An important use of large household panel surveys is an examination of inequality dynamics in society. An example might be how research on discrimination in employment focuses on sex or race differences in wages, job quality, mobility chances or status outcomes. A well known problem, however, is how random measurement error can lead to attenuation bias in observed substantive coefficients. One approach to assessing data quality is to estimate the reliability of variables using quasi-simplex Markov models initially formulated by Heise (1969) and Wiley and Wiley (1970). This approach relies on panel data with at least three time-points to estimate reliabilities from a measurement model incorporating latent true values. Comparing data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey and the British Household Panel Survey, our research addresses whether the reliability of core employment measures changes over time and across sub-groups of the sample, such as sex. We further discuss whether these estimates of reliability derived from panel data might be useful for adjusting coefficients in substantive models, such as the effects of discrimination on employment outcomes. We conclude with a discussion of how reliability assessments may affect substantive research using panel data, and whether calculating and publishing reliabilities may be a desirable feature of a panel data quality profiling exercise
Presented by:
Noah Uhrig
Date & time:
May 8, 2013 12:00 pm
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