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Visual Validation of Estimates from the Occupation Requirements Survey

Lacoy Theus and Andrew Kato

Abstract

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has completed the second year of collection of the Occupational Requirements Survey (ORS), which provides information on the physical demands, mental requirements, education and training, and environmental conditions of an occupation. These elements, 77 in total, provide a robust set of estimates that offer a vivid description of occupational requirements in the U.S. economy. Since ORS is a newly established survey, it was necessary to develop a set of processes that would detect anomalous estimates. To validate these estimates a team created an interactive visualization tool using Tableau, to evaluate the estimates against our expectations and identify anomalies in the dataset. Estimates flagged as anomalous were isolated and investigated to determine if they met the criteria for suppression. This paper describes the validation procedures that estimates undergo to determine if the ORS estimates are fit for use, with emphasis on the visualization tools used in analyzing the estimates.