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Research Access to and Uses of Administrative Data

Learn about the access, uses, and advantages of administrative data for empirical research, including longitudinal records. Discover how combining data sets can provide valuable insights, and explore two examples of using income tax and health records for research purposes. Find out how facilitating access to data can benefit researchers and policymakers, and the importance of addressing privacy concerns while leveraging the benefits.

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Research Access to and Uses of Administrative Data

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  1. Research Access to and Uses of Administrative Data Byron G Spencer McMaster University Prepared for the CRDCN Conference 2012 Evidence-Based Policy Formation and Evaluation University of New Brunswick, Fredericton October 22-24, 2012

  2. Research context • Individual-level records has become the gold standard for empirical research • Whether from survey data (e.g., StatCan) • Or administrative data (e.g., health, tax, education) • Especially longitudinal records • But, roadblocks to access

  3. Advantages / Disadvantages • Admin records can provide • Long time series • Reliable information • But • Limited! • Education, marital status, occupation, income?

  4. Combine! • Can link individual income tax returns over time to survey (or census) information at a point in time • Or link health records to CCHS • Or link admin records with neighbourhood characteristics (e.g., average income, distance to nearest hospital)

  5. Two examples • No linkage with survey data in these examples • Use of income tax records • To measure retirement and assess income replacement in retirement • Use of health records • To assess the age pattern of treatment for hip replacement

  6. Income in retirement • Access to LAD (Longitudinal Administrative Databank)

  7. Income and income replacement Figure 2: Income-Age Profiles, by Age of Retirement, 1982 Male Cohort

  8. Hip Replacement • Access to Ontario administrative health data – specifically, hospital inpatient records • Treatment options for hip replacement– • Therapeutic (no replacement) • Cemented • Uncemented • Autograft • Combined

  9. Treatment choices

  10. Accounting for state of health makes little difference

  11. But hospital matters … HOSP. D HOSP. C HOSP. A HOSP. E HOSP. B

  12. Facilitating Access to Data • Depends on security requirements • High security – e.g., StatCan RDCs, ICES hubs • Medium security – e.g., PEDAL • Low security – StatCan public use files • Cooperation needed to make access routine • Gov’t departments, including data custodians, service providers, and researchers • Need to address privacy concerns • Documentation /understanding of files

  13. Benefits of providing research access to admin data • Access to highly qualified and strongly motivated researchers • Can facilitate both researcher-driven investigations and commissioned studies • Routine access to such data makes it possible to address matters of policy relevance at very low cost • Faculty, graduate students, PDFs

  14. Benefits … (cont’d) • Formal evaluation of the various projects undertaken as part of the McMaster Pilot observed that • “extended analysis relevant to billions of dollars of spending” • “alerts practitioners and policy makers to potential adverse effects”

  15. How to get there • Keep talking! • Must have buy-in at the top • i.e., DMs, ADMs must be persuaded • Keep focus on the social benefits • Respect privacy concerns • BUT, find ways to respect privacy concerns without foregoing the benefits that can be derived from evidence

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