Analysis

Description:

This paper examines the effects of fertility, mortality and migration on the age profile of the Canadian population, particularly the effect of fluctuating fertility patterns which have occurred since the second World War. The author analyses the impact on social services and the economy as the shifting requirements of the “Baby Boom” cohorts move through their life cycle.

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A major packaged goods manufacturer details his firm’s assemblage and application of market understanding information, impact information, market tracking, share/volume forecasting and documentation procedure.

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Increasing costs without a concomitant increase in research budgets are putting severe strains on research quality. Improvements in technology, however, both in the physical domain and in the conceptual domain are sufficient to maintain research productivity at least at its prior level.

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Due to the absence of hard data and the lack of standardization with respect to nonresponse terminology and reporting procedures, U.S. commercial survey researchers have been unable to obtain an accurate assessment of the nature and extent of the nonresponse problem. However, the results of two recent studies conducted by the author among leading U.S. based market and public opinion research firms revealed that nonresponse is one of the major problems now confronting the commercial survey research industry. This paper discusses the results of the two studies and their implications.

Description:

The article provides a general overview of the concepts of incomplete data and non-response. It is recognized that non-response is an important indicator of data quality, as it affects the estimators by introducing bias and increasing variance due to a reduction in the effective sample size. The relationship between bias and the non-response rate is less obvious, since it depends on the extent of non-response and on the difference in the various characteristics between respondents and non-respondents.

The most effective way of dealing with the effects of non-response is to minimize its extent. However, any attempt to control the extent of non-response must be based on a good understanding of its origins. The causes and extent of non-response are fundamentally related to (i) the type of survey, (ii) the data capture methods, and (iii) the sample design. However, given a sample design, the extent of non-response will be influenced by factors such as the type of region and the type of non-response.

There are several ways to handle incomplete data. Each one, in the end, assigns a value to the missing or incorrect data, unless it is decided to publish “raw” data. The procedure for assigning values is called imputation and such an imputed value presumably describes the characteristic of the non-respondent.

The article provides a brief philosophical explanation about validation and imputation and their applications in the methodology of the various imputation procedures. These include weighting, replication, hot deck imputation using previous data and substitution by a zero value. The using of imputation compared with the methods used in the Canadian Labour Force Survey (LFS) is also discussed. A decision table is provided indicating the various steps to follow for a particular case of a partially completed LFS questionnaire.

Description:

This presentation focuses on the present and future social needs of the public, and tracking these needs by surveys. It is divided into two parts. First, the writer gives some history of the tracking systems. Then, he speaks about the future and his forecasts for the new tracking systems.

Description: This paper makes a proposal to create a new type of information bank, the “Synthetic Data Bank”. This type of bank would involve linking information from two data banks to create a third. The result would be that much greater use could be made of existing data banks in conjunction with new data collection activities. This would mean a significant reduction in the amount of data to be collected which, in effect, could potentially reduce both data collection costs and response burden. The paper suggests a number of considerations in developing statistical techniques to facilitate the creation of such an information linkage concept. Some of these techniques are to be found in modern literature’ others may well have to be developed.

Description: My brief as a speaker was to comment on points raised in the opening session, within the general theme of serving the needs of research users in the 1980’s. This scheme did not allow a prepared paper, and my impromptu comments tended to be discussive. Below is a summary of my main points, leaving out anecdotes and examples used in the actual talk.

Description: This paper deals with the desirability of designing surveys in such a way that results can be compared to previous existing data. The writer explains why there are practical difficulties in assessing the significance of data collected in a one-time survey where these data stand alone and are not readily comparable to other existing data, i.e., where control group data or other benchmarks do not exist.

Description: The government survey sponsor should plan carefully what he expects to get from the supplier, specifying who is to do what, when, including details of what the sponsor will do. If there are many eligible suppliers, only a small number should be invited to submit proposals, increasing as the value of the contract increases. Procedures for screening suppliers and selecting the successful one should be organized before proposals are received. These should include visits to review suppliers, facilities and organization, as a good relationship between a sponsor and a supplier depends largely on good faith and willing cooperation. Sponsor-supplier relationships are more formal, and more time-consuming in the selection process, than in the private sector.

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: 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: A series of articles on various subjects which explore the impact of COVID-19 on the socio-economic landscape. New articles will be released periodically.

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: Our comments respond to discussion from Sen, Brick, and Elliott. We weigh the potential upside and downside of Sen’s suggestion of using machine learning to identify bogus respondents through interactions and improbable combinations of variables. We join Brick in reflecting on bogus respondents’ impact on the state of commercial nonprobability surveys. Finally, we consider Elliott’s discussion of solutions to the challenge raised in our study.

Description: This discussion summarizes the interesting new findings around measurement errors in opt-in surveys by Kennedy, Mercer and Lau (KML). While KML enlighten readers about “bogus responding” and possible patterns in them, this discussion suggests combining these new-found results with other avenues of research in nonprobability sampling, such as improvement of representativeness.

Description: Kennedy, Mercer, and Lau explore misreporting by respondents in non-probability samples and discover a new feature, namely that of deliberate misreporting of demographic characteristics. This finding suggests that the “arms race” between researchers and those determined to disrupt the practice of social science is not over and researchers need to account for such respondents if using high-quality probability surveys to help reduce error in non-probability samples.

Description: Nonprobability samples are quick and low-cost and have become popular for some types of survey research. Kennedy, Mercer and Lau examine data quality issues associated with opt-in nonprobability samples frequently used in the United States. They show that the estimates from these samples have serious problems that go beyond representativeness. A total survey error perspective is important for evaluating all types of surveys.

Description: Statistical approaches developed for nonprobability samples generally focus on nonrandom selection as the primary reason survey respondents might differ systematically from the target population. Well-established theory states that in these instances, by conditioning on the necessary auxiliary variables, selection can be rendered ignorable and survey estimates will be free of bias. But this logic rests on the assumption that measurement error is nonexistent or small. In this study we test this assumption in two ways. First, we use a large benchmarking study to identify subgroups for which errors in commercial, online nonprobability samples are especially large in ways that are unlikely due to selection effects. Then we present a follow-up study examining one cause of the large errors: bogus responding (i.e., survey answers that are fraudulent, mischievous or otherwise insincere). We find that bogus responding, particularly among respondents identifying as young or Hispanic, is a significant and widespread problem in commercial, online nonprobability samples, at least in the United States. This research highlights the need for statisticians working with commercial nonprobability samples to address bogus responding and issues of representativeness – not just the latter.

Description: This paper is an introduction to the special issue on the use of nonprobability samples featuring three papers that were presented at the 29^th Morris Hansen Lecture by Courtney Kennedy, Yan Li and Jean-François Beaumont.

Description: This article explores results from the survey related to the use of AI in producing goods and delivering services. Furthermore, this article explains the specific types of AI being used, such as machine learning, virtual agents and voice recognition, as well as the impact of AI adoption on tasks performed by employees and on employment levels. It involves an examination of the data produced by the Canadian Survey on Business Conditions.

Description: Extreme heat has significant impacts on mortality. In Canada, past research has analyzed the degree to which non-accidental mortality increases during single extreme heat events; however, few studies have considered multiple causes of death and the impacts of extreme heat events on mortality over longer time periods. This study analyzes the impacts of extreme heat events on nonaccidental, cardiovascular, and respiratory deaths from 2000 to 2020 in 12 of the largest cities in Canada.

Description: Optimal oral health is an essential element of healthy aging. Oral health problems such as tooth loss, periodontal disease, and dry mouth accumulate throughout adult life and worsen with increasing age. Using data from the 2019/2020 Canadian Health Survey on Seniors, this study explores the link between dental insurance, income, and oral health care access among seniors (aged 65 and over) in Canada. It contributes to the understanding of oral health care among seniors before the implementation of the Canadian Dental Care Plan.

Description: This paper describes the composition of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) basket and the changes introduced with the 2024 basket update, based on 2023 expenditure weights.

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These highlights provide a brief summary of the report 'Employee training: an international perspective', the latest monograph released using data from the International Adult Literacy Survey. The report provides new insights into training issues in seven countries: Canada, the United States, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Poland, Germany and Sweden. The study examines full-time paid workers between the ages of 25 and 60, who had been employed for at least 42 weeks in the 12 months preceding the survey (about nine months in the previous year). (Although the self-employed account for a growing share of the work force, they are not included in the analysis.)

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.

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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.