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How reliable are income data collected with a single question?

How reliable are income data collected with a single question?
How reliable are income data collected with a single question?
Income is an important correlate for numerous phenomena in the social sciences. But many surveys collect data with just a single question covering all forms of income. This raises issues of quality, and these are heightened when individuals are asked about the household total rather than own income alone. Data are typically banded, implying a loss of information. We investigate the reliability of ‘single-question’ data using the ONS Omnibus and British Social Attitudes (BSA) surveys as examples. We first compare the distributions of income in these surveys – individual income in the Omnibus and household income in the BSA – with those in two other much larger UK surveys that measure income in much greater detail. Second, we investigate an implication of restricting the single question to individual income and interviewing only one adult per household: total income in respondents’ households is unobserved. We therefore examine the relationship between individual and household income in one of the comparator surveys. Third, after imposing bands on comparator survey data, we measure the information loss from banding with Generalised Entropy indices. We then assess its impact on the use of income as a covariate. Disaggregation by gender proves fruitful in much of the analysis.
Southampton Statistical Sciences Research Institute, University of Southampton
Micklewright, John
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Schnepf, Sylke V.
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Micklewright, John
744a4bca-41f2-4cbb-9a4e-3e0effdaa739
Schnepf, Sylke V.
c987c810-d33c-4675-9764-b5e15c581dbc

Micklewright, John and Schnepf, Sylke V. (2009) How reliable are income data collected with a single question? (S3RI Applications & Policy Working Papers) Southampton, UK. Southampton Statistical Sciences Research Institute, University of Southampton 32pp.

Record type: Monograph (Working Paper)

Abstract

Income is an important correlate for numerous phenomena in the social sciences. But many surveys collect data with just a single question covering all forms of income. This raises issues of quality, and these are heightened when individuals are asked about the household total rather than own income alone. Data are typically banded, implying a loss of information. We investigate the reliability of ‘single-question’ data using the ONS Omnibus and British Social Attitudes (BSA) surveys as examples. We first compare the distributions of income in these surveys – individual income in the Omnibus and household income in the BSA – with those in two other much larger UK surveys that measure income in much greater detail. Second, we investigate an implication of restricting the single question to individual income and interviewing only one adult per household: total income in respondents’ households is unobserved. We therefore examine the relationship between individual and household income in one of the comparator surveys. Third, after imposing bands on comparator survey data, we measure the information loss from banding with Generalised Entropy indices. We then assess its impact on the use of income as a covariate. Disaggregation by gender proves fruitful in much of the analysis.

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Published date: 2009

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Local EPrints ID: 49499
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/49499
PURE UUID: 16536a1c-60ab-4ff3-92c5-18f6d9958f28

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Date deposited: 12 Nov 2007
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 09:56

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Contributors

Author: John Micklewright
Author: Sylke V. Schnepf

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