Dear Children's Researchers,
J-PAL North America has developed a new resource for researchers interested
in using administrative data - please see below for more detail.
Our goal was to provide information about potential sources of
administrative data in the US (on e.g. health care, criminal justice,
education, etc) and the process for obtaining these data. To do so, J-PAL
North America has developed a pair of resources on obtaining and using
administrative
data <
https://www.povertyactionlab.org/admindata> for randomized
evaluations, available at povertyactionlab.org/admindata
<
https://www.povertyactionlab.org/admindata>.
A guide, “Using Administrative Data for Randomized Evaluations,” provides
practical tips on how to obtain and use nonpublic administrative data for a
randomized evaluation in the US. Many of the concepts will naturally be
applicable for non- or quasi-randomized evaluations. As a companion, a
catalog of administrative data sets outlines specific requirements and
processes for obtaining data from several key agencies in the US. (I
suspect this one will be particularly useful as researchers think about
whether or where they can practically access a given set of data and what
linkages etc are available).
We hope these resources will encourage the use of administrative data for
randomized evaluations and other high quality empirical research, and
encourage discussion of best practices for using and accessing these data.
Naturally if you or anyone you forward this too has comments, corrections,
or questions (or suggestions for specific additional data sets to add to
the catalog) we’d love to hear them! Please contact Laura Feeney, Research
Manager at J-PAL North America, at lfeeney_at_mit.edu if you have any
comments, corrections, questions, or suggested additions.
Received on Mon Feb 22 2016 - 09:56:14 EST
