Short-Course - Conducting Research Using The Survey Of Income And Program Participation (SIPP) Advanced Workshop

Martha Stinson, economist at the U.S. Census Bureau, lead the workshop, in collaboration with researchers at the University of Michigan, the U.S. Census Bureau and other nationally recognized SIPP scholars. This advanced workshop introduced participants to the use of the Survey of Income and Program Participation Synthetic Beta (SSB) and provide hands-on applications to prepare them to conduct their own SSB-based research. The SIPP Synthetic Beta (SSB) is a Census Bureau data product that integrates person-level micro-data from a household survey (SIPP survey data) with W-2 earnings and OASDI benefits data. Census has synthesized the data to preserve the underlying covariate relationships between variables while protecting respondent confidentiality. Unlike the original, administrative data, the SSB is publicly available. The Census Bureau offers all SSB users the opportunity to submit their programs for validation on the internal, confidential version of these data. As part of this workshop, participants will learn how to prepare programs for submission to the validation process and how to request the release of research results from Census disclosure officers. This experience will help participants not only begin their SSB research projects but also see them through to successful completion after the seminar has finished.