2011 Key challenges
Peter Benton
Head of 2011 Census Design Authority
Overview – key challenges
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Address register
Address register
Address register
Integrated enumeration strategy
Increasing response in the hardest areas /
groups
• Mobility / migration
• Quality Assurance
• Internet
Address Register Development
• Revised approach
• Stakeholder engagement and buy-in
• Matching address products
– Maximising match rates
– Minimising duplicate addresses
• LA involvement
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Very positive step forward
Need to maximise commitment of resources
Need to minimise addresses to check
Need a simple process
Integrated enumeration strategy (1)
• Aims
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Maximise response
Minimise variability
Minimise missed people in households
Simplicity for field staff and public
• Publicity
– Main messages
– Targeting key groups / areas
• Focus groups
• ‘Boutique’ PR agencies
• Address checking
– Where to check?
– Where to use full v visual check?
Integrated enumeration strategy (2)
• Delivery
– Where to hand deliver?
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All communals
Where address uncertainty remains
Where there are large households
All depends on approach to, and success of, address
register development and checking
– What instructions to give public when misdelivered
Integrated enumeration strategy (3)
• Follow-up
– Where to target resources initially
– Being aware of mis-delivered questionnaires
– Simple process needed for prioritising areas for
follow-up and moving staff
• But complex aim of minimising variability within hard-tocount strata within LAs
– Maintaining linkage of questionnaire to address id
Increasing response in hardest groups
/ areas
• Priorities
– Hardest 5% of LAs
– Key population subgroups
– Dealing with apathy / distrust
• Depends on field and publicity
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initial targeting of follow-up resources
good management information
flexible, simple field management processes
Good understanding of barriers / hooks and
targeting of publicity messages
Mobility / migration
• Who to include?
– Short term migrants
– Usual residents overseas
– Lost of challenges! Further research planned
• Where to count people?
– People will tell us what they want to tell us
• Questionnaire instructions / question wording
• More complex coverage assessment methodology
– Overcount: Need to check for duplicates / wrong locations
• Mass matching
• Potential to use second residence info to focus search
– Undercount:
• As in 2001, plus
– Some use of visitor info
– Potential use of address register
Quality Assurance
• Plethora of alternative sources
– Both a benefit and a challenge
• Need to understand definitional differences
– For Quality Assurance
– For explanation of differences
• Especially short term migrants and second residences
• Need for contingency approach
– What extra work will we do when we are not sure
about the results for an area
– How do we make best use of external expertise
Internet completion
Internet completion
• Steep learning curve!
• Managing peak response volumes
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25% by internet
Of those, 40% on census day
Of those, 40% 7-9 pm
1 million HHs in 2 hrs?
• Understanding bimodal differences and
impacts
• More duplicate responses