The Inaugural Ross-Royall Symposium:
From Individuals to Populations
Wood Basic Sciences Auditorium
Friday, February 26, 2016
8:30 am – 6:00 pm
William R. Bell, BSBA, M.S., Ph.D.
Research and Methodology Directorate, US Census Bureau
Title:
Combining Estimates from Related Surveys via Bivariate Models
Abstract:
We explore use of bivariate models to improve small area estimates from one
survey by borrowing strength from related estimates taken from another, larger
survey. Our focus is on applications where the “larger survey” is the Census
Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS), the largest U.S. household survey.
We present several real data examples using “smaller survey” estimates taken from
the Survey of Income and Program Participation, the National Health Interview
Survey, and the Current Population Survey. The examples show that substantial
reductions in standard errors of the smaller survey estimates may be achieved by
borrowing strength from the ACS estimates in this way.