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Combining Data from Multiple Sources: Potential and Challenges of Data Linkages

The second webinar in the NCAER Seminar series on Data Collection Methodology organised by the NCAER National Data Innovation Centre was held virtually on June 24, 2021. The webinar is part of a series of thought-provoking discussions on research methodologies in which distinguished speakers in the field will share their views and one or more discussants will reflect on them from an Indian perspective. This talk was delivered by Frauke Kreuter, Professor of Statistics and Data Science for the Social Sciences and Humanities at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich (Germany) and Professor at the Joint Program in Survey Methodology at the University of Maryland. K.S. James from the International Institute for Population Sciences and Soumya Bhaduri from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) were the discussants.

Combining data from different sources has become essential for social scientists and policy makers to take full advantage of the data deluge in an increasingly digitalised society. While we see many attempts at using a single approach (big data sources) with mixed results, the most exciting projects rely on a combination of different data, some of which are still collected through traditional modes. In this talk, Professor Kreuter highlighted a few approaches and provide a framework enabling researchers to think about creating new data products.

Professor Kreuter used several examples from economic research, with a specific focus on the IAB-SMART research project to discuss privacy issues and approaches deployed to create high-quality combined data sources (read more here). The IAB-SMART study uses innovative data sources, such as administrative records, surveys, and digital traces from smart phones, to measure the effects of long-term unemployment on social integration and social activity. Using the case study from different countries, the talk demonstrated how to handle potential coverage bias and biases due to non-response and measurement errors, while being cognisant of privacy norms.

Professor Kreuter co-founded and co-directs the Data Science Centers at the Universities of Maryland (USA) and Mannheim (Germany). She is an elected fellow of the American Statistical Association and the 2020 recipient of the Warren Mitofsky Innovators Award of the American Association for Public Opinion Research. Dr. Kreuter is the Founder of the International Program for Survey and Data Science, developed in response to the increasing demand from researchers and practitioners for the appropriate methods and right tools to face a changing data environment.

K.S. James is the Director and Senior Professor, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai. Prior to joining IIPS, he was Professor of Demography, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He works extensively on demographic changes with a focus on population and development, and ageing issues. He has published widely on the demographic transition and demographic dividend in India.

Soumya Bhadury is a macroeconomist currently working with the Strategic Research Unit at the RBI. His research interests include understanding macro-financial linkages in emerging markets. Before joining RBI, he worked as an economist at NCAER.

The first seminar was presented by Stanley Presser, Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland.

In continuation of this series of workshops on investor education in the financial sector, the fourth and fifth workshops were held on two consecutive days. Organised by NCAER’s newly established Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF) Chair Unit , the workshop series was inaugurated on December 16, 2020 with a keynote address by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, followed by three workshops on the securities, insurance, and pension fund markets. The National Strategy for Financial Education (NSFE) 2020-25 which recognizes the unique challenges of creating a financially aware and empowered India, and the need for convergence of efforts by multiple stakeholders that regulate and manage India’s financial resources forms the basis of this initiative.

These two workshops focused on the banking sector and were held virtually . The fourth workshop addressed issues in the payment and settlement systems and was chaired by T Rabi Sankar, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India. The discussion entailed on how technology is reshaping the payments and settlement ecosystem and its impact on consumers. A panel drawing experts from industry, regulatory and consumer bodies deliberated over several consumer centric issues. Some of these deliberations included the need for a separate financial consumer protection law in India, whether consumer protection should extend to price control, and the possibility of ex-ante market caps for addressing concentration in payments.

The fifth workshop focused on banking and credit, and was chaired by Anil Kumar Sharma, Executive Director, Reserve Bank of India.  This included consumer advice in banking branches, quality of financial inclusion, systems of regulation and supervision and the future of banking and credit. The government’s viewpoint was presented by Pankaj Jain, Additional Secretary, Department of Financial Services. The panel discussion focused on several challenges faced by depositors. These included falling rates of interest, KYC verification and lack of options to have multiple nominees for a bank account.

These NCAER workshops with key regulators served as an opportunity to both learn from domain experts and regulators about their ideas and strategies for investor education and to contribute to refining the priorities for action and for creating scope for relevant further research and improving the knowledge base in this area.

In the latest in its series of rapid telephone surveys to gauge the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic, NCAER polled 2,068 households in four districts in Odisha and Uttar Pradesh (Districts Bargarh and Dhenkanal in Odisha and Chandauli and Firozabad in UP) during June 9-18, 2020, the second week of the so-called Unlock 1.

In this research done in collaboration with the Nossal Institute for Public Health at the University of Melbourne, the aim is to understand the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on incomes, jobs, migration, availability of essentials, and existing health conditions. The survey also gauged perceptions about the return to work, concern for one’s neighbours, the reliance that can be placed on others, fears related to the virus and isolation, and faith in government’s ability to handle the pandemic. The sample households come from a larger NCAER-Nossal study on “Health Seeking Behaviour in Four Indian States.”

On July 21, NCAER hosted NCAER Fellow Prabir Kumar Ghosh and NCAER’s collaborators from the University of Melbourne’s Nossal Institute for Global Health, Professor Barbara McPake, Director of the Institute and Professor Ajay Mahal to discuss the findings of this latest in NCAER’s series of telephone surveys. The discussion was moderated by NCAER Director General, Shekhar Shah. The webinar was attended by over 110 participants.

Lessons from a Large-scale Masking Experiment in Bangladesh

In mid-February this year, India was registering some 12,000 cases of covid-19 a day, fewer than many advanced countries in Europe. On April 23, India clocked some 333,000 new, positive cases, far higher than any other country at any time during this pandemic. The Economist notes that epidemiologists estimate the numbers could be 10 to 30 times higher, since testing is limited outside India’s cities. What happens in India will also matter for the world. Besides inexpensive vaccines, India may end up exporting dangerous, new SARS-CoV-2 strains.
As Indians learnt last year, lockdowns can cause deep scarring in labour markets and for smaller firms. This is likely to happen again. Even if vaccine production and imports increase, India’s sharp second surge will be difficult to halt with vaccines alone. Mounting scientific evidence is pointing to covid-19 primarily transmitting through airborne aerosol transmission.  This suggests that even as governments are working hard to arrange oxygen supplies, increase hospital capacity, and ramp up vaccine availability, communities should deploy effective masking strategies urgently.

Researchers at Yale University and the Stanford Medical School, along with IPA and local partners, have run a large, 350,000-person, randomized control trial in rural Bangladesh to evaluate ways to increase mask wearing in communities and to measure its impact on covid-19 transmission rates. The research identified the precise combination of mask design, distribution and promotion strategies that led to sustained increases in mask-wearing in the community. Their work answers questions such as, which interventions increase mask wearing the most? Do social nudges or incentives increase mask wearing? Does mask promotion inadvertently decrease social distancing? What kinds of masks work best? Urgent answers to these practical questions can help as India grapples with the mounting tragedy of its second wave.

On Monday, April 26th, to discuss the potential for concerted community masking in India, NCAER, Yale, Stanford, and IPA hosted Mushfiq Mobarak, Professor at Yale University leading the Bangladesh work, Gagandeep Kang, FRS, Professor of Microbiology at CMC Vellore and one of India’s foremost epidemiologists, D K Tiwari, Principal Secretary, Medical Education & Research, Government of Punjab, and P S Harsha, Commissioner of the Department of Information and Public Relations at the Government of Karnataka. The discussion was moderated by NCAER Director General Shekhar Shah.