Handbook of Statistical Data Editing and Imputation / Wiley Handbooks in Survey Methodology (PDF)

A practical, one-stop reference on the theory and applications of
statistical data editing and imputation techniques



Collected survey data are vulnerable to error. In particular,
the data collection stage is a potential source of errors and
missing values. As a result, the important role of statistical data
editing, and the amount of resources involved, has motivated
considerable research efforts to enhance the efficiency and
effectiveness of this process. Handbook of Statistical Data Editing
and Imputation equips readers with the essential statistical
procedures for detecting and correcting inconsistencies and filling
in missing values with estimates. The authors supply an easily
accessible treatment of the existing methodology in this field,
featuring an overview of common errors encountered in practice and
techniques for resolving these issues.

The book begins with an overview of methods and strategies for
statistical data editing and imputation. Subsequent chapters
provide detailed treatment of the central theoretical methods and
modern applications, with topics of coverage including:

* Localization of errors in continuous data, with an outline of
selective editing strategies, automatic editing for systematic and
random errors, and other relevant state-of-the-art methods

* Extensions of automatic editing to categorical data and integer
data

* The basic framework for imputation, with a breakdown of key
methods and models and a comparison of imputation with the
weighting approach to correct for missing values

* More advanced imputation methods, including imputation under
edit restraints

Throughout the book, the treatment of each topic is presented in
a uniform fashion. Following an introduction, each chapter presents
the key theories and formulas underlying the topic and then
illustrates common applications. The discussion concludes with a
summary of the main concepts and a real-world example that
incorporates realistic data along with professional insight into
common challenges and best practices.

Handbook of Statistical Data Editing and Imputation is an
essential reference for survey researchers working in the fields of
business, economics, government, and the social sciences who
gather, analyze, and draw results from data. It is also a suitable
supplement for courses on survey methods at the upper-undergraduate
and graduate levels.