The Census Offices' Consultation on Output Proposals: ESRC/JISC Response

THE CENSUS OFFICES’ CONSULTATION ON OUTPUT PROPOSALS:

THE ESRC/JISC RESPONSE

This page summarizes the contents of a document consult.doc which contains a response, prepared on behalf of ESRC/JISC, to the recent 2001 Census Consultation undertaken by the Census Offices.

During April 1999 the Census Offices toured the country presenting their plans for producing statistics from the 2001 Census of Population. A very full set of documents was provided for the Census Roadshows. These can be obtained by emailing customer.services@ons.gov.uk.

User organizations have been asked to answer a detailed questionnaire about data needs and to comment on the proposals. Response have been compiled on behalf of ESRC/JISC and returned for the due dates of the 4^th and 11^th June 1999. I have stressed that the response is provisional for several reasons.

It expresses intention to order data sets and not a firm commitment at this stage on the part of ESRC/JISC, as the funding line is not approved.

The detailed specifications have to be modified to meet academic requirements. For example, there is a clear need for a better set of migration tables in Standard Tables, the Census Area Statistics and the Origin-Destination Statistics.

Substantial progress needs to be made in defining how the Census Offices are to deliver flexible statistics. A requirement is set out in the response, which outlines what is needed. A Flexible Outputs Statistics System or FOSS is essential. The Census Offices have substantially reduced the amount of information to be provided in the Standard Tables and Census Area Statistics, and the design of these outputs is to be finished by the end of 1999. Many users will not be able to specify now what their research requirements for census data will be in 2002 or 2003 when the outputs are released. A FOSS will deliver those research data in the future, the requirements for which cannoy currently be defined..

The contents of the ESRC/JISC response are as follows.

Introduction
General Questionnaire (Supplement H)
Draft Key Statistics (Supplement B)
Draft Standard Tables (Supplement B) and Draft Census Area Statistics (Supplement F)
Origin-Destination Output (Supplement C)
Flexible Output Statistics System: Features
Annex 1: Schedule 1, Data Products & Documentation: Specification

Provisional list of Data Sets to be requested by ESRC/JISC

Topic Statistics

Area Statistics: Census Geography

Area Statistics: Postal Geography

Area Statistics: Electoral Geography

Area Statistcs: Travel To Work Areas

Area Statistics: Eurostat NUTS Regions

Area Statistics: Civil Parish & Community Areas

Area Statistics: Grid Geography

Boundary Data

Look-Up Tables

Microdata: Household Samples of Anonymised Records

Microdata: Individual Samples of Anonymised Records

Microdata: Local Samples of Anonymised Records

Origin-Destination Statistics

Longitudinal Study: Access Arrangements

Flexible Outputs Statistics System: Access Arrangements

For each Data Set, the individual Data Products will be requested.
Here is an example:

Data Set	TOPIC STATISTICS
Data Products	(1) Demographic (2) Migration (3) Ethnicity, Country of Birth and Religion (4) Households and Families (5) Education (6) Occupations and Socio-economic Classifications (7) Employment, Industry and Workplace (8) Journey to Work/School (9) Income, Deprivation (10) Housing (11) Communal Establishments (12) Health and Care (13) Welsh Language (Wales)/Gaelic Language (Scotland)/Irish Language (Northern Ireland)
Licence type	Standard (Statistics laid before Parliament under the 1920 Census Act)
Data Unit for delivery and specification	Census Dissemination Unit, Manchester Computing or its successor
Data Product Formats	Comma separated variable, spreadsheet
Data Product Documentation	The Data Dictionary for Topic Statistics that links to the Master Data Dictionary for the 2001 Census
Data Product Description	The products are computer readable versions of the printed tables, text definition and descriptions contained in the printed reports laid before Parliament. These tables are the most detailed tables produced from the 2001 Census and will be published for England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom. The topic tables may be produced for GORs in England (which are comparable in size to Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland). They may contain CD ROMs with Standard tables for units smaller than countries and GORs.

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