Weighing the Evidence: A new method for research on restricted information

Greatly increased concern about the confidentiality of social records now jeopardizes the ability of social scientists to conduct research. A new confidential method is described that can facilitate the work of the researcher and also maintain the privacy of the researched. This method is called Weighing the Evidence or, more simply, the WEIGHT method. The WEIGHT method groups social records according to intervals of interest to the researcher and then uses a simple weighing procedure to estimate the incidence and distribution of cases. Two studies—one using simulated data and one using real data on handgun purchases—suggest that the WEIGHT method is characterized by high levels of both reliability and validity. Ten hypothetical cases are described in which the WEIGHT method would make possible research that would other wise be prevented by the confidential nature of the data involved.This project was assisted by a fellowship from the German Marshall Fund. The authors are indebted to the following people for helpful comments and advice: Donald T. Campbell, Elliot Aronson, Meredith Gould, David Harrington, John I. Kitsuse, Thomas F. Pettigrew, Alan Ritch, Robert Rosenthal, M. Brewster Smith, and Candace West.