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How to develop a Question for Scotland’s Census in 2011

1.    Many organisations and individuals approach the Census offices asking for a question to be included in the Census. This document describes the process that would support including such questions in the Census.

How does GROS Census decide which questions to include?

2.    We take into account the following factors:

1. Continuity – Was the question present in 1991 and 2001?
2. Co-ordination and UK comparability – What is the view of the Census Offices in England, Northern Ireland and Wales? Can we ensure that output is consistent across the UK? Does it conform to the National Statistics harmonised question?
3. Users – We pay most heed to our main Census users which are Central Government, Local Government, and the National Health Service. In law, Census output must be paid for by users and we do our best to provide what the main users need.
4. Money – We take notice of how much money is resting on a question, for example the NHS may distribute funds according to the presence of old people in an area.
5. Space – New questions have to vie for space with old questions, and shorter questions have a better chance of inclusion than long questions. The Census form was 20 pages long in 2001 with 3 pages of questions per person (which we judge to be close to the limit of the burden we can place on the public).
6. International comparison – The UN and the UN ECE (Economic Commission for Europe) and Eurostat will probably make recommendations about Census topics required for international comparison.
7. Quality and Accuracy - Census questions should yield accurate, reliable and high quality data. Therefore, to preserve the statistical quality of its results the census should not:
   • Seek information not generally known and likely to be unreliable.
   • Ask for data that people are unlikely to remember accurately - for example: 'Did your family take a holiday lasting at least seven days, five years ago... one year ago...?'
   • Enquire about opinions or attitudes.
8. Acceptability – If the question is unacceptable to the public and reduces coverage significantly then we will turn it down.
9. Purpose – We guard against the Census being used to promote political, sectarian or minority interest groups.
10. Alternative sources – If the data is available elsewhere we would not include a question unless there was particular value in the small area cross-tabulated analysis specifically available from the Census.
11. Levels of geography - The information is needed all levels of geography – including both small (output areas) and national levels.

3.    That may seem an awful lot of hurdles. But we do add new questions. In 2001, we added a general health question, a question on carers and extended the travel question to place of study. Therefore, new questions are not an impossible attainment.

4.    Different sources such as administrative registers can also provide new sources of data and so remove the need for Census questions, potentially leaving space for new or improved questions.

5.    The Census Offices are not the people who finally decide the questions; we balance the proposals and factors and come to a judgement. That judgement then has to then be tested and passed by Parliament as part of the Regulation that allows us to hold a Census. In the lead up to 2001, the Scottish Parliament added a question on religion.

6.    A UK paper on the criteria for including a question in the Census is being drafted. It will reflect the factors included above.

How do you get a question considered?

7.    In the first place, it is up to you or your organisation to decide on your own strategy. Your organisation may have particular ways of working that it feels are successful, because of where its experience lies, or the nature of the subject matter. But whatever your approach, you should:

1. Build up a documented case. We want to know why the question is needed, how it will be used, and what benefits will flow from that use.
2. Create a consensus across the topic area, with other interested organisations, for inclusion of a question.
3. Discuss the formulation of the question, its responses and output classification required with your ‘constituents’.
4. Suggest the categories for the tick box responses or whether the question requires a write-in response area alone or with the tick boxes (which makes processing more expensive).
5. Gather support from existing Census users especially the NHS, Local Authorities and Central Government departments.
6. Consider whether there are others who would support your proposal – for instance equivalent organisations in the rest of the UK.

What can GROS Census do to help?

8.    It is advantageous for everybody if all new question ideas are fully aired and understood as early as possible. So we are very happy to meet people and organisations to discuss your ideas. These meetings can be at GROS or with you, your organisation’s staff or the community you represent. We can provide facilities, record meetings and outcomes and the support required to ensure you present your case to us so that we can consider it properly.

9.    This process should also enable you to understand what the census is for and how your proposals might fit into a Census and what we see as the pitfalls. On major issues we can arrange seminars if appropriate where experts are brought to bear on issues – remembering that this can take time.

10.  We can advise on question formulation and response content and we can provide a forum on our website to take such ideas forward. We will also notify our UK Census colleagues about potential questions.

11.  We also plan to start a testing programme for possible questions. This can be carried out in conjunction with you or your organisation - for ideas that we are convinced are worth pursuing. Questions which seem workable, are supported by the user community or policy interests and are acceptable to the general public may then be included in the 2006 60,000 household Census Test.

Final words

12.  The Census is not always the answer. There may be other sources for information, or interview survey data may be more appropriate than data from a self-completion form. The data a Census could collect may be inaccurate, or there may be such a small minority of cases that error rates are higher than incidence (e.g. asking if you speak Gaelic in England). Also, the Census only publishes every 10 years. Do you need data more frequently and sooner?

13.  We are very open to contact with all organisations and hope we can create a partnership that benefits you or your organisation and makes the Census more relevant to form fillers and encourages people therefore to complete a Census form.

14.  Question inclusion is only one form of co-operation. We also need to ensure that through employment policies, information and form access and working methods that the Census in Scotland is completely inclusive. If there are other issues you want to raise, please contact me.

Ian Máté 

The Census – Scotland Counts