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Table 5-1
Quality level guidelines
Quality level guidelines
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| Quality level of estimate |
Guidelines |
|---|---|
| 1) Acceptable | Estimates have a sample size of 30 or more, and low coefficients of variation in the range of 0.0% to 16.5%. No warning is required. |
| 2) Marginal | Estimates have a sample size of 30 or more, and high coefficients of variation in the range of 16.6% to 33.3%. Estimates should be flagged with the letter M (or some similar identifier). They should be accompanied by a warning to caution subsequent users about the high levels of error, associated with the estimates. |
| 3) Unacceptable | Estimates have a sample size of less than 30, or very high coefficients of variation in excess of 33.3%. Statistics Canada recommends not to release estimates of unacceptable quality. However, if the user chooses to do so then estimates should be flagged with the letter U (or some similar identifier) and the following warning should accompany the estimates: “Please be warned that these estimates do not meet Statistics Canada’s quality standards. Conclusions based on these data will be unreliable, and most likely invalid.” |
