Errors in Linking Survey and Administrative Data

Linking surveys with administrative records is regarded as a useful and cost-effective means of supplementing survey data collection with existing administrative sources. There are several strengths of administrative records that make them attractive for linking to surveys. An important strength is that they are relatively inexpensive to obtain and use. Linking survey and administrative information also offers many substantive research possibilities, including detailed microanalysis. This chapter provides a conceptual framework for the possible errors that can be introduced by linking survey and administrative records. It describes the linkage consent process, summarizes the literature on linkage consent issues, and reviews factors that may influence linkage consent rates and biases. The chapter also provides an overview of linkage using unique identifiers and summarizes the different errors that can occur. It shows best practice examples of linkage applications from different countries and offers practical guidance for future linkage projects to avoid known sources of error.