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RECLINK: Stata module to probabilistically match records

Author

Listed:
  • Michael Blasnik

Programming Language

Stata

Abstract

Record linkage involves attempting match records from two different data files that do not share a unique and reliable key field. It can be a tedious and challenging task when working with multiple administrative databases where one wants to match subjects using names, addresses and other identifiers that may have spelling and formatting variations. Formal record linkage methods often employ a combination of approximate string comparators and probabilistic matching algorithms to identify the best matches and assess their reliability. Some stand-alone software is available for this task. This presentation will introduce -reclink-, a rudimentary probabilistic record matching program for Stata. -reclink- employs a modified bigram string comparator and allows user-specified match and non-match weights. The algorithm also provides for blocking (both "or" and "and") to help improve speed for this otherwise slow procedure.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael Blasnik, 2007. "RECLINK: Stata module to probabilistically match records," Statistical Software Components S456876, Boston College Department of Economics, revised 18 Jan 2010.
    • Handle: RePEc:boc:bocode:s456876
    Note: This module should be installed from within Stata by typing "ssc install reclink". The module is made available under terms of the GPL v3 (https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.txt). Windows users should not attempt to download these files with a web browser.
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://fmwww.bc.edu/repec/bocode/r/reclink.ado
    File Function: program code
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: http://fmwww.bc.edu/repec/bocode/r/reclink.hlp
    File Function: help file
    Download Restriction: no
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    linkage; matching; Stata;
    All these keywords.

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