Abstract
Collecting life course data is increasingly common in social and epidemiological research, either through record linkage of administrative data or by collecting retrospective interview data. This paper uses data on employment histories collected through both strategies, compares the attained samples, and investigates levels of agreements of individual histories. We use data from the German Heinz Nixdorf Recall Study with information on employment histories collected retrospectively from 2011 until 2014 (N = 3059). Administrative data from the German Institute for Employment Research (IAB) were linked to the survey data. After comparing respondents who provide self-reported histories with the subsample of the ones for which administrative data were available, we investigate the agreement of individual employment histories from the two sources (between 1975 and 2010) using sequence analyses. Almost all participants provided survey data on employment histories (97% of the sample), linkage consent was given by 93%, and administrative data were available for 63% of the participants. People with survey data were more likely to be female, to have a higher education, and to work self-employed and in the tertiary sector. The agreement of individual employment histories is high and similar across time, with a median level of agreement of 89%. Slightly lower values exist for women and people working in the tertiary sector, both having more complex histories. No differences exist for health-related factors. In conclusion, it is likely that missing consent and failed record linkage lead to sample differences; yet, both strategies provide comparable and reliable life course data.
Highlights
There is increasing interest in understanding the impact of life course conditions on later outcomes, for example of work and employment on health in older ages (Kuh et al 2003; Dannefer 2003; Vanhoutte and Nazroo 2015; Blane et al 2016)
After comparing respondents who provide self-reported histories with the subsample of the ones for which administrative data were available, we investigate the agreement of individual employment histories from the two sources using sequence analyses
Almost all participants provided survey data on employment histories (97% of the sample), linkage consent was given by 93%, and administrative data were available for 63% of the participants
Summary
There is increasing interest in understanding the impact of life course conditions on later outcomes, for example of work and employment on health in older ages (Kuh et al 2003; Dannefer 2003; Vanhoutte and Nazroo 2015; Blane et al 2016). The interest, hereby, is to know whether a person once worked in a job under specific conditions during their working life, and to collect data on complete employment histories. An attempt to overcome this limitation in existing studies is to collect information retrospectively, with generally two approaches: first, by linking administrative data on employment histories to existing survey data (data linkage), or second, by asking respondents to recall their employment histories. Direct comparisons of recalled data with administrative records are still limited. These comparisons help to illustrate the differences, advantages and disadvantages of both strategies. Such knowledge is instrumental because it is relevant for studies aiming at collecting life history data
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