In plain English what does this mean? Thank you,
There are two confidentiality rules (and their respective settings) in MICA.
The first confidentiality rule affects suppression of the display of the entire inner table (i.e., the individual cells) of a report. This occurs when the difference between any particular cell and the total number of events for all conditions is less than 10 (less than 2 in the WIC MICAs). If the numerator is zero for a cell, that cell does not initiate suppression. This rule may be set to either on or off for the entire dataset and affects all variables in the dataset. It does not affect the display of row or column totals.
The following example shows a table for AIDs deaths in county A, with the row variable as race and the column variable as sex. Age group 15-24 is specified as an optional variable.
AIDS Deaths in County A
Age 15-24
Male Female Total
White 5 1 6
Black 3 1 4
Other 0 0 0
Total 8 2 10
The next table shows the same variables for total deaths.
Deaths in County A
Age 15-24
Male Female Total
White 45 40 85
Black 9 12 21
Other 5 4 9
Total 59 56 115
Since the difference between total deaths and AIDS deaths for black males is 6 (9-3), the confidentiality rule is invoked and the inner table is suppressed. The small numbers in the other cells of the AIDS death table do not invoke suppression because there are a sufficient number of total deaths with similar characteristics to protect the identity of the persons with AIDS.
The second confidentiality rule is not enabled unless the first confidentiality rule is enabled. If any row or any column has only one number not zero, then that row or column is suppressed.
I know you have to suppress some data to protect privacy..but I don't get the specifics
In plain English, this passage is explaining two confidentiality rules that are followed in a program called MICA. These rules dictate how certain data is displayed in reports in order to protect the privacy of individuals.
The first rule relates to the suppression of the display of specific data cells in a report. If the difference between a particular data cell and the total number of events for all conditions is less than 10 (or less than 2 in a specific type of MICA), then the entire inner table (containing individual cells) is suppressed. However, if the numerator (the top number in a fraction) for a cell is zero, then suppression of that cell is not initiated. This rule can be configured to apply to the entire dataset and it affects all variables in the dataset, except for row or column totals.
The passage provides an example of a table showing AIDS deaths in County A, with race and sex as variables. The table also includes an optional variable for age group 15-24. In this example, the confidentiality rule is invoked for the inner table because the difference between total deaths and AIDS deaths for black males is 6 (9 - 3), which is less than the suppression threshold. As a result, the inner table is not displayed. However, the other small numbers in the AIDS death table do not invoke suppression because there are a sufficient number of total deaths with similar characteristics to protect individual identities.
The second confidentiality rule is only applied if the first rule is enabled. It states that if any row or column has only one non-zero number, then that row or column is suppressed (not displayed). This is an additional measure to safeguard privacy.
Overall, these confidentiality rules ensure that sensitive data is protected by suppressing its display in reports when the values fall within certain thresholds.