Using Administrative Data for Statistical Purposes

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Using Administrative Data for Statistical Purposes

• Pronab Sen
• Chief Statistician of India

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BACKGROUND

• Decentralised statistical system with
  considerable autonomy
• Most Ministries collect a variety of data for
  various purposes by different methods
• What constitutes Administrative Data ? Need for
  definition
• Three broad categories of purposes
• Monitoring programmes
• Regulatory activities/Audit trails
• Tracking outcomes

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Use of Administrative Data in India

• Almost all agricultural statistics based on
  administrative data
• Sampling frame for industrial statistics
• Growing importance of regulatory records in
  finance and infrastructure sectors
• Industry associations in new services
• All trade, environmental disaster statistics
• Serious problems in employment and social sector
  indicators

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Experiences

• Appropriate legal framework and political
  emphasis determines quality coverage
• Administrators have problems with concepts and
  definitions
• Data needs of programme administrators and
  statisticians are different
• Statistical sophistication frequently necessary
  to use administrative data

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and Lessons

• Administrative records are essential for sample
  frames
• Data collected for monitoring purposes tend to be
  unreliable
• Coverage is frequently a problem, but not
  insuperable
• Sample data audit can provide correctives and
  improve usability of administrative data
• Statistical officers in line Ministries essential

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Demography and Migration

• Decennial Population Census the main source of
  all demographic data
• Civil Registration System unsatisfactory
  coverage
• Reliance on Sample Registration System for
  inter-Census period
• Extensive use of models

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Demography and Migration (contd.)

• Legal international in-migration by and large
  covered through disembarkation forms and
  Foreigners registration system
• No way to estimate illegal immigration except by
  inference from Census
• International out-migration from embarkation
  forms definitional issues
• Problems in estimating returning migrants

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Demography and Migration (contd.)

• No administrative method for capturing internal
  migration
• No labour registration system for movement of
  workers
• Even survey data does not capture seasonal
  migration
• One of the most important weakness of Indian
  statistics

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• Thank You