Analysis

Description:

Postsecondary students finance their education in a variety of ways, including employment income, savings, family support, scholarships, and loans from government and private sources. This Canadian Social Trends article discusses student loans: not the most frequently used form of financial support for students, but an important source for those who do borrow.

Description:

This multivariate statistical analysis, which captures the number of prior police contacts of young people apprehended by the police, uses longitudinally linked records from the Incident-Based Uniform Crime Reporting Survey for 1995 to 2001.

Description:

Linearization (or Taylor series) methods are widely used to estimate standard errors for the co-efficients of linear regression models fit to multi-stage samples. When the number of primary sampling units (PSUs) is large, linearization can produce accurate standard errors under quite general conditions. However, when the number of PSUs is small or a co-efficient depends primarily on data from a small number of PSUs, linearization estimators can have large negative bias.

In this paper, we characterize features of the design matrix that produce large bias in linearization standard errors for linear regression co-efficients. We then propose a new method, bias reduced linearization (BRL), based on residuals adjusted to better approximate the covariance of the true errors. When the errors are independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.), the BRL estimator is unbiased for the variance. Furthermore, a simulation study shows that BRL can greatly reduce the bias, even if the errors are not i.i.d. We also propose using a Satterthwaite approximation to determine the degrees of freedom of the reference distribution for tests and confidence intervals about linear combinations of co-efficients based on the BRL estimator. We demonstrate that the jackknife estimator also tends to be biased in situations where linearization is biased. However, the jackknife's bias tends to be positive. Our bias-reduced linearization estimator can be viewed as a compromise between the traditional linearization and jackknife estimators.

Description:

In this paper, we discuss the analysis of complex health survey data by using multivariate modelling techniques. Main interests are in various design-based and model-based methods that aim at accounting for the design complexities, including clustering, stratification and weighting. Methods covered include generalized linear modelling based on pseudo-likelihood and generalized estimating equations, linear mixed models estimated by restricted maximum likelihood, and hierarchical Bayes techniques using Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods. The methods will be compared empirically, using data from an extensive health interview and examination survey conducted in Finland in 2000 (Health 2000 Study).

The data of the Health 2000 Study were collected using personal interviews, questionnaires and clinical examinations. A stratified two-stage cluster sampling design was used in the survey. The sampling design involved positive intra-cluster correlation for many study variables. For a closer investigation, we selected a small number of study variables from the health interview and health examination phases. In many cases, the different methods produced similar numerical results and supported similar statistical conclusions. Methods that failed to account for the design complexities sometimes led to conflicting conclusions. We also discuss the application of the methods in this paper by using standard statistical software products.

Description:

In this paper, we consider the effect of the interval censoring of cessation time on intensity parameter estimation with regard to smoking cessation and pregnancy. The three waves of the National Population Health Survey allow the methodology of event history analysis to be applied to smoking initiation, cessation and relapse. One issue of interest is the relationship between smoking cessation and pregnancy. If a longitudinal respondent who is a smoker at the first cycle ceases smoking by the second cycle, we know the cessation time to within an interval of length at most a year, since the respondent is asked for the age at which she stopped smoking, and her date of birth is known. We also know whether she is pregnant at the time of the second cycle, and whether she has given birth since the time of the first cycle. For many such subjects, we know the date of conception to within a relatively small interval. If we knew the time of smoking cessation and pregnancy period exactly for each member who experienced one or other of these events between cycles, we could model their temporal relationship through their joint intensities.

Description:

This paper explores the relationship between low income and prevalence of asthma. The genetic and environmental determinants are incompletely understood. It has been observed in a previous study that Canadians with low incomes are at increased risk of asthma. Based on data from 17,605 subjects 12 years of age or older who participated in the first cycle of the National Population Health Survey (NPHS) from 1994 to 1995, males and females with low incomes had 1.44- and 1.33-fold increases, respectively, in the prevalence of asthma compared with their counterparts with high incomes. However, there was no significant difference observed between middle and high income categories. Therefore, it is not clear if there is a more systematic relationship between income adequacy and asthma occurrence. A much larger sample size of the second cycle of the NPHS allowed us to further explore if the prevalence of asthma increases with decreasing income adequacy among Canadians.

Description:

In this highly technical paper, we illustrate the application of the delete-a-group jack-knife variance estimator approach to a particular complex multi-wave longitudinal study, demonstrating its utility for linear regression and other analytic models. The delete-a-group jack-knife variance estimator is proving a very useful tool for measuring variances under complex sampling designs. This technique divides the first-phase sample into mutually exclusive and nearly equal variance groups, deletes one group at a time to create a set of replicates and makes analogous weighting adjustments in each replicate to those done for the sample as a whole. Variance estimation proceeds in the standard (unstratified) jack-knife fashion.

Our application is to the Chicago Health and Aging Project (CHAP), a community-based longitudinal study examining risk factors for chronic health problems of older adults. A major aim of the study is the investigation of risk factors for incident Alzheimer's disease. The current design of CHAP has two components: (1) Every three years, all surviving members of the cohort are interviewed on a variety of health-related topics. These interviews include cognitive and physical function measures. (2) At each of these waves of data collection, a stratified Poisson sample is drawn from among the respondents to the full population interview for detailed clinical evaluation and neuropsychological testing. To investigate risk factors for incident disease, a 'disease-free' cohort is identified at the preceding time point and forms one major stratum in the sampling frame.

We provide proofs of the theoretical applicability of the delete-a-group jack-knife for particular estimators under this Poisson design, paying needed attention to the distinction between finite-population and infinite-population (model) inference. In addition, we examine the issue of determining the 'right number' of variance groups.

Description:

This paper will describe the multiple imputation of income in the National Health Interview Survey and discuss the methodological issues involved. In addition, the paper will present empirical summaries of the imputations as well as results of a Monte Carlo evaluation of inferences based on multiply imputed income items.

Analysts of health data are often interested in studying relationships between income and health. The National Health Interview Survey, conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, provides a rich source of data for studying such relationships. However, the nonresponse rates on two key income items, an individual's earned income and a family's total income, are over 20%. Moreover, these nonresponse rates appear to be increasing over time. A project is currently underway to multiply impute individual earnings and family income along with some other covariates for the National Health Interview Survey in 1997 and subsequent years.

There are many challenges in developing appropriate multiple imputations for such large-scale surveys. First, there are many variables of different types, with different skip patterns and logical relationships. Second, it is not known what types of associations will be investigated by the analysts of multiply imputed data. Finally, some variables, such as family income, are collected at the family level and others, such as earned income, are collected at the individual level. To make the imputations for both the family- and individual-level variables conditional on as many predictors as possible, and to simplify modelling, we are using a modified version of the sequential regression imputation method described in Raghunathan et al. ( Survey Methodology, 2001).

Besides issues related to the hierarchical nature of the imputations just described, there are other methodological issues of interest such as the use of transformations of the income variables, the imposition of restrictions on the values of variables, the general validity of sequential regression imputation and, even more generally, the validity of multiple-imputation inferences for surveys with complex sample designs.

Description:

Missing data are a constant problem in large-scale surveys. Such incompleteness is usually dealt with either by restricting the analysis to the cases with complete records or by imputing, for each missing item, an efficiently estimated value. The deficiencies of these approaches will be discussed in this paper, especially in the context of estimating a large number of quantities. The main part of the paper will describe two examples of analyses using multiple imputation.

In the first, the International Labour Organization (ILO) employment status is imputed in the British Labour Force Survey by a Bayesian bootstrap method. It is an adaptation of the hot-deck method, which seeks to fully exploit the auxiliary information. Important auxiliary information is given by the previous ILO status, when available, and the standard demographic variables.

Missing data can be interpreted more generally, as in the framework of the expectation maximization (EM) algorithm. The second example is from the Scottish House Condition Survey, and its focus is on the inconsistency of the surveyors. The surveyors assess the sampled dwelling units on a large number of elements or features of the dwelling, such as internal walls, roof and plumbing, that are scored and converted to a summarizing 'comprehensive repair cost.' The level of inconsistency is estimated from the discrepancies between the pairs of assessments of doubly surveyed dwellings. The principal research questions concern the amount of information that is lost as a result of the inconsistency and whether the naive estimators that ignore the inconsistency are unbiased. The problem is solved by multiple imputation, generating plausible scores for all the dwellings in the survey.

Description:

In the United States, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) is linked to the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) at the primary sampling unit level (the same counties, but not necessarily the same persons, are in both surveys). The NHANES examines about 5,000 persons per year, while the NHIS samples about 100,000 persons per year. In this paper, we present and develop properties of models that allow NHIS and administrative data to be used as auxiliary information for estimating quantities of interest in the NHANES. The methodology, related to Fay-Herriot (1979) small-area models and to calibration estimators in Deville and Sarndal (1992), accounts for the survey designs in the error structure.

Description:

Gross domestic expenditures on research and development (GERD) represents total R&D expenditures performed in a country's national territory during a given year.

Description:

Since the late seventies, 25 to 29 year-olds with only a secondary school education have had more difficulty finding employment, and much more difficulty obtaining well-paid work. A glance at the changes over time in the labour market "success" of 25 to 29 year-old secondary school graduates.

Description:

Following normal practice, the annual revision of the National Economic and Financial Accounts has been carried out and the revised estimates have been released along with those for the first quarter of 1995. This annual revision of the different parts of the System of National Accounts is an integrated process, with revised estimates of the Income and Expenditure Accounts, Financial Flow Accounts and the Balance of International Payments being released simultaneously. Corresponding revisions to the monthly estimates of gross domestic product (GDP), by industry and to the Input-Output Accounts at current and constant prices will be completed in August.

Description:

A comparison of the employment characteristics of women born in the early years of the baby boom with those of women born in the later years.

Description:

There has been growing interest in recent years about the scope of tourism in Canada. In response to this demand for information, Statistics Canada has developed a Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) which provides some answers to questions such as: Which industries constitute 'the tourism industry'? What are the industry's gross domestic product (GDP) and employment rates? And what is the extent of tourism-related expenditures?

This article reports on the research that Statistics Canada has undertaken as part of an ongoing examination of the tourism industry.

Description:

Revised estimates of the Income and Expenditure Accounts (IEA) covering 1990 to 1993 have been released along with the estimates for the first quarter of 1994. These revised estimates reflect the most current source data and seasonal patterns. The annual revision of the different parts of the System of National Accounts is an integrated process. Revised estimates of two other parts of the system, the Balance of International Payments and Financial Flow Accounts, have been released simultaneously. Corresponding revisions to the monthly estimates of the gross domestic product (GDP), by industry and to the Input-Output Accounts at current and constant prices will be available at the end of August.

The first section of this paper reviews the current revisions to the GDP and the main aggregates. The second section analyses the revision patterns of selected income and expenditure aggregates of the GDP over the period 1980 to 1993. For further information on sources, methods and definitions employed in the IE A, refer to the Guide to the Income and Expenditure Accounts, Catalogue no. 13-603E, no. 1.

Description:

Revised estimates of the Income and Expenditure Accounts covering 1989 to 1992 have been released along with the estimates for the first quarter of 1993. These revised estimates reflect the most current source data and seasonal patterns. The annual revision of the different parts of the System of the National Accounts is an integrated process. As such, revised estimates of two other parts of the system -- the Balance of International Payments and Financial Flow Accounts -- have been released simultaneously. Corresponding revisions to the monthly estimates of Gross Domestic Product by Industry and to the Input-Output Accounts at current and constant prices are also available.

Description:

This overview highlights the results from the survey of Work Arrangements.

Description:

A glance at the wage trends of unionized workers over the last 13 years.

Description:

An examination of trends in unemployment rate data as far back as 1921.

Description: The agricultural sector in Canada has relied increasingly on temporary foreign workers (TFWs) to fill the longstanding labour shortage. The number of TFWs in crop production, animal production and aquaculture, and support activities for crop and animal production more than tripled between 2005 and 2020. This study examines the transition to permanent residency (PR) of TFWs in primary agriculture and the retention in the sector among those who obtained PR. The study focuses on TFWs whose first employment was in primary agriculture and who entered the sector between 2005 and 2020.

Description: A key component of Canada’s immigration program is to promote the balanced geographic distribution of immigrants and refugees across Canada. This study asks whether there were significant differences in the economic outcomes of government assisted refugees (GARs), based on the size of the city to which they were designated. The analysis was conducted for both those remaining in the designated cities (stayers) and those moving to other locations (movers).

Description: In recent years, more economic immigrants entered Canada via the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) than through any other immigration program. This article examines differences among provinces in the growth and importance of the PNP and the characteristics of provincial nominees and is part of a series examining various aspects of the PNP. The series discusses the expansion of the program, differences among provinces, provincial retention rates, trends in earnings and the occupations of provincial nominees, both nationally and provincially.

Description: Barriers to important milestones and traditional adulthood transitions have intensified in Canada. Sustained food inflation, elevated housing prices, and increasingly unaffordable rental costs across much of the country are casting a shadow over the middle-class dream for many households—and, in particular, for young families. This article provides an overview of household balance sheets and key financial metrics for young families as they adjust to current market conditions and begin to build financial resilience.

Description: Temporary residents constitute an important supply of labour for the Canadian economy. However, some of them do not work in a given year, even when holding a valid work permit. This article estimates the share of temporary residents who had paid employment but were “weakly attached” to the Canadian labour market in 2019.

Description: Research generally supports the idea that technological change has favoured the demand for workers in occupations requiring higher levels of education and skills and negatively affected employment in occupations requiring lower skill levels. This article assesses the changes over the past two decades in the occupational skill level of employment in Canada, with a focus on the role of immigration in the changing occupational structure.

Description: Record linkage aims at identifying record pairs related to the same unit and observed in two different data sets, say A and B. Fellegi and Sunter (1969) suggest each record pair is tested whether generated from the set of matched or unmatched pairs. The decision function consists of the ratio between m(y) and u(y),probabilities of observing a comparison y of a set of k>3 key identifying variables in a record pair under the assumptions that the pair is a match or a non-match, respectively. These parameters are usually estimated by means of the EM algorithm using as data the comparisons on all the pairs of the Cartesian product ?=A×B. These observations (on the comparisons and on the pairs status as match or non-match) are assumed as generated independently of other pairs, assumption characterizing most of the literature on record linkage and implemented in software tools (e.g. RELAIS, Cibella et al. 2012). On the contrary, comparisons y and matching status in ? are deterministically dependent. As a result, estimates on m(y) and u(y) based on the EM algorithm are usually bad. This fact jeopardizes the effective application of the Fellegi-Sunter method, as well as automatic computation of quality measures and possibility to apply efficient methods for model estimation on linked data (e.g. regression functions), as in Chambers et al. (2015). We propose to explore ? by a set of samples, each one drawn so to preserve independence of comparisons among the selected record pairs. Simulations are encouraging.

Description: The authors used the Splink probabilistic linkage package developed by the UK Ministry of Justice, to link census data from England and Wales to itself to find duplicate census responses. A large gold standard of confirmed census duplicates was available meaning that the results of the Splink implementation could be quality assured. This paper describes the implementation and features of Splink, gives details of the settings and parameters that we used to tune Splink for our particular project, and gives the results that we obtained.

Description: Estimation at fine levels of aggregation is necessary to better describe society. Small area estimation model-based approaches that combine sparse survey data with rich data from auxiliary sources have been proven useful to improve the reliability of estimates for small domains. Considered here is a scenario where small area model-based estimates, produced at a given aggregation level, needed to be disaggregated to better describe the social structure at finer levels. For this scenario, an allocation method was developed to implement the disaggregation, overcoming challenges associated with data availability and model development at such fine levels. The method is applied to adult literacy and numeracy estimation at the county-by-group-level, using data from the U.S. Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies. In this application the groups are defined in terms of age or education, but the method could be applied to estimation of other equity-deserving groups.

Description: In accordance with Statistics Canada’s long-term Disaggregated Data Action Plan (DDAP), several initiatives have been implemented into the Labour Force Survey (LFS). One of the more direct initiatives was a targeted increase in the size of the monthly LFS sample. Furthermore, a regular Supplement program was introduced, where an additional series of questions are asked to a subset of LFS respondents and analyzed in a monthly or quarterly production cycle. Finally, the production of modelled estimates based on Small Area Estimation (SAE) methodologies resumed for the LFS and will include a wider scope with more analytical value than what had existed in the past. This paper will give an overview of these three initiatives.

Description:

This demolinguistic portrait of the French-speaking population in Canada was undertaken with the financial support of Canadian Heritage's Official Languages Secretariat, prepared by the Statistics Canada's Language Statistics Section.

This study paints a general statistical portrait of the official-language minority in Canada based on data from the Census of Population and the Survey on the Vitality of Official-language Minorities in Canada, conducted in 2006. The purpose of such a portrait is to present a set of characteristics, behaviours and perceptions of the official-language minority population, exploiting the analytical opportunities contained in the data.

Description:

The Canadian Economy in Transition is a series of new analytical reports that investigate the dynamics of industrial change in the Canadian economy. Many of these studies focus on the growth and development of industries that are often described as vanguards of the new economy, such as information and communications technology industries and science-based industries (heavy investors in research and development and human capital). Other studies examine the role that knowledge workers play in Canada's industrial evolution. In addition, future studies will investigate productivity performance in different industrial sectors.

This new series brings together a coherent set of research reports that provide users with a wide variety of empirical perspectives on the economy's changing industrial structure. These perspectives include the dynamics of productivity, profitability, employment, output, investment, occupational structure and industrial geography.

Description:

The Economic Analysis Research Paper Series provides the circulation of research conducted by the staff of National Accounts and Analytical Studies, visiting fellows and academic associates. The research paper series is meant to stimulate discussion on a range of topics including the impact of the new economy; productivity issues; firm profitability; technology usage; the effect of financing on firm growth; depreciation functions; the use of satellite accounts; savings rates; leasing; firm dynamics; hedonic estimations; diversification patterns; investment patterns; the differences in the performance of small and large, or domestic and multinational firms; and purchasing power parity estimates. Readers of the series are encouraged to contact the authors with comments, criticisms and suggestions.

The primary distribution medium for the papers is the Internet. These papers can be downloaded from the Internet at www.statcan.gc.ca for free. Papers in the series are distributed to Statistics Canada Regional Offices and provincial statistical focal points.

All papers in the Economic Analysis Series go through institutional and peer review to ensure that they conform to Statistics Canada's mandate as a government statistical agency and adhere to generally accepted standards of good professional practice.

The papers in the series often include results derived from multivariate analysis or other statistical techniques. It should be recognized that the results of these analyses are subject to uncertainty in the reported estimates.

The level of uncertainty will depend on several factors: the nature of the functional form used in the multivariate analysis; the type of econometric technique employed; the appropriateness of the statistical assumptions embedded in the model or technique; the comprehensiveness of the variables included in the analysis; and the accuracy of the data that are utilized. The peer group review process is meant to ensure that the papers in the series have followed accepted standards to minimize problems in each of these areas.

Description:

This topic presents data on the income of individuals, families, and households of Canada for the year 2010, including the composition of income, earnings and low-income prevalence data. The data also include the family and household incomes of Canadians by characteristics, family structure, household type and geography, as well as the total income and earnings levels of certain population groups (e.g., immigrants). The composition of income includes market income and income from government sources, and presents detailed components.

This topic also presents data on dwelling characteristics, including number of rooms and bedrooms, condition of dwelling, period of construction, condominium status, value of dwelling, and structural type of dwelling. Data on households are also presented, including household maintainer, housing tenure, housing subsidy, housing suitability and shelter costs.

Analytical products

Two analytical documents provide analysis on the key findings in the data, and are complemented with the short articles found in NHS in Brief and the data in the NHS Focus on Geography Series.

Data products

The NHS Profile is one data product that provides a statistical overview of user selected geographic areas based on several detailed variables and/or groups of variables. Other data products include data tables which represent a series of cross tabulations ranging in complexity and are available for various levels of geography.

Description:

This on-line report summarizes research and development (R&D) activities performed and funded by Canadian business enterprises and industrial research institutes and associations. The data are used, for instance, to plan and evaluate R&D tax incentive programs, to provide indicators of the state of industrial innovation and to complement national aggregates for scientific R&D expenditures and personnel. Among the topics covered are current and capital expenditures on research and development, energy R&D expenditures by area of technology, R&D expenditures as a percentage of company revenues, sources of funds for intramural R&D, personnel engaged in R&D, and foreign payments made and received for technological services. Most historical tables are presented for the latest five years and disaggregated by 46 industrial groupings, size of R&D program, employment size, revenue size, country of control, and by province.

Description:

This paper surveys the history of Statistics Canada's Consumer Price Index (CPI) from its origins to today. It discusses changes in the construction, scope and uses of the CPI within the context of historical events.

Description:

This reference publication on productivity in Canada shows how productivity trends affect Canadian living standards and measures the relative productivity performance of Canada and other countries. Its articles cover productivity and related issues, and it illuminates the sources underlying economic growth in Canada.

Description:

The Canadian Income Survey (CIS) is a cross-sectional survey developed to assess the economic well-being of individuals and families in Canada. It provides a portrait of the income and income sources of Canadians, with their individual and household characteristics.

Description:

Many of the 60 or so Aboriginal languages in Canada are considered endangered to varying degrees for their long-term survival. Assessing language vitality or endangerment through the measurement of various factors can provide useful information to help ensure the continuity of a language. This paper illustrates how the 2011 Census of Population and the 2011 National Household Survey (NHS) can be used to measure some of the factors that provide information related to the vitality of Aboriginal languages.

Description:

Canadian Demographics at a glance is designed to gather a maximum of demographic information in a single document, giving users an easily and quickly accessible up-to-date picture of the Canadian population. It presents data on demographic growth, fertility, mortality, migratory movements, aging and ethno-cultural diversity of the population in the form of tables and graphs accompanied by a brief analytical commentary.