Census Dissemination: Strategies, Schedule, and Archiving

1. Results of the Pre-workshop Questionnaire Session 3 United Nations Statistics Division Demographic Statistics Section

2. Overview • Topics covered by Census questionnaires • Information from the Pre-workshop questionnaire

3. Census Dates Afghanistan:Household Listing in 2003-2005 and in 2009-2010 (last census in 1979) Bangladesh: 2011 (field enumeration 15-19 March) Bhutan: 2005 (31st May) India: 2010 Housing Census (April–September); 2011 Population Enumeration (9th-28th February) - Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner

4. Census Dates (contd.) Maldives: 2006 (21-28 March) Nepal: 2011 (22nd June) Pakistan: 2011 (August-September) - postponed and new date not yet announced Sri Lanka: 2012 (20th March)

5. Geographical and Internal Migration Characteristics

6. International Migration Characteristics

7. Demographic and Social Characteristics

8. Household Characteristics

9. Fertility and Mortality

10. Educational Characteristics

11. Economic Characteristics

12. Disability

13. Housing Characteristics

14. Housing Characteristics (contd.)

15. Housing Characteristics (contd.)

16. Housing Characteristics (contd.)

17. Questionnaire on Census Data Dissemination • Dissemination and archiving strategy • Census products and services • Technological tools • Geographical Information Systems • Data confidentiality and anonymization • Meta-data and documentation • Challenges

18. Objectives of the Questionnaire • To better understand census dissemination activities at the country level • To facilitate the sharing of experience on methods of census dissemination among countries in the region

19. Dissemination and Archiving Strategy Plan/strategy for dissemination Yes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka No Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal

20. Dissemination and Archiving Strategy Plan/strategy for dissemination: components Afghanistan: Yearbook; press release/conference; website (limited scale) Bangladesh: preliminary report; national series (analytical), district/community series India: census publications, CD/DVD and official website; organization of data dissemination workshops; census in school programme; work stations in major universities are being set up to facilitate micro level research

21. Dissemination and Archiving Strategy Plan/strategy for dissemination: components Pakistan: free census reports; website (important variables with regular updates); micro-data on CDs (for sale); specific tabulations on demands (on payment); continuous data supply process for national and international agencies; Also reports for provisional results, (sub)national reports; for agencies; thematic reports; (sub)national maps. Sri Lanka: deciding basis of dissemination of standard census data (usual residence); type of publication; time frame of publications

22. Dissemination and Archiving Strategy Dissemination schedule Yes Bangladesh, Pakistan, India* No Afghanistan,Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal Afghanistan planned for the 2008 census but was postponed because of security problems * Under process for the population and housing census

23. Example Dissemination schedule: Sri Lanka

24. Dissemination and Archiving Strategy Law/regulation for archiving micro-data • In India: regulated by the 1948 census act and 1990 census rules; http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011-Act&Rules/index.html • Other countries do not havespecific laws for archiving data Bangladesh: law making is under process (expected to be effective by end of the year)

25. Dissemination and Archiving Strategy Availability of an archiving system Yes Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka No Afghanistan, Maldives, Nepal

26. Dissemination and Archiving Strategy Availability of an archiving system Bangladesh: tape (1981), CD and Optical Disk (2001); Also plan to establish an online storage system by 2013 Bhutan: established in 2011 India: The microfilming plan for census micro-data is being finalized; Pakistan: uses databases/hard drives Sri Lanka: IHSN

27. Dissemination and Archiving Strategy Availability of an archiving system Maldives: no plan for archiving system Afghanistan: plan to establish a system but no schedule yet for it Nepal: plan after releasing data in 2012 • Systems for archiving micro-data are available or planned in all countries except Maldives

28. Census Products and Services Major census products All countries produce national report (tables) and thematic reports Afghanistan: yearbook; press release/conference; website (limited scale) Bangladesh: micro-data; customized reports Bhutan: factsheets; (sub)national projections (2005-30); indicators/factsheets/maps India: query-able databases, maps

29. Census Products and Services Major census products Maldives: indicators; (sub)national graph/table/profiles Nepal: for previous census: report (tables); thematic reports/maps; sub-national population monographs; micro-data Pakistan: reports in print; micro-data on request Sri Lanka: CD-ROMs; maps, customized requests, static web pages and interactive online tools e.g. CensusInfo, REDATAM + SP

30. Census Products and Services Time it take release results • Preliminary results take ~3 months except India: ≤ 3 weeks; Sri Lanka: 4 weeks; Maldives: 0 months; Bhutan: NA • Time to final results vary • 12 months for Bhutan and the Maldives • 15 months for Bangladesh • 18 months for Afghanistan and Nepal • About 15-22 months for India • 2 -3 years for Pakistan

31. Census Products and Services New products and services for dissemination Afghanistan: website; frequent press conferences Bangladesh: CD-ROM on the web Bhutan: first census India: data sheets, new thematic reports and maps, CensusInfo and Online CensusInfo India dashboard

32. Census Products and Services New products and services for dissemination Maldives: Island level tables/graphs/wall chart(indicators)/profiles. Each week, for the media, a new atoll profile on show; Workshop; MaldivInfo Nepal: CensusInfo; new thematic reports; fact sheets Pakistan: database; thematic reports; maps Sri Lanka: interactive online tabulations and new thematic reports and maps

33. Census Products and Services Services for customized data requests Afghanistan: formal requests reviewed by the substantive department; data provided whenever possible. Bangladesh: data provided on request both in hard and soft form India: customized data and maps Maldives: upon request from agencies/institutes

34. Census Products and Services Services for customized data requests Nepal: no service Pakistan: special section Sri Lanka: only for government institutions, universities, students and some international agencies Afghanistan, India*, and Pakistan charge a fee. Maldives and Sri Lanka do not charge fees * free census data for government agencies

35. Technological Tools for dissemination • All countries use CD-ROM/DVD and static web pages • GIS mapping tools also very common except Maldives and Nepal Afghanistan: online databases Bangladesh: print, CensusInfo under processing India: dynamic web pages, GIS mapping tools Maldives: MaldivInfo

36. Technological Tools • All countriesuse interactive tools for mapping, tabulating, analyzing and presenting data in graphs or other visual formatsexcept Afghanistan, Nepal and Pakistan • India used mobile technology during census taking, SMS, Facebook and Twitter • Maldives uses SMS to reach users • Sri Lanka plan using dynamic web pages, online databases, GIS mapping tools and IHSN Toolkit

37. Websites for Interactive Tools Bangladesh: BD Info: www.bbs.gov.bd (CensusInfo is under processing) Bhutan: http://202.144.146.198/website/BhutanPHCB2005Dz/viewer.htm India: http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011-common/census_info.html Maldives: http://maldivinfo.planning.gov.mv

38. Geographic Information Systems All except Maldiveshave GIS infrastructure to capture, manage, analyze and disseminate geo-referenced population and housing census data Afghanistan: GIS data files for all villages, districts and provinces. Also publish thematic maps for easier geographical visualization of results Bangladesh: collaborates with the Space Administration Research and Remote Sensing Organization (SPAARSO) and Survey of Bangladesh

39. Geographic Information Systems (contd.) India: for census taking and dissemination Nepal: ARC GIS 9 Pakistan: Pre GIS (10) with SQL server Sri Lanka: ArcGIS and ArcInfo are used to prepare geo-referenced administrative maps up to 4th statistical area level

40. Geographic Information Systems (contd.) • All census officesexcept Maldiveshave dedicated units for managing GIS • GIS is mostly used for cartography and dissemination of geo-referenced data. • Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan also used GIS in data collection • India census office also used GIS in data collectionbut does/will not disseminate “geo-referenced census data”

41. Geographic Information Systems Smallest geographical level for geo-referenced data dissemination Afghanistan: large villages or cluster of smaller villages Bangladesh: village Bhutan: block Pakistan: Mouza; block, Point Of Interest (POI) Sri Lanka: Grama Niladhari level (4th level of the administrative structure)

42. Micro-data Confidetiality and Annonymization Statistical Law All countries have legal requirements to ensure confidentiality Afghanistan: Article binds personnel to preserve the secrecy of statistical data Bangladesh: Census Law Bhutan: Executive Order India: Census Act 1948

43. Micro-data Confidetiality and Annonymization Statistical Law (contd.) Maldives: Principles of Statistical Compilation: limits publication to aggregates; requires identity non-disclosure; and confidentiality for information that would disclose identity i.e. anonymity and confidentiality are required Nepal: Statistical Law 1959: no disclosure of individual records (confidentiality required) Pakistan: Statistical Act, 2011: ensures confidentiality; publication requires non-disclosure of individual identity or their state of affairs. Sri Lanka: Ordinances:http://www.statistics.gov.lk/PopHouSat/CPH2011/index.php?fileName=CensusOrdinance

44. Micro-data Confidetiality and Annonymization Procedures implemented/planned for anonymization • Countries exclude micro-level identification • names of individuals, households, village and enumeration area codes • serial numbers are given to individuals and households (e.g. in Maldives) Bangladesh: expect to implement/finalize with the National Strategy for the Development of Statistics Bhutan: aggregate at higher geographical levels Sri Lanka: does not release micro-data for public

45. Meta-data and Documentation • All countries provide meta-data • Mostly • Data source (all countries) • Variables and definitions (except Nepal) • Structure and formatting of the dataset (except Bhutan and Nepal) • Coding instructions and classifications (except Bhutan and Nepal) • Sampling methodology and weighting (except Maldives and Nepal)

46. Meta-data and Documentation (contd.) • Not universally provided description on • Census data processing procedures (not provided by Nepal and Pakistan) • Evaluation of census data quality (not provided by Nepal and Pakistan) • Confidentiality and anonymization procedures for the census data (not provided by Afghanistan, Bhutan and Nepal)

47. Challenges in Dissemination Common challenges are • Expertise in new technologies e.g. dynamic web pages, mobile technologyand GIS (e.g. in Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Pakistan) • Funding (e.g. in Bhutan, Nepal and Pakistan) Other challenges are Afghanistan: politics (census is basis of resource allocation); security problems limit publicity strategies; low literacy rate limits print medium outreach (uses religious leaders - educating them is also a challenge); lack of electricity and poor conditions in some areas limit radio/television outreach

48. Challenges in Dissemination (contd.) Bangladesh: meeting stipulated/short time span for dissemination India: Census Office: multiple-languages, reaching rural and remote areas, less internet penetration Maldives: presenting and addressing specific issues for decision making at policy level; improving use of data by policy makers

49. Thank you !