Abstract

Statistical authorities face the crucial question of how data
source “surveys” versus “administrative files” affects the compilation of
specific statistical indexes. This paper analyzes aggregated data from
Greek Structural Business Statistics (2014-2018), comprising 8 indexes
across 140 business branches originated from two sources, survey and
administrative files. Analysis reveals whether computed indexes differ
by data source, repeated for each index. The structure of the data is
that of repeated measures. The statistical testing was performed using
two parametric statistical tests, the two-way repeated measures ANOVA
and the linear mixed models, as well as the respective bootstrap tests
(wild bootstrap for the linear mixed models). The consistency of the
parametric and bootstrap tests was first assessed on simulated data,
using the data setting of the real data but determining different scenarios
for the dependence of the statistical index on each factor. The simulation
study concluded that even for strong deviations of the data from normality
the parametric and bootstrap tests agreed to the correct test decisions.
Real data analysis confirms agreement between parametric and bootstrap
tests, with two indexes showing statistically significant data source effects.
The findings suggest that the data source may have an impact on the
derived statistical indexes.