Transcript The 2011 Census in Scotland - What'll be different and why

The 2011 Census in
Scotland:
what will be different
and why
Sandy Taylor
General Register Office for Scotland
General Register Office
for
SCOTLAND
information about Scotland's people
Overview
The Census in Scotland has always been
“the same but different” – same will be true
in 2011
Highlight what these differences will be –
from 2001 and from rest of UK
Context and evidence factors which have
led to them
General Register Office
for
SCOTLAND
information about Scotland's people
Important:
health warning
We have a good idea of the questions which
will be recommended for 2011, BUT have
still to:
run and evaluate Census Rehearsal
(March 2009)
get approval from Scottish Parliament
(spring 2010)
General Register Office
for
SCOTLAND
information about Scotland's people
Differences in housing:1861-81 Census
“all building and tenements of
“ a distinct building separated by
which the whole or any part shall
party walls”
be used for the purposes of
General Register Office
for
human habitation”
SCOTLAND
information about Scotland's people
Danger of playing up the differences –
still a lot in common with 2001 and
rest of UK
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Registrars General harmonisation agreement
Questions developed by UK topic groups
Core question set
Standard counting rules (on who to count)
Consistent approach to downstream processing
UK-wide statistical disclosure control
methodology
7. Harmonisation of outputs - important for users
General Register Office
for
SCOTLAND
information about Scotland's people
Household questionnaire:
Scotland (questions for 2011)
Compared with 2001
Same
In
% same
or
Revised revised
Out
Household
8
2
3
1
75
Individual
27
5
2
6
94
General Register Office
for
SCOTLAND
information about Scotland's people
Compared with England & Wales
Household
Same
13
Individual
Visitors
England
& Wales
only
Scotland
only
1
1
% same
87
36
2
7
80
6
-
-
100
General Register Office
for
SCOTLAND
information about Scotland's people
Downstream processing
Coding rules
Coverage adjustment
Population estimates
General Register Office
for
SCOTLAND
information about Scotland's people
Reasons for differences (1)
We have listened to what users of
Scottish census data have told us what
they want.
General Register Office
for
SCOTLAND
information about Scotland's people
Reasons for differences (2)
• Lessons learned from 2001
• 2006 Census Test
• Formal consultation rounds – Autumn 2004
and Spring 2007
• Bilateral discussions with stakeholders, eg
Scottish Government and Local Authorities
• Cognitive question testing – by ONS and
specific Scottish research
General Register Office
for
SCOTLAND
information about Scotland's people
Questions dropped since 2001
• Access to bath/toilet – data obsolete
• Lowest floor level of living accommodation
– alternative (and richer) data sources
• Rented accommodation furnished or
unfurnished – no longer a major issue
• Religion of upbringing – low user demand
• Size of workforce – low user demand
General Register Office
for
SCOTLAND
information about Scotland's people
New questions
• Household income – strong user demand
(acceptability/data quality)
• Proficiency/fluency in English – strong user
demand (highest response in consultation)
• Languages spoken at home - ditto
• Date of arrival into UK – to improve data on
migration trends
• National identity – classification variable for
ethnic group, not a loyalty test!
• Long-term health conditions – strong user demand
• Visitor questions – to improve data on coverage
General Register Office
for
SCOTLAND
information about Scotland's people
Scotland-only questions
• Household income
strong user demand (despite likely data
imperfections)
• Gaelic
traditional question for census in Scotland
– continued user demand
• Long-term health conditions
strong user demand
General Register Office
for
SCOTLAND
information about Scotland's people
Questions not being recommended
for Scotland
• Number of bedrooms
no. of rooms sufficient for most users
• Second residences
limited user demand; small % of popn in
Scotland; heavy on space
• Intention to stay (short-term migrants)
subjective question - limited data utility
General Register Office
for
SCOTLAND
information about Scotland's people
Operational differences
• Household questionnaires to be pre-addressed in
2011 (blank in 2001)
• More “traditional” approach planned for
enumeration in Scotland – 95% to be delivered by
enumerators and 5% posted out (compared with
95% postout in England & Wales)
• Greater focus on work of frontline enumerators.
• Decentralised fieldwork - 22 field offices - local
postback
General Register Office
for
SCOTLAND
information about Scotland's people
Other differences
• Greater efforts to improve response rates for
hard to enumerate groups, eg young males,
minority ethnic groups, gypsy/travellers
• Separate upstream operations in Scotland –
printing, data capture and processing
General Register Office
for
SCOTLAND
information about Scotland's people
Online completion - general
• First time for census in the UK
• Working assumption of 20% opting to
complete questionnaire online – could be
more
General Register Office
for
SCOTLAND
information about Scotland's people
Online completion - advantages
•
•
•
•
Convenience and accessibility
Potentially easier for larger households
Automatic routing
Built-in checking, eg to disallow invalid
responses
• Direct links to web help facility and FAQs
• Completion in Gaelic (Scotland only)
• Reduced load for paper data capture
General Register Office
for
SCOTLAND
information about Scotland's people
Online completion - disadvantages
• Public perception fears on data security
• Potential for swamping website capacity if
oversubscribed
• Potential for modal bias in responses to questions
• Not available in all circumstances, eg for
communal establishments, households not
identified at pre-addressing stage
• People who won’t complete a paper questionnaire
won’t complete online
• Expensive to set up
General Register Office
for
SCOTLAND
information about Scotland's people
Outputs and dissemination of
census results
Early stages, but in 2011 likely to be:
• Less emphasis on pre-defined tables and
more on flexible table generation online
• Flexible approach to user-defined
geographies
• Online mapping and graphing functionality
• One-stop shop solution for UK-level data
General Register Office
for
SCOTLAND
information about Scotland's people
Summary
• Census in Scotland will be tailored to best meet
needs of Scottish data users and Scottish
circumstances
• Some differences in questions, approach to
enumeration and upstream processing, but...
• overall aim is for a harmonised census in the UK
• common methodology for downstream processing
• high degree of comparability with 2001 results
and with the rest of the UK
General Register Office
for
SCOTLAND
information about Scotland's people
We have a plan and we know where
we are going…
General Register Office
for
SCOTLAND
information about Scotland's people
Questions?
General Register Office
for
SCOTLAND
information about Scotland's people