This paper might be of interest to people on this list. The paper is here:
http://bpp.wharton.upenn.edu/betseys/papers/Inaccurate%20Age%20and%20Sex%20…
From the abstract:
"We discover and document errors in public use microdata samples ("PUMS
files") of the 2000 Census, the 2003-2006 American Community Survey, and the
2004-2009 Current Population Survey. For women and men ages 65 and older,
age- and sex-specific population estimates generated from the PUMS files
differ by as much as 15% from counts in published data tables. Moreover, an
analysis of labor force participation and marriage rates suggests the PUMS
samples are not representative of the population at individual ages for
those ages 65 and over. PUMS files substantially underestimate labor force
participation of those near retirement ages and overestimate labor force
participation rates of those at older ages. These problems were an
unintentional by-product of the misapplication of a newer generation of
disclosure avoidance procedures carried out on the data. The resulting
errors in the public use data could significantly impact studies of people
ages 65 and older, particularly analyses of variables that are expected to
change by age."
--
Krishnan Viswanathan
1101 High Meadow Dr
Tallahassee FL 32311