6227.0.30.001 - Microdata: Education and Work, May 2015  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 22/02/2016   
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USING TABLEBUILDER


For general information relating to TableBuilder and instructions on how to use the features of the TableBuilder product, please refer to the User Manual: TableBuilder (cat. no. 1406.0.55.005).

More specific information applicable to this 2015 Survey of Education and Work (SEW) TableBuilder product, which should enable users to understand, interpret and tabulate the data, is outlined below.


COUNTING UNITS AND WEIGHTS

Weighting is the process of adjusting results from a sample survey to infer results for the total population. To do this, a 'weight' is allocated to each sample unit. The weight is the value that indicates how many population units are represented by the sample unit.

As the format of the SEW TableBuilder file is at the person level, there is only one weight provided - a person weight. That is, all tables produced provide estimates of the number of people with particular characteristics. The Summation Options section in the Customise Table panel in TableBuilder contains this weight. As there is only one weight available the person weights will be automatically applied when producing tables.


CONTINUOUS DATA ITEMS


TableBuilder includes a number of continuous variables which can have a response value at any point along a continuum. Some continuous data items are allocated special codes for certain responses (e.g. 000 = 'Not applicable').
When creating ranges in TableBuilder for such continuous items, special codes will automatically be excluded. Therefore the total will show only 'valid responses' rather than all responses (including special codes).
Any special codes for continuous data items are listed in the Data Item List.

ADJUSTMENT OF CELL VALUES

To minimise the risk of identifying individuals in aggregate statistics, a technique is used to randomly adjust cell values. This technique is called perturbation. Perturbation involves small random adjustment of the statistics and is considered the most satisfactory technique for avoiding the release of identifiable statistics while maximising the range of information that can be released. These adjustments have a negligible impact on the underlying pattern of the statistics. After perturbation, a given published cell value will be consistent across all tables. However, adding up cell values to derive a total will not necessarily give the same result as published totals. The introduction of perturbation in publications ensures that these statistics are consistent with statistics released via services such as Table Builder.

ZERO VALUE CELLS


Tables generated from sample surveys will sometimes contain cells with zero values because no respondents that satisfy the parameters of the cell were in the survey. This is despite there being people in the population with those characteristics. That is, the cell may have had a value above zero if all persons in scope of the survey had been enumerated. This is an example of sampling variability which occurs with all sample surveys. Relative Standard Errors cannot be generated for zero cells. Whilst the tables may include cells with zero values, the ABS does not publish such zero estimates in Education and Work, Australia, May 2015 (cat. no. 6227.0). and recommends that TableBuilder clients do not use these data either.