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Sex

Sex (SEXP)

This variable records each person's sex as either male or female.

Responses to the question 'Is the person male or female?' were captured automatically from mark box responses on the form so the risk of processing error is minimal. Sample checks of the data were undertaken to ensure an acceptable level of quality.

There is no non-response for the Sex (SEXP) data item because missing values are imputed. If a form was received but there was no response to the question, Sex was imputed using other information on the form, such as name, relationship or number of children. If this process was not successful then sex was allocated randomly. Clerical intervention during processing was also required where both Male and Female responses were marked. These various types of imputations occurred for 2.2% of all persons.

In some cases where a form was not received for an occupied dwelling, the Collector was still able to obtain from the residents a count of the total number of males and females in that dwelling on Census Night. In cases where this information could not be collected, the number of males and females (and therefore SEXP) was imputed for that dwelling. More information is available from the 2011 Census non-response quality statement.

More information on SEXP is available in the 2011 Census Dictionary (cat. no. 2901.0).

Question 3 as it appeared on the 2011 Census Household Form

Image of question 3 from the 2011 Census
A text only version of this question is also available


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2011 Census Dictionary

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