Abstract:

Data fusion is a process for combining two or more surveys to form a database that can be analysed as if it came from a single survey. The usual method for doing this is to match or marry each respondent on one survey, the recipient survey, to a respondent on the other survey, the donor survey, by choosing the donor who appears to be most similar in terms of the common variables, i.e., those items which are covered by information that is on both the surveys. These common variables can be divided between cell and non-cell variables.