2901.0 - Census Dictionary, 2006 (Reissue)
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 23/08/2007 Reissue
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Relationship Between Families On this page: There are many aspects which can affect the quality of Census data; the following information should be considered when viewing data on Relationship Between Families (FRLF). For more information about quality issues relating to family structures refer to FMCF (Family Composition). In Census data, a maximum of three families are able to be identified within a single dwelling, in accordance with ABS standards. While this may have only a small effect on total family numbers generally, the impact may be more significant among population groups which are more likely to live in multi-generational households or with large numbers of extended family members. There has been a significant increase in the proportion of Mother's/father's family (that is, where the second or subsequent family contains the parent of the reference person of the primary family) between 2001 and 2006 (from 39.0% to 53.3%) and a corresponding decrease in that for son's/daughter's (from 41.1% to 27.1%). This is largely due to the greater emphasis placed on identifying families with dependent children as the primary family during the processing of the 2006 Census data. The ABS aims to produce high quality data from the Census. To achieve this, extensive effort is put into Census form design, collection procedures, and processing procedures. There are four principal sources of error in Census data: respondent error, processing error, partial response and undercount. Quality management of the Census program aims to reduce error as much as possible, and to provide a measure of the remaining error to data users, to allow them to use the data in an informed way. When completing their Census form, some people do not answer all the questions which apply to them. In these instances, a 'not stated' code is allocated during processing, with the exception of non-response to age, sex, marital status and place of usual residence. These variables are needed for population estimates, so they are imputed using other information on the Census form, as well as information from the previous Census. The processing of information from Census forms is now mostly automated, using scanning, Intelligent Character Recognition and other automatic processes. Quality assurance procedures are used during Census processing to ensure processing errors are kept at an acceptable level. Sample checking is undertaken during coding operations, and corrections are made where necessary. The Census form may be completed by one household member on behalf of others. Incorrect answers can be introduced to the Census form if the respondent does not understand the question or does not know the correct information about other household members. Many of these errors remain in the final data. More detailed information on data quality is available in the 2006 Census Dictionary (cat. no. 2901.0), in the section titled Managing Census Quality.
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