Record Linkage in the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe

• Activity Number: 393
• Type: Topic Contributed
• Date/Time: Tuesday, August 2, 2011 : 2:00 PM to 3:50 PM
• Sponsor: Section on Government Statistics
• Author(s): Annelies Blom and Ulrich Krieger*+ and Julie M. Korbmacher
• Companies: Mannheim University and University of Mannheim and Mannheim University
• Keywords: record linkage ; administrative data ; consent ; interviewer effects

Abstract

Linking survey data with data from administrative records is of interest for both substantive researchers (because it enriches the data) and survey methodologists (because it enables research into measurement error and selectivity of the linked sample). The German sample of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) asks respondents for permission to link their survey data to individual records from the German Pension Fund. In wave 3 (2008) all longitudinal sample members were asked for consent to linkage via their social security number. In wave 4 (2010) an additional three-quarters of the refresher sample was asked for consent to linkage. In addition, an interviewer questionnaire was administered collect data that might explain interviewer effects on consent propensity. Our analyses look into differences in the selectivity of the linked samples across the two waves and the role of interviewers thereupon.