Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/18479 
Year of Publication: 
2006
Series/Report no.: 
DIW Discussion Papers No. 586
Publisher: 
Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW), Berlin
Abstract: 
Like other data quality dimensions, the concept of accuracy is often adopted to characterise a particular data set. However, its common specification basically refers to statistical properties of estimators, which can hardly be proved by means of a single survey at hand. This ambiguity can be resolved by assigning ?accuracy? to survey processes that are known to affect these properties. In this contribution, we consider the sub-process of imputation as one important step in setting up a data set and argue that the so called ?hit-rate? criterion, that is intended to measure the accuracy of a data set by some distance function of ?true? but unobserved and imputed values, is neither required nor desirable. In contrast, the so-called ?inference? criterion allows for valid inferences based on a suitably completed data set under rather general conditions. The underlying theoretical concepts are illustrated by means of a simulation study. It is emphasised that the same principal arguments apply to other survey processes that introduce uncertainty into an edited data set.
Subjects: 
Survey Quality
Survey Processes
Accuracy
Assessment of Imputation Methods
Multiple Imputation
JEL: 
C15
C13
C81
C11
C42
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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