THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO EVALUATE THE TECHNICAL FEASIBILITY OF ESTABLISHING A COMPREHENSIVE DATABASE OF RETROSPECTIVE MORTALITY DATA INCLUDING INFORMATION FROM SOCIAL SECURITY DEATH TAPES, STATE DEATH CERTIFICATES AND PERHAPS OTHER SOURCES.

THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO EVALUATE THE TECHNICAL FEASIBILITY OF ESTABLISHING A COMPREHENSIVE DATABASE OF RETROSPECTIVE MORTALITY DATA INCLUDING INFORMATION FROM SOCIAL SECURITY DEATH TAPES, STATE DEATH CERTIFICATES AND PERHAPS OTHER SOURCES. THE DATABASE IS ANTICIPATED TO COVER THE 15- TO 20-YEAR PERIOD BEFORE THE INITIATION OF THE NATIONAL DEATH INDEX IN 1979 AND WOULD BE USED BY RESEARCHERS TO IDENTIFY PERSONS IN THIS PROJECT WILL DESIGN THE PROCEDURES USED TO CONSTRUCT THE DATABASE, DESIGN THE TECHNICAL ASPECTS OF THE PROCEDURES USED TO ACCESS THE DATA, DESIGN THE RECORD-LINKING PROCEDURES AND DESIGN THE REPORTING MECHANISMS FOR COMMUNICATING RESULTS OF A RECORD LINKING TO THE REQUESTING RESEARCHER. A PROTOTYPE SYSTEM WILL BE DEVELOPED UTILIZING A SAMPLE OF THE AVAILABLE DATA TO ILLUSTRATE THE STEPS INVOLVED IN RECORD LINKING: 1.PRELIMINARY EVALUATION OF THE DATA SETS TO DETERMINE THE RELATIVE VALUE OF DIFFERENT DATA FIELDS FOR RECORD LINKING, 2.THE SELECTION OF CLUSTERING CRITERIA FOR IDENTIFYING POTENTIAL MATCHES, 3.SCORING THE POTENTIAL MATCHES AND 4.SELECTING THE DESIRED LINKS. THE PROTOTYPE WILL ALSO ILLUSTRATE THE DATA MANAGEMENT FACILITIES THAT WILL BE IMPORTANT TO THE PROJECT INCLUDING MECHANISMS FOR HANDLING DATA IN MULTIPLE DATA FORMATS.