2039.0 - Information Paper: An Introduction to Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA), 2006

ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 26/03/2008

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Main Features Summary of Contents Chapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 What is SEIFA? Frequently Asked Questions Chapter 3 How SEIFA is constructed Chapter 4 How to Interpret SEIFA Score Distributions Chapter 5 How to Use SEIFA Chapter 6 Ensuring SEIFA Measures Disadvantage Chapter 7 Further Information About this Release	SUMMARY OF CONTENTS THIS RELEASE This release of 2006 SEIFA supersedes the preliminary release. CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION This chapter briefly introduces the 2006 SEIFA indexes, the concept SEIFA is measuring, and changes from the 2001 SEIFA. SEIFA : BRIEF OVERVIEW ABOUT THIS PAPER BRIEF HISTORY OF SEIFA THE CONCEPT OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC DISADVANTAGE WHAT IS A SEIFA INDEX? THE INDEXES SUMMARY OF CHANGES TO 2006 SEIFA CHAPTER 2. WHAT IS SEIFA? FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS This chapter describes the SEIFA numbers and briefly considers the most frequently asked questions about SEIFA. Some of these issues are discussed in greater detail in later chapters. WHAT ARE THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC INDEXES FOR AREAS (SEIFA) ? Where can I find the SEIFA indexes? In what format are the indexes available? WHAT ARE THE FOUR SETS OF NUMBERS IN EACH INDEX? What is a SEIFA score? What is a SEIFA rank? What is a SEIFA decile? What is a SEIFA percentile? THE GEOGRAPHIC AREAS What type of areas are available in SEIFA? Can I use other areas? Why is a SEIFA score not created for every CD? Are area boundaries comparable to previous years? How can a street have two different SEIFA scores? Why does my suburb have multiple SEIFA scores? WHICH INDEX DO I USE? Index selection Why does the same area have a different rank for each index? Index of Relative Socio-economic Disadvantage (IRSD) Index of Relative Socio-economic Advantage and Disadvantage (IRSAD) Index of Economic Resources (IER) Index of Education and Occupation (IEO) OTHER FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS How do I match SEIFA to my data? For how many years are SEIFA indexes available? Can I compare SEIFA across time? Is everyone disadvantaged in a low score area? What information was / was not used to construct SEIFA? Can I create my own index? Why do CDs in different deciles have the same score? CHAPTER 3. HOW SEIFA IS CONSTRUCTED SEIFA indexes are created by combining information selected from the Census. Each piece of information is first selected on the basis of a concept of relative socio-economic disadvantage; and then turned into a 'variable' which can be used in the index creation process. This chapter looks at the concept behind the indexes, how the information is selected and what a typical variable looks like. This chapter also looks briefly at principal components analysis. THE CONCEPT OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC DISADVANTAGE Disadvantage has no perfect measure SEIFA is a summary measure SEIFA is a relative measure Disadvantage is a social construct Disadvantage is subjective The international and ABS approaches INFORMATION SELECTION Information selection Impact of PCA on selection Consistency and changes VARIABLE CREATION PROCESS PRINCIPAL COMPONENTS ANALYSIS (PCA) EXAMINING THE VARIABLES Analysing the variable distributions Variable distributions and SEIFA scores CHAPTER 4. HOW TO INTERPRET SEIFA SCORE DISTRIBUTIONS This chapter aims to assist the interpretation of the index scores, using distributions, examples and maps. This chapter also briefly introduces the geographic areas used in SEIFA. WHAT DO THE INDEXES LOOK LIKE? Terms: scores, ranks, deciles and percentiles Index distributions and interpretation Index of Relative Socio-economic Disadvantage (IRSD) Distribution Index of Relative Socio-economic Advantage and Disadvantage (IRSAD) Distribution Index of Economic Resources (IER) Distribution Index of Education and Occupation (IEO) Distribution INTERPRETING SEIFA USING A COMPARISON OF TWO CDS INTERPRETING SEIFA USING MAPS INTRODUCTION TO GEOGRAPHY Creation of SEIFA for areas larger than a CD Further information on geographies CHAPTER 5. HOW TO USE SEIFA This chapter brings together some of the major issues surrounding the use of SEIFA that were discussed in previous chapters. This chapter is intended to briefly provide more detail about the use of SEIFA, but is not intended to replace a proper technical understanding of analysis. HOW TO USE SEIFA SEIFA as a general tool Impact of PCA on SEIFA Comparing SEIFA over time SEIFA is an area level measure EXAMPLES OF USE OF SEIFA Distributions for State, SD and SSD geographic areas Descriptive analysis Regression analysis and SEIFA: For more technical use Hints when using SEIFA to analyse survey data FURTHER INFORMATION CHAPTER 6. ENSURING SEIFA MEASURES DISADVANTAGE This chapter briefly discusses some of the methods used to validate SEIFA in order to ensure SEIFA measures socio-economic disadvantage. CHECKING SEIFA Checking the indexes Checking the scores SEIFA and remoteness: An example CHAPTER 7. FURTHER INFORMATION SEIFA documentation Geography documentation Census documentation APPENDIX: LIST OF SEIFA VARIABLES Index of Relative Socio-economic Disadvantage Index of Relative Socio-economic Advantage and Disadvantage Index of Economic Resources Index of Education and Occupation GLOSSARY Document Selection These documents will be presented in a new window.