Analysis

Description:

This study takes a look at the modelling methods used for public health data. Public health has a renewed interest in the impact of the environment on health. Ecological or contextual studies ideally investigate these relationships using public health data augmented with environmental characteristics in multilevel or hierarchical models. In these models, individual respondents in health data are the first level and community data are the second level. Most public health data use complex sample survey designs, which require analyses accounting for the clustering, nonresponse, and poststratification to obtain representative estimates of prevalence of health risk behaviours.

This study uses the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), a state-specific US health risk factor surveillance system conducted by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, which assesses health risk factors in over 200,000 adults annually. BRFSS data are now available at the metropolitan statistical area (MSA) level and provide quality health information for studies of environmental effects. MSA-level analyses combining health and environmental data are further complicated by joint requirements of the survey sample design and the multilevel analyses.

We compare three modelling methods in a study of physical activity and selected environmental factors using BRFSS 2000 data. Each of the methods described here is a valid way to analyse complex sample survey data augmented with environmental information, although each accounts for the survey design and multilevel data structure in a different manner and is thus appropriate for slightly different research questions.

Description:

The objective of this study was to analyse the influence of community on individual health. The new Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) was used to derive individual health variables for Canadian residents aged 18 or older while community-level data were obtained from the Canadian 1996 Census of Population. Weighted logistic multilevel models and principal component analysis were used to analyse these data. After controlling for individual variables, there was little variation between communities. However, the influence of the community was more important for people with low family income than those with higher income.

Description:

This paper examines the simulation study that was conducted to assess the sampling scheme designed for the World Health Organization (WHO) Injection Safety Assessment Survey. The objective of this assessment survey is to determine whether facilities in which injections are given meet the necessary safety requirements for injection administration, equipment, supplies and waste disposal. The main parameter of interest is the proportion of health care facilities in a country that have safe injection practices.

The objective of this simulation study was to assess the accuracy and precision of the proposed sampling design. To this end, two artificial populations were created based on the two African countries of Niger and Burkina Faso, in which the pilot survey was tested. To create a wide variety of hypothetical populations, the assignment of whether a health care facility was safe or not was based on the different combinations of the population proportion of safe health care facilities in the country, the homogeneity of the districts in the country with respect to injection safety, and whether the health care facility was located in an urban or rural district.

Using the results of the simulation, a multi-factor analysis of variance was used to determine which factors affect the outcome measures of absolute bias, standard error and mean-squared error.

Description:

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second cause of cancer deaths in Canada. Randomized controlled trials (RCT) have shown the efficacy of screening using faecal occult blood tests (FOBT). A comprehensive evaluation of the costs and consequences of CRC screening for the Canadian population is required before implementing such a program. This paper evaluates whether or not the CRC screening is cost-effective. The results of these simulations will be provided to the Canadian National Committee on Colorectal Cancer Screening to help formulate national policy recommendations for CRC screening.

Statistics Canada's Population Health Microsimulation Model was updated to incorporate a comprehensive CRC screening module based on Canadian data and RCT efficacy results. The module incorporated sensitivity and specificity of FOBT and colonoscopy, participation rates, incidence, staging, diagnostic and therapeutic options, disease progression, mortality and direct health care costs for different screening scenarios. Reproducing the mortality reduction observed in the Funen screening trial validated the model.

Description:

Categorical outcomes, such as binary, ordinal and nominal responses, occur often in survey research. Logistic regression investigates the relationship between such categorical responses variables and a set of explanatory variables. The LOGISTIC procedure can be used to perform a logistic analysis on data from a random sample. However, this approach is not valid if the data come from other sample designs, such as complex survey designs with stratification, clustering and/or unequal weighting. In these cases, specialized techniques must be applied in order to produce the appropriate estimates and standard errors.

The SURVEYLOGISTIC procedure, experimental in Version 9, brings logistic regression for survey data to the SAS System and delivers much of the functionality of the LOGISTIC procedure. This paper describes the methodological approach and applications for this new software.

Description:

Some of the most commonly used statistical models are fitted using maximum likelihood (ML) or some extension of ML. Stata's ML command provides researchers and data analysts with a tool to develop estimation commands to fit their models using their data. Such models may include multiple equations, clustered observations, sampling weights and other survey design characteristics. These elements are discussed in this paper.

Description:

In 1997, the US Office of Management and Budget issued revised standards for the collection of race information within the federal statistical system. One revision allows individuals to choose more than one race group when responding to federal surveys and other federal data collections. This change presents challenges for analyses that involve data collected under both the old and new race-reporting systems, since the data on race are not comparable. The following paper discusses the problems encountered by these changes and methods developed to overcome them.

Since most people under both systems report only a single race, a common proposed solution is to try to bridge the transition by assigning a single-race category to each multiple-race reporter under the new system, and to conduct analyses using just the observed and assigned single-race categories. Thus, the problem can be viewed as a missing-data problem, in which single-race responses are missing for multiple-race reporters and needing to be imputed.

The US Office of Management and Budget suggested several simple bridging methods to handle this missing-data problem. Schenker and Parker (Statistics in Medicine, forthcoming) analysed data from the National Health Interview Survey of the US National Center for Health Statistics, which allows multiple-race reporting but also asks multiple-race reporters to specify a primary race, and found that improved bridging methods could result from incorporating individual-level and contextual covariates into the bridging models.

While Schenker and Parker discussed only three large multiple-race groups, the current application requires predicting single-race categories for several small multiple-race groups as well. Thus, problems of sparse data arise in fitting the bridging models. We address these problems by building combined models for several multiple-race groups, thus borrowing strength across them. These and other methodological issues are discussed.

Description:

Although the use of school vouchers is growing in the developing world, the impact of vouchers is an open question. Any sort of long-term assessment of this activity is rare. This paper estimates the long-term effect of Colombia's PACES program, which provided over 125,000 poor children with vouchers that covered half the cost of private secondary school.

The PACES program presents an unusual opportunity to assess the effect of demand-side education financing in a Latin American country where private schools educate a substantial proportion of pupils. The program is of special interest because many vouchers were assigned by lottery, so program effects can be reliably assessed.

We use administrative records to assess the long-term impact of PACES vouchers on high school graduation status and test scores. The principal advantage of administrative records is that there is no loss-to-follow-up and the data are much cheaper than a costly and potentially dangerous survey effort. On the other hand, individual ID numbers may be inaccurate, complicating record linkage, and selection bias contaminates the sample of test-takers. We discuss solutions to these problems. The results suggest that the program increased secondary school completion rates, and that college-entrance test scores were higher for lottery winners than losers.

Description:

The census data are widely used in the distribution and targeting of resources at national, regional and local levels. In the United Kingdom (UK), a population census is conducted every 10 years. As time elapses, the census data become outdated and less relevant, thus making the distribution of resources less equitable. This paper examines alternative methods in rectifying this.

A number of small area methods have been developed for producing postcensal estimates, including the Structural Preserving Estimation technique as a result of Purcell and Kish (1980). This paper develops an alternative approach that is based on a linear mixed modelling approach to producing postcensal estimates. The validity of the methodology is tested on simulated data from the Finnish population register and the technique is applied to producing updated estimates for a number of the 1991 UK census variables.

Description:

Nearly all surveys use complex sampling designs to collect data and these data are frequently used for statistical analyses beyond the estimation of simple descriptive parameters of the target population. Many procedures available in popular statistical software packages are not appropriate for this purpose because the analyses are based on the assumption that the sample has been drawn with simple random sampling. Therefore, the results of the analyses conducted using these software packages would not be valid when the sample design incorporates multistage sampling, stratification, or clustering. Two commonly used methods for analysing data from complex surveys are replication and Taylor linearization techniques. We discuss the use of WESVAR software to compute estimates and replicate variance estimates by properly reflecting complex sampling and estimation procedures. We also illustrate the WESVAR features by using data from two Westat surveys that employ complex survey designs: the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).

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 details the prevalence of vitamin D inadequacy among the Canadian population aged 3 to 79 by focusing on risk factors as well as behaviours that can reduce the likelihood of low vitamin D.

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 provides insights into the rates of COVID-19 mortality among First Nations peoples and Métis living in private dwellings and the social determinants of COVID-19 mortality among these populations using data from the 2016 Canadian Census Health and Environment Cohorts linked to the Canadian Vital Statistics – Death Database from 2016 to 2021.

Description: This short video explains how it can be very effective for all levels of governments and organizations that serve communities to use disaggregated data to make evidence-informed public policy decisions. By using disaggregated data, policymakers are able to design more appropriate and effective policies that meet the needs of each diverse and unique Canadian.

Description: This short video explains how the use of disaggregated data can help policymakers to develop more targeted and effective policies by identifying the unique needs and challenges faced by different demographic groups.

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 is the first main release by Statistics Canada based on findings from the 2022 Canadian Survey on Disability (CSD). It is divided into three sections—demographics, employment, and income—and provides a general snapshot on persons with disabilities to inform on government priorities and community interest in the areas of disability prevalence, labour market participation, and income inequality. Where possible, the report will be compared with results from the 2017 CSD to provide insight into changes over the past five years.

Description: Using data from the 2021 Census, this study investigates the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on racialized workers, focusing on the change in median employment income from 2019 to 2020, and the extent to which payments from the Canada Emergency Response Benefit offset income losses in 2020 among workers affected by the pandemic. Differences between racialized and non-racialized workers are investigated, along with differences among groups of racialized workers, as well as the intersectionality of race and gender.

Description: With an increase in the number of international students and a greater need for affordable housing, questions have arisen about international students housing experiences. This article examines international students’ prevalence of living in unsuitable housing across municipalities enumerated in the 2021 Census of Population long-form questionnaire. The report also presents the rates of unsuitable housing for international students from different source countries and provides comparisons with Canadian-born students.

Description: Selecting immigrants with high levels of education increases their chances of economic success. Immigrants with a bachelor’s degree or higher are more adaptable to changes in the labour market and have steeper growth in employment earnings than those with a trades or high school education. However, many immigrants with a bachelor’s degree or higher have occupations that underutilize their skills, which can reduce their employment income, productivity and well-being. This article updates previously documented trends in education–occupation mismatch with census data from 2001 to 2021.

Description: It is well documented that earnings vary considerably by population group (White, Black, Latin American, etc.). One of the possible reasons may be the fact that educational attainment also varies considerably by population group. Currently, there is a lack of information on the educational pathways of individuals from various population groups who began a postsecondary education program. This article fills this gap by documenting various aspects of the postsecondary experience of different population groups with regard to bachelor’s degree programs.

Description: The impact of immigration on the destination country is contingent not only on the number of immigrants admitted but also on how many of them choose to stay and actively engage in the labour market. This article analyzes the active presence of adult immigrants since the 1990s. Active presence refers to the extent to which immigrants who were admitted to Canada during a specific period actively engage in Canadian society within a specific timeframe.

Description: Headline inflation in Canada reached a 40-year high in 2022. Rising prices reduced the purchasing power of people whose incomes were not keeping pace with inflation and the current high inflation in Canada, as well as in many other countries, may be caused by both demand and supply factors. This article examines whether the current high inflation in Canada is demand–pull or supply–push.

Description: The pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on the Canadian economy. This impact was uneven across different workers and businesses. However, there is little information available on how businesses were affected by and survived through the pandemic according to the characteristics of their owners, especially those owned by certain groups such as women and immigrants. This article uses a linkage of the monthly business openings and closures with the Canadian Employer-Employee Dynamics Database and the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy to study the survival rate and employment growth of businesses by gender, and immigrant status of owners.

Description: This technical paper describes the collection of food price data and the methodologies that are used to provide Canadians with accurate and timely food inflation data in both the CPI and the monthly average retail prices table.

Description: This article explores trends in patent applications made by Canadian-resident businesses for advanced technologies from 2001 to 2019, drawing on Eurostat's aggregation of high-tech patents. Approximately one-third of applications fall under high-tech categories, the bulk of which were associated with Communication, Computer, and Automated business equipment technologies. While these fields saw growth until 2012, a subsequent decline occurred, notably in Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing. Biotechnology, Semiconductors, and Lasers showed limited dynamism, while aviation technology applications surged by nearly twentyfold over the period.

Description:

A quarterly newsletter designed to keep data users and other interested persons broadly informed about the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics. It provides updates on survey developments and issues as they arise. Every issue also includes a brief description of newly released documents in the SLID research paper series.

Description:

The purpose of this report is to reduce the level of confusion arising from the use of crime data originating from two very different sources (i.e., the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey - UCR and the General Social Survey - GSS) and to inform discussions about which is the better measure of crime. It explains why the findings based on these data sources diverge and summarizes the major differences between the two surveys.