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WEIGHTING OF DATA
Author(s) -
Ballantine J. P.
Publication year - 1920
Publication title -
school science and mathematics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.135
H-Index - 2
eISSN - 1949-8594
pISSN - 0036-6803
DOI - 10.1111/j.1949-8594.1920.tb12509.x
Subject(s) - weighting , citation , information retrieval , computer science , library science , physics , acoustics
When data are used without weights, each record counts the same as any other record. Implicit in such use are the assumptions that each record has an equal probability of being selected and that noncoverage and nonresponse are equal among all segments of the population. When deviations from these assumptions are large enough to affect the results obtained from a data set, then weighting each record appropriately can help to adjust for assumption violations. An additional (but conceptually unrelated) reason for weighting is to make the total number of cases equal to some desired number which, for state BRFSS data, is the number of people in the state who are aged 18 years and older. In the BRFSS, such raking serves as a blanket adjustment for noncoverage and nonresponse and forces the total number of cases to equal population estimates for each geographic region, which for the BRFSS is usually a state.