Keith Farwell
Australian Bureau of Statistics
GPO Box 66A
Hobart 7001
Australia
Email: keith.farwell@abs.gov.au
The term "significance editing" refers to a general editing approach which incorporates survey weights and estimation methodology into edits and maintains a link between individual responses and output estimates. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has been using significance editing in varying degrees over the last decade. When significance editing is applied at the output stage of a collection it is called 'output statistical editing' within the ABS.
Output statistical editing can be used to direct resources to those areas where editing effort is expected to have greatest benefit. Output editing involves a combination of detecting outliers, detecting any remaining significant reporting errors, and analysing the trends in estimates (such as movements for continuing surveys). Within a significance editing framework, we need to focus our attention on the actual weighted contributions of respondents to estimates.
Three separate initial output scores are created for a specific item based on contributions to the estimate, the movement, and the standard error. These are combined into a single 'item' score which can be used to order or rank respondent data in order of importance. Item scores can be further combined to produce a 'provider score' which can be used to derive an ordering of respondents for a variety of estimates. An output statistical editing strategy will allow collection areas to predetermine the amount of editing work they will do and to have a better understanding of that works impact.
This paper will outline results of recent investigations into the application of output statistical editing using data from ABS Agricultural collections. It will outline the development and refinement of the editing strategy and describe how it could be applied to other collections.