Validation in the Occupational Requirements Survey: Analysis of Approaches

• Activity Number: 399
• Type: Contributed
• Date/Time: Tuesday, August 5, 2014 : 2:00 PM to 3:50 PM
• Sponsor: Government Statistics Section
• Author(s): Kristin Smyth*+
• Companies: Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Keywords: data review ; validation ; data editing ; visualization ; graphics

Abstract

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is working with the Social Security Administration (SSA) to carry out a series of tests to determine the feasibility of using the National Compensation Survey (NCS) platform to accurately and reliably capture data that are relevant to the SSA's disability program. The proposed new Occupational Requirements Survey (ORS) is envisioned to be an establishment survey that provides information on the vocational preparation and the cognitive and physical requirements of occupations in the U.S. economy as well as the environmental conditions in which the work is performed. This paper presents various methods for reviewing and validating the reasonableness of survey estimates. Interactive graphics in visualization software packages have been developed as new tools to complement traditional validation processes. These methods are being designed to properly gauge the reasonableness of the estimates as there is little historical precedent to which these data can be compared.