General Register Office for S C O T L A N D information about Scotland's people The 2011 Census in...

General Register Office

forS C O T L A N D

information about Scotland's people

The 2011 Census in Scotland:

what will be different and why

Sandy Taylor

General Register Office for Scotland


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OverviewThe 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


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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)


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Differences in housing:1861-81 Census

“all building and tenements of which the whole or any part shall

be used for the purposes of human habitation”

“ a distinct building separated by party walls”


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Danger of playing up the differences – still a lot in common with 2001 and

rest of UK

1. Registrars General harmonisation agreement2. Questions developed by UK topic groups3. Core question set 4. Standard counting rules (on who to count)5. Consistent approach to downstream processing6. UK-wide statistical disclosure control

methodology7. Harmonisation of outputs - important for users


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Household questionnaire:Scotland (questions for 2011)

Compared with 2001

Same In Out Revised

% same or

revised

Household 8 2 3 1 75

Individual 27 5 2 6 94


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Compared with England & Wales

SameScotland

only

England & Wales

only % same

Household 13 1 1 87

Individual 36 2 7 80

Visitors 6 - - 100


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Downstream processing

Coding rules

Coverage adjustment

Population estimates


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Reasons for differences (1)

We have listened to what users of Scottish census data have told us what they want.


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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


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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


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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


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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


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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


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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


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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


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Online completion - general• First time for census in the UK

• Working assumption of 20% opting to complete questionnaire online – could be more


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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


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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


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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


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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


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We have a plan and we know where we are going…


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