Record Linkage - Mathematical Model

Mathematical Model

In an application with two files, A and B, denote the rows (records) by in file A and in file B. Assign characteristics to each record. The set of records that represent identical entities is defined by

and the complement of set, namely set representing different entities is defined as

A vector, is defined, that contains the coded agreements and disagreements on each characteristic:

where is a subscript for the characteristics (sex, age, marital status, etc.) in the files. The conditional probabilities of observing a specific vector given, are defined as

$m(\gamma) = P \left\{ \gamma \left | (a,b) \in M \right\} = \sum_{(a, b) \in M} P \left\{\gamma\left \right\} \cdot P \left$

and

$u(\gamma) = P \left\{ \gamma \left | (a,b) \in U \right\} = \sum_{(a, b) \in U} P \left\{\gamma\left \right\} \cdot P \left,$ respectively.

Read more about this topic: Record Linkage

Famous quotes containing the words mathematical and/or model:

“What is history? Its beginning is that of the centuries of systematic work devoted to the solution of the enigma of death, so that death itself may eventually be overcome. That is why people write symphonies, and why they discover mathematical infinity and electromagnetic waves.”
—Boris Pasternak (1890–1960)

“... if we look around us in social life and note down who are the faithful wives, the most patient and careful mothers, the most exemplary housekeepers, the model sisters, the wisest philanthropists, and the women of the most social influence, we will have to admit that most frequently they are women of cultivated minds, without which even warm hearts and good intentions are but partial influences.”
—Mrs. H. O. Ward (1824–1899)