Abstract
Virginia A. de Wolf (1995) "Researcher
Access To Confidential Microdata At The Bureau Of Labor
Statistics,"* Proceedings of the Section on Government
Statistics, American Statistical Association.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS) mission is to
gather, produce, analyze, and disseminate information on
economic statistics. The bulk of the economic data that BLS
collects is from business establishments. Most BLS economic
data are collected under a pledge of confidentiality. Since
staff cannot conduct all necessary (and possible) analyses on
the data that BLS collects, the agency sometimes relies on
other researchers (non-BLS staff) to do such work. The risk
of re-identifying confidential data collected from
establishments limits the access to these data (for instance,
public-use microdata files are rarely released). BLS has
developed a set of procedures to enable access to
confidential microdata on-site at its national office in
Washington, D.C., for legitimate research purposes. This
paper summarizes that process. A brief description of
BLS's confidentiality policy is also included.
* For the latest information on researcher access to BLS microdata, see Researcher Access to
Confidential Data Files at the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Last Modified Date: July 19, 2008
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