Large Numbers of Estimates for Small Areas

National surveys and even national samples of administrative records can typically support only imprecise state or substate estimates because state sample sizes are small. Borrowing strength with an empirical Bayes or similar indirect estimator is a common solution to the problem of imprecise direct estimates, and has been used successfully in many applications. For example, an indirect estimator has been used for several years to derive state estimates for allocating federal funds under the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) (Schirm and Long 1995). Similar estimators have also been used to obtain state and county estimates of poor school-aged children for allocating federal Title I funds for compensatory education in elementary and secondary schools (National Research Council 1998).