TY - JOUR
T1 - Potential Data Sources for a New Study of Social Mobility in the United States
AU - Warren, John Robert
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 by The American Academy of Political and Social Science.
Copyright:
Copyright 2014 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2015/1/19
Y1 - 2015/1/19
N2 - In this article I define the main criteria that ought to be considered in evaluating the costs and benefits of various data resources that might be used for a new study of social and economic mobility in the United States. These criteria include population definition and coverage, sample size, topical coverage, temporal issues, spatial issues, sustainability, financial expense, and privacy and data access. I use these criteria to evaluate the strengths and weakness of several possible data resources for a new study of mobility, including existing smaller-scale surveys, the Current Population Survey, the American Community Survey, linked administrative data, and a new stand-alone survey. No option is perfect, and all involve trade-offs. I conclude by recommending five possible designs that are particularly strong on the criteria listed above.
AB - In this article I define the main criteria that ought to be considered in evaluating the costs and benefits of various data resources that might be used for a new study of social and economic mobility in the United States. These criteria include population definition and coverage, sample size, topical coverage, temporal issues, spatial issues, sustainability, financial expense, and privacy and data access. I use these criteria to evaluate the strengths and weakness of several possible data resources for a new study of mobility, including existing smaller-scale surveys, the Current Population Survey, the American Community Survey, linked administrative data, and a new stand-alone survey. No option is perfect, and all involve trade-offs. I conclude by recommending five possible designs that are particularly strong on the criteria listed above.
KW - Data resources
KW - Record linkage
KW - Social mobility
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U2 - 10.1177/0002716214552773
DO - 10.1177/0002716214552773
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84919459083
VL - 657
SP - 208
EP - 246
JO - Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science
JF - Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science
SN - 0002-7162
IS - 1
ER -