that the response probabilities are a smooth but otherwise unspecified function of a known auxiliary variable. Under this more general model, we study the robustness of the weighting cell estimator against model misspecification. We show that, even when the population cells are unknown, the estimator is consistent with respect to the sampling design and the response model. We describe the effect of the number of weighting cells on the asymptotic properties of the estimator. Simulation experiments explore the finite sample properties of the estimator. We conclude with some guidance on how to select the size and number of cells for practical implementation of weighting cell estimation when those cells cannot be specified a priori.

Description:

When imputation is used to assign values for missing items in sample surveys, naïve methods of estimating the variances of survey estimates that treat the imputed values as if they were observed give biased variance estimates. This article addresses the problem of variance estimation for a linear estimator in which missing values are assigned by a single hot deck imputation (a form of imputation that is widely used in practice). We propose estimators of the variance of a linear hot deck imputed estimator using a decomposition of the total variance suggested by Särndal (1992). A conditional approach to variance estimation is developed that is applicable to both weighted and unweighted hot deck imputation. Estimation of the variance of a domain estimator is also examined.

Description:

One of the main objectives of a sample survey is the computation of estimates of means and totals for specific domains of interest. Domains are determined either before the survey is carried out (primary domains) or after it has been carried out (secondary domains). The reliability of the associated estimates depends on the variability of the sample size as well as on the y-variables of interest. This variability cannot be controlled in the absence of auxiliary information for subgroups of the population. However, if auxiliary information is available, the estimated reliability of the resulting estimates can be controlled to some extent. In this paper, we study the potential improvements in terms of the reliability of domain estimates that use auxiliary information. The properties (bias, coverage, efficiency) of various estimators that use auxiliary information are compared using a conditional approach.

Description:

This article studies the use of the sample distribution for the prediction of finite population totals under single-stage sampling. The proposed predictors employ the sample values of the target study variable, the sampling weights of the sample units and possibly known population values of auxiliary variables. The prediction problem is solved by estimating the expectation of the study values for units outside the sample as a function of the corresponding expectation under the sample distribution and the sampling weights. The prediction mean square error is estimated by a combination of an inverse sampling procedure and a re-sampling method. An interesting outcome of the present analysis is that several familiar estimators in common use are shown to be special cases of the proposed approach, thus providing them a new interpretation. The performance of the new and some old predictors in common use is evaluated and compared by a Monte Carlo simulation study using a real data set.

Description: Release published in The Daily – Statistics Canada’s official release bulletin

Description: Release published in The Daily – Statistics Canada’s official release bulletin

Description: Release published in The Daily – Statistics Canada’s official release bulletin

Description: Release published in The Daily – Statistics Canada’s official release bulletin

Description: This infographic focuses on innovation and business strategy in Canada, based on data from the 2022 Survey of Innovation and Business Strategy. It presents the long-term strategy for innovative businesses and non-innovative businesses, the innovation rate and intellectual property(IP) ownership for multinational businesses and non-multinational businesses, the competition, and the skill shortages in Canadian businesses.

Description: Release published in The Daily – Statistics Canada’s official release bulletin

Description: Release published in The Daily – Statistics Canada’s official release bulletin

Description: Are you feeling like it's a little bit harder to bring home the bacon... from the grocery store? The latest data indicate that food prices have mostly stabilized... but why does it feel like the cost of feeding your family is still going up? Today, we're talking food inflation with StatCan's resident smart cookie Taylor Mitchell.

Description: Release published in The Daily – Statistics Canada’s official release bulletin

Description: Release published in The Daily – Statistics Canada’s official release bulletin

Description: This article aims to improve the statistical measurement of the gig economy by defining the three core concepts of gig work, digital platform employment and dependent self-employment and provides estimates of the three phenomena using data from supplements to the Labour Force Survey (LFS).

Description: This article describes the reasons why updates (revisions) are made to Canada's GDP estimates. It provides an overview of the way that the monthly, quarterly, and annual GDP products are revised as more comprehensive data and better statistical methods are used to compile the statistics.

Description: This article provides a profile of official language minority owned businesses who received federal business innovation and growth support to better understand their demographics and business characteristics, including the age and gender of the owners, the business size and its revenues, the geography of operations, the level of support received, and the distribution of businesses across industries.

Description: This paper presents a profile of Canadian women inventors who patent in Canada, based on a rigorous matching methodology and a comprehensive linked dataset that allows examination of not only patent applications, but also various demographic and business characteristics associated with inventors. Using data on patent applications from the Canadian Intellectual Property Office, linked to the Canadian Employer–Employee Dynamics Database from 2005 to 2019, this research seeks to answer the following questions: Who are the women inventors in Canada? What are their demographic characteristics? In what types of businesses do they work? How many are entrepreneurs?

Description: Becoming a citizen can bring benefits to both immigrants and receiving countries. For instance, obtaining citizenship grants immigrants the right to vote and allows them to have political influence. Additionally, it can enhance immigrants’ economic opportunities. This article examines the trends in citizenship rates among recent immigrants who have been in Canada for five to nine years, based on census data from 1991 to 2021. It also examines the possible impact of COVID-19 on the most recent trend in citizenship rates.

Description: Given the large differences in educational attainment observed across non-Indigenous population groups in Canada, understanding when these differences emerge and what may explain them is an important first step in informing policy discussions on the issue. Using the British Columbia kindergarten to Grade 12 dataset, the Postsecondary Student Information System, the 2016 Census of Population, and the T1 Family File tax data, this study follows several cohorts of Grade 9 students in British Columbia over time to explore differences between population groups, by gender, in the probability and timing of high school graduation and enrolment in academic postsecondary programs.

Description: Several factors may have contributed to the improved labour market outcomes for recent immigrants since the mid-2010s, such as the expansion of the two-step immigration selection process and the introduction of the Express Entry system in 2015. This article presents updated analyses regarding the employment and earnings outcomes of recent immigrants. It also discusses factors that might influence these outcomes in the near term.

Description: This Juristat article presents data and information on reconvictions among adults released from full-time custody, starting an intermittent custodial sentence, or starting a community supervision sentence across five provincial correctional programs in 2015/2016. Reconvictions were examined for up to four years, from 2015/2016 to 2018/2019. Findings are disaggregated by age, gender, criminal history and population group, including Indigenous, Black and other racialized groups. This study is based on linked data from the Canadian Correctional Services Survey, Integrated Criminal Court Survey and Canadian Vital Statistics - Death database.

Description: This paper contributes to the understanding of the investment slowdown in Canada by focusing on the role of intangibles and competition. While this paper focuses on the role of intangibles and competition in the investment slowdown, it also examines several other firm-specific factors that may be related to investment and its slowdown. These factors include firm leverage, defined as the debt-to-asset ratio; the factors related to financial constraints, measured by the retained earnings-to-asset ratio and profit-to-asset ratio; and firm size.

Description: This discussion paper begins by providing the reasons for why equivalization methods are used. Following this, the square root scale is described and the motivations for using the square root scale are discussed. Third, a series of new tests are conducted to evaluate the efficiency of the square root scale, and these results are discussed in some detail as they reveal many insights. The final section of the paper raises considerations for creating Market Basket Measure (MBM) thresholds for different types of families, such as unattached individuals and those including seniors or persons with disabilities.

The paper also provides an opportunity for the public and stakeholders to share feedback and comments in measuring poverty by different family characteristics in Canada.

Description: Every year, Statistics Canada collects data from hundreds of surveys. As the amount of data gathered increases, Statistics Canada has introduced infographics to help people, business owners, academics, and management at all levels, understand key information derived from the data. Infographics can be used to quickly communicate a message, to simplify the presentation of large amounts of data, to see data patterns and relationships, and to monitor changes in variables over time.

These infographics will provide a quick overview of Statistics Canada survey data.

Description: The Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series provides for the circulation of research conducted by Analytical Studies Branch staff and collaborators. The Series is intended to stimulate discussion on a variety of topics, such as labour, immigration, education and skills, income mobility, well-being, aging, firm dynamics, productivity, economic transitions, and economic geography. Readers of the Series are encouraged to contact the authors with their comments and suggestions. All the papers in the Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series go through institutional and peer review to ensure that they conform to Statistics Canada's mandate as a governmental statistical agency and adhere to generally accepted standards of good professional practice.

Description: The ‘Eh Sayers’ podcast explores data of interest to Canadians, like social or news-worthy topics. It also aims to foster data literacy and deliver insight into the lives of Canadians by exploring the data the agency produces and tying it to real life situations through storytelling.

Description: This publication provides insights on housing data and analysis at Statistics Canada. Readers can access in-depth information on the latest housing data released by the Agency. The series relies on both descriptive and analytical methods to analyze administrative and survey data sets that relate to housing.

Description: The papers published in the Analysis in Brief analytical series shed light on current economic issues. Aimed at a general audience, they cover a wide range of topics including National Accounts, business enterprises, trade, transportation, agriculture, the environment, manufacturing, science and technology, services, etc.

Description: This series provides detailed documentation on income developments, including survey design issues, data quality evaluation and exploratory research.

Description: This publication provides in-depth analysis and detailed statistics on a variety of topics and issues related to justice and public safety. Topics include crime, victimization, homicide, civil, family and criminal courts, and correctional services. Issues related to community safety, and perceptions of safety are also covered. The publication is intended for those with an interest in Canada's justice and public safety systems as well as those who plan, establish, administer and evaluate programs and projects related to justice and public safety.

Description: Reports on Special Business Projects is an occasional series that focuses primarily on the results of special surveys or special projects conducted by the Centre for Special Business Projects. The reports cover a wide range of topics, which include business performance and trends, custom tabulations of business data, economic impact studies, new measurement frameworks and indicators to support program development, monitoring and performance assessment, territorial economic indicators and other special studies.

Description: Economic and Social Reports includes in-depth research, brief analyses, and current economic updates on a variety of topics, such as labour, immigration, education and skills, income mobility, well-being, aging, firm dynamics, productivity, economic transitions, and economic geography. All the papers are institutionally reviewed and the research and analytical papers undergo peer review to ensure that they conform to Statistics Canada's mandate as a governmental statistical agency and adhere to generally accepted standards of good professional practice.

Description: Statistics Canada produces videos that present key communications messages to multiple publics in an easy-to-understand way. As a communications tool, they make complex information and ideas easy to interpret by telling a visual story. Statistics Canada has videos on a variety of topics.