Census Knowledge Base

Non-Traditional Data Collection Approaches in the 2011 Kuwait General Census

Margaret Mbogoni — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 11:30:21 GMT

This paper presents non-traditional data collection approaches applied in the Kuwait 2011 Census, such as using the internet as a collection method (E-census). Also it explains the role and importance of call center for supporting of e-census, and solving the problems of citizens and residents. Furthermore, it presents the Kuwaiti experience in Pilot Project for Register-Based Census.

Contact Center and Internet Data Collection for the 2011 Kuwait General Census

Margaret Mbogoni — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 11:25:25 GMT

The Kuwait 2011 Census of Population and Housing used, for the first time, the Internet as a possible form for respondents to provide their information. This paper presents
operational results of the e-census obtained from the Kuwait 2011 Census, namely response rates, demographics of respondents and data quality.

URUGUAY - INFORME DE LA COMISIÓN TÉCNICA HONORARIA PARA LA EVALUACION DEL CENSO URUGUAY 2011

Margaret Mbogoni — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 11:55:41 GMT

Evaluation of Uruguay Census 2011.
http://www.ine.gub.uy/censos2011/index.html

Uruguay - Metodología de estimación de la población total residente en el Censo de Población 2011

Margaret Mbogoni — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 11:55:06 GMT

Methodology for the estimation of the total resident population in Population Census 2011.
http://www.ine.gub.uy/censos2011/index.html

Ethiopia 2007 Population and Housing Census - Administrative Report

Margaret Mbogoni — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 11:54:16 GMT

The report gives an overview of the census experience, from planning to final dissemination and archiving.

Kosovo Population and Housing Census 2011- Final Results: Quality Report

Margaret Mbogoni — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 12:21:31 GMT

The census quality report has as main objective to provide our users with all information required to assess the reliability of census results. It describes all steps used before, during and after the census enumeration in view of increasing data reliability and consequently its usefulness. It also presents a detail comparison analysis of census outputs with the ones obtained from other statistical surveys or administrative information. Together with the report on census coverage and content errors estimates (PES report), this report provides fully transparent and complete information on the Kosovo census outputs.

Kosovo Population and Housing Census 2011- Final Results: Evaluation of Census Results with the Post Enumeration Survey

Margaret Mbogoni — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 12:18:12 GMT

This report defines the PES implemented and enumerates its objectives. In addition, the manual covers elements of: sample design; questionnaire design; planning and implementation of a PES; matching; field reconciliation; the Dual System of Estimation (DSE); tabulations; and as main PES outcome, the evaluation of coverage and content error. The conclusion highlights the usefulness of the PES and care that must be taken in its results’ interpretation.

EU legislation on the 2011 Population and Housing Censuses - Explanatory Notes

admin — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 07:06:33 GMT

By Eurostat, 2011.

In the integrated European Union, national censuses are of greater value if their results can be compared
between Member States. This is why the European Union is taking steps to harmonise census outputs.
There were European census programmes for the 1980, 1990 and 2001 rounds. The framework set up at
European level for the 2011 round continues this work on a larger scale. The objective is to disseminate
more detailed data in a user-friendly way, and to make the date more comparable

For the 2011 censuses, EU-wide reporting will provide transparency about the quality of census outputs.
This can then become a basis for an informed discussion within the EU Member States and at European
level. It can foster best practice in census-taking and thus bring benefits to the dynamic evolution of
census methods and to the fundamental function censuses perform for demographic and other statistics.

The European Union’s legislation on population and housing censuses aims to achieve comprehensive
and flexible dissemination of census data, plus transparency about their quality. At the same time, it
respects the diversity of traditions and methods in the Member States. This publication describes and
explains the current legislation.

Report on the Results of a Survey on Census Methods used by Countries in the 2010 Census Round

admin — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 10:40:48 GMT

By United Nations Statistics Division, 2011.

In 2009 and early 2010, the United Nations conducted a survey to collect information on methods used by countries or areas in the planning and implementation of their 2010 round population and housing censuses. The survey also collected information on challenges that countries or areas faced or expect to face in the implementation of their censuses for the 2010 round as well as on aspects of the census process in which they may have expertise. The questionnaire used for conducting the survey had 28 questions seeking information on: (i) source of population and housing census data; (ii) cartography; (iii) method(s) of enumeration; (iv) census evaluation; (v) data processing; (vi) data dissemination; (vii) census budget and source of funding; and (viii) technical assistance required and areas of expertise. This report presents the main results of this survey.

[Working paper: UNSD/DSSB/1]

France’s redesigned census: lessons and prospects

admin — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 06:48:21 GMT

By the National Institute of Statistics (INSEE), France, 2011.

From 1801 to 1999, France periodically conducted “traditional” censuses
with exhaustive enumeration. In 1997, it decided to undertake a radical reform of its
census involving (1) a switch to annual surveys in parts of the country, (2) introduction
of a sample survey in large municipalities based on a statistical register of addresses,
and (3) annual publication of detailed results using five annual surveys and
administrative data. This system is now operational and is supplying results on a
regular basis. Have the goals of the reform been met? This paper analyzes the successes
and difficulties of the project, and assesses the extent to which it has met its goals for
cost, data quality, and information timeliness. We describe the defects and risks that
emerged during implementation, and discuss planned developments.

(Conference of the Italian statistical society Statistics in the 150 years from the Unit of Italy
Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna Bologna, 8 -10 June 2011)

[Available in English and French]

Census Quality of French Rolling Census

admin — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 06:43:43 GMT

By the National Institute of Statistics (INSEE), France, 2008.

Since 2004, the French census system has worked to a revised method combining two core principles: a rolling census based on a 5-year cycle, and the deployment of a sample survey scheme led on communes counting either side of 10,000 inhabitants, based on a comprehensive housing inventory called the ‘RIL’. These principles are written into national census law. This revamped census system can output detailed year-in-year-out statistics at each geographic level of analysis, from national figures down to commune or district-level scope (§ 1 to 3).
The census reform was implemented in response to a mounting need for recent demographic data, most importantly at more granular levels. The reforms also make it possible to even out both the HR and budget-related census costs, and implement better operational control (§ 4). Finally, the new census format, and particularly the housing inventory, cuts down on omissions.
The population census, in its French format, meets the five core criteria set by the UN (§ 5) as well as the general quality assurance criteria governing statistical operations (§ 6).
Quality is managed end-to-end throughout the census preparation, collection, processing and publishing operations. Census quality is assured through quality control and metrics protocols plus reviews with input from all the census actors involved: communes, data collection agents, INSEE teams, and subcontractors (§ 7 and 8). Pilot tests and phased investigations are run to enhance a quantitative and qualitative analysis of census coverage (§ 9).

[Available in English and French]

The dissemination of French census results since 2009

admin — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 06:43:16 GMT

By the National Institute of Statistics (INSEE), France, 2010.

The dissemination of census results in France is annual since 2009. This distribution
takes place exclusively online, under the shape of varied products adapted to different
categories of users. Documentation and specific assistance are intended to make users
autonomous in their use of data. Dissemination products have been designed after
consultation of users, taking into account methodological characteristics of the census and
the opinion of the National Commission on Informatics and Freedoms, committee in charge
of monitoring respect for freedoms and privacy. On the second edition in 2010, products
have evolved to include early user feedback

(Paper presented at the Thirteenth Meeting of the Conference of European Statisticians, organized by ECE)

[Available in French and English]

The french use of housing tax in the new census method

admin — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 06:42:18 GMT

By the National Institute of Statistics (INSEE), France, 2010.

1. France has implemented, since 2004, a rolling census: a survey is conducted annually on a
portion of the territory. At the beginning of each year, about 14% of the population completes a
census form. At the end of each year, an official population (used in used in many financial and
regulatory areas ) is calculated, for each commune, based on the last 5 surveys. This “legal
population” is calculated for each commune (of which there are 36,682 in France) regardless of the
survey’s date in its territory.
2. The method is mainly based on population surveys. But an administrative source, the
housing tax, is used to put back to the same reference date data collected within different years. This
paper aims to present the details of this "statistical” use of administrative data.
3. When the survey in a commune under 10 000 inhabitants has taken place one or two years
before the reference date of the census, the number of homes subject to the tax allows to extrapolate
the population. The administrative data is used as a trend factor -not a level factor-, to refresh the
data from the last survey. (Part 1)
4. The first step is collecting data from the tax administration. The data is constructed
according to rules and practices that meet the fiscal targets. We had to understand their way of
elaborating and schedule update. A second phase of expertise then led to the conclusion that the
separation between occupied dwellings and other dwellings (seasonal or secondary used, vacant),
was not sufficiently reliable in the tax databases. So, the final method takes in account the evolution
of the total number of dwellings from one year to another. A correction coefficient, from the figures
collected during the previous census, takes into account the trend in the number of persons per
dwelling in the town.
5. Finally it was necessary to establish “correction” rules in the very few situations where the
data changes from year to year is clearly erroneous, with significant decreases one years followed by
increases of similar magnitude following year. (Part 2)
6. Finally, this process has been operated for 2 years (legal populations have been computed
and published in December 2008 and December 2009), and has raised no objections, especially from
the 21 000 municipalities whose population has been calculated by this method. It however requires
significant permanent human resources. (Part 3).

(Paper presented at the Joint UNECE/Eurostat Expert Group Meeting on Register-Based Censuses, The Hague, The Netherlands, 10-11 May 2010)

[Available in French and English]

Singapore’s Census of Population 2010

admin — Mon, 09 May 2011 10:47:44 GMT

By Singapore Department of Statistics, 2009.

The documents describes in summary the methodology of the 2010 Population and Housing Census in Singapore. The Census 2010 will continue to adopt a register-based approach. Basic population count and characteristics such as age, sex and nationality will be compiled from administrative sources. A sample enumeration of some 200,000 households for additional information not available from any administrative data sources would be sufficient. Leveraging on the success and lessons learned from the Census 2000, a tri-modal data collection strategy comprising Internet enumeration, Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) and field work will be used to facilitate data collection for the households in the census sample.

Data dissemination: Comparison between Census software packages

admin — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 05:34:30 GMT

By DevInfo Support Group and United Nations Statistics Division, 2011.

This document compares in a table format several census software packages in the context of data dissemination. The table includes the following software: CensusInfo, DevInfo, CsPro (Census and Survey Processing System), Redatam (REtrieval of DATa for small Areas by Microcomputer), SPSS and SAS.

Census taking in Europe: how are populations counted in 2010?

admin — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 10:02:24 GMT

By Paolo Valente, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, 2010.

It is essential to count the population so that necessary levels of service provision for schools, transport,
healthcare, etc. can be determined in each municipality. But census taking is costly, and a growing
number of people are reluctant to participate. To address these problems, the industrialized countries have
developed new, less expensive methods based on existing data obtained from surveys and population
registers. This article describes the methods employed by European countries for the population censuses
scheduled in 2010 and beyond.

Cambodia - Dissemination of 2008 General Population Census Results

admin — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 09:53:53 GMT

By the National Statistical Office of Cambodia, 2011.

This paper provides a brief overview of the on data dissemination of the 2008 General Population Census in Cambodia. Census data got disseminated by print and in electronic format, both as online and offline products.

How to use the Knowledge Base

Jan Beise — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 05:38:58 GMT

WHAT THE KNOWLEDGE BASE IS

The Census Knowledge Base is a fundamental part of the resource centre for the 2010 World Population and Housing Census Programme. It is a repository of documents relevant for the field of population and housing census taking. This includes international census methodological guidelines as well as documents on best practices in census taking.

HOW THE KNOWLEDGE BASE IS CONSTRUCTED

The database contains articles that give a short description of the document. The actual document is linked to this article as an attachment (usually in pdf format). An example for an article is this "How to Use" manual; a pdf version of this article is added as attachment. Information in the knowledge base is organized according to main census activity topics including, general planning and management, methodology, topics for data collection, enumeration, data processing, evaluation of results, and data dissemination and utilization. Articles and their attached documents are sorted according to topics based on the United Nations Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing Censuses, Revision 2. Articles can, potentially, be associated with more than one topic.

HOW TO USE THE KNOWLEDGE BASE

The knowledge base can be either browsed by topic or searched using full-text searching.

(a) For browsing click the Browse tab and then click through the desired categories and sub-categories listed in the panel on the left.

(b) For full-text searching click the Search tab which opens the search mask. The text of the search may be a census-related topic, e.g., census mapping, or even a name of a country to get all articles in the Knowledge Base that relate to a particular country.

The results for the text search include all articles in the Knowledge Base that contain the topic of the search topic which is also is highlighted, e.g., “census mapping”.

How to submit articles for the Census Knowledge Base

Suggested articles for inclusion in the Knowledge Base should be submitted by e-mail to globalcensus2010@un.org with a copy to mbogoni@un.org.

Contact us

For further information, please contact us at globalcensus2010@un.org with a copy to mbogoni@un.org; or submit a question using the "Ask a question" tab".

The Swiss Census 2010: Moving towards a comprehensive system of household and person statistics

Jan Beise — Thu, 27 May 2010 09:01:19 GMT

By the Swiss Federal Statistical Office, 2008.

This paper provides a brief overview of the ongoing conception of the
Swiss Census 2010 and the setup of a new integrated system of household and
person statistics. The Swiss Census that was held (almost) every 10 years from 1850
until 2000 will be modernized. It will be based on an annual register survey, an
annual structural survey of a large sample and five topic-based sample surveys
alternating every year and a small annual omnibus survey. The process design will
be organized along the EDIMBUS process model.

[Available in English and French]

Handbook on Population and Housing Census Editing, Rev. 1

Jan Beise — Wed, 26 May 2010 12:09:17 GMT

By United Nations Statistics Division, DESA, 2010.

The purpose of the present publication (the first revision of the Handbook published first 2001) is to provide countries with a broad overview of census and survey data editing methodology and to provide information for concerned officials on the use of various approaches to census editing. It is also intended to encourage countries to retain a history of their editing experiences, promote communication among subject matter and data processing specialists, and document the activities undertaken in the current census or survey in order to avoid duplicating effort during the next census or survey.

The Handbook reviews the advantages and disadvantages of manual and computer-assisted editing. In large censuses, manual correction is rarely economically feasible. The conditions for such corrections are usually specified in specially-designed computer programs that perform automatic error scrutiny and imputation based on other information for that person or household or for other persons or households. The bulk of the Handbook deals with the automatic correction of data. Computer edits play an important role in error detection and correction. At the computer editing stage, detailed consistency checks can be established in consultation with subject matter specialists. The errors detected can be corrected either by reference to original schedules or automatically. While automatic editing speeds up data processing, it demands careful control over the quality of incoming data.

The publication is divided into an introduction and five chapters. The introduction describes the census process and the various types of errors that occur in a census. Chapter I covers the basics of census editing. Chapters II to V present procedures and techniques for editing census data at various stages of processing. Technical considerations, particularly those pertinent to programming, are covered in the annexes.

Handbook on Population and Housing Census Editing, Revision 1, Series F, No.82 (United Nations Publication, Sales No. E.09.XVII.11), 2010.

Post Enumeration Surveys - Technical Report

Jan Beise — Wed, 26 May 2010 11:44:28 GMT

By United Nations Statistics Division, DESA, 2010.

The present manualwas developed to provide operational guidelines for the preparation andimplementation of a post enumeration survey (PES). It defines the PES andenumerates its objectives. In addition, the manual covers elements of: sampledesign; questionnaire design; planning and implementation of a PES; matching;field reconciliation; the Dual System of Estimation (DSE); tabulations; theevaluation of content error. The conclusion highlights the usefulness of a PESand care that must be taken in its implementation. It additionally, presentschallenges associated to a successful implementation of the PES and how they canbe mitigated. Finally, the Annex presents selected examples from countries thatconducted PES during the 2000 and 2010 round of censuses.

CANCEIS Experiments of Edit and Imputation with 2006 Census Test Data

Jan Beise — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 09:27:19 GMT

By U.S. Census Bureau, 2007.

In this report, we demonstrate the CANCEIS (CANadian Census Edit and Imputation System) experiments
of edit and imputation with the 2006 test data. The major effort is to translate the if-then-else
rules of current edit and imputation system of the decennial census into the decision logic tables (DLT)
of CANCEIS. We also formulate the input files that are needed to run the CANCEIS software. The advantages
of using DLT are that it is easy to understand the edit rules; and DLTs are input, not part of
the software, making it easier to change when edit rules are changed. We also compare the imputation
results between the CANCEIS experiments and the 2006 Census Edited File. The comparison is for our
curiosity because the constructed DLTs are not identical to the edit rules specified in the 2006 edit specs.
Although the edit rules are not identical, the comparison still shows some similarities between the CEF
and CANCEIS results.

Post Enumeration Survey: 2002 Uganda Census

Jan Beise — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 06:11:56 GMT

By Uganda Bureau of Statistics, 2005.

Uganda conducted the Post Enumeration Survey (PES) in January 2003 to evaluate the
coverage and content errors of 2002 population and housing census. Two major domains
of study were selected namely; urban and rural. The rural domain was stratified into four
regions; Central, Eastern, Northern and Western. A total of 350 enumeration areas were
selected as primary sampling units (PSUs) using the probability proportional to size.
Highly experienced enumerators who worked during the census were retrained to collect
data on a few selected variables. For absolute independence, organizers ensured that the
enumerators worked in different areas from those covered during the main census.
A matching exercise was undertaken after data collection, which was basically aimed at
investigating whether the PES persons/households were enumerated during the census.
Unmatched records were then reconciled in the field with the main purpose of identifying
erroneous inclusions. The CSPRo software was used for data capture, verification and
tabulation.

Main results of the UNECE-UNSD survey on the 2010 round of population and houseing censuses

Jan Beise — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 07:04:46 GMT

By UNECE, 2009.

This report provides a general overview of the results of a world wide survey conducted by the United Nations Statistic Division (UNSD) in June 2009, to collect information on the national data collections for the 2010 World Programme on Population and Housing Censuses. This survey was conducted in cooperation with the UN Regional Commissions, including the UNECE for our region. The report is based on information provided by the 50 UNECE member countries who responded to the survey, together with 4 other territories and countries member of the Conference of European Statisticians located outside the UNECE Region.