The estimable National Centre for Vocational Education Research proposes ways to do more with different sets

Combining Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth and NAPLAN data can indicate relationships between academic ability and education and employment outcomes. But you have to know how to link the two sets.

Emerick Chew, Somayeh Parvazian and Ronnie Semo show how in a new paper for the estimable National Centre for Vocational Education Research.  They set out meshing methodologies and outputs and people-factors that shape results. For example, people “who value cooperation” are less likely to approve their data being used, “perhaps because consent does not involve their active and ongoing participation in the data-linkage process.”

A delight for dataistas to  be sure, but worth remembering in Budget Week that policy depends on serious people, creating serious resources.