Data linkage typically involves the following steps:
Data Collection: Gather data from various sources, such as hospital records, census data, and surveys. Data Preparation: Clean and standardize the data to ensure consistency. Matching: Use algorithms to match records from different datasets based on common identifiers like names, dates of birth, or social security numbers. Validation: Verify the accuracy of the matches to minimize errors. Integration: Combine the matched records into a single, unified dataset.
