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Census papers - helping you understand the data

Five new working papers in the 2001 Census Papers program have recently been released to the ABS web site. These papers provide background information on data collection and procedural issues, and discuss data quality issues that have the potential to affect the interpretation of census results. Topics now available include:

• 2001 Census of Population and Housing: Ancestry - First and Second Generation Australians (Census Paper 03/01a) focuses on Ancestry from the perspective of first and second generation Australians - the key concern of policy makers seeking to understand and provide appropriate services for immigrants and their children.
  
• 2001 Census of Population and Housing: Ancestry - Detailed Paper (Census Paper 03/01b) this paper analyses Ancestry data quality in terms of question design, field operations, and processing issues. To provide a comparative measure, this paper makes regular statistical references to 1986 Census results, the only other time Ancestry data has been collected. Information from the two snapshots together provide an insight into the changing backgrounds of the Australian population.
• 2001 Census of Population and Housing: Housing (Census Paper 03/02) evaluates the quality of 2001 Census data relating to the five major housing variables: Number of Bedrooms; Tenure Type; Rent/Mortgage Payment; Landlord Type; and Dwelling Structure.
• 2001 Census of Population and Housing: Computer and Internet Use (Census Paper 03/03) Questions about the use of computers and the Internet were introduced into the Census for the first time in 2001 for the purpose of assessing the use of information technology by Australians at home, work and other locations. This paper examines the development and processing of the information technology questions in the 2001 Census, and discusses the quality of the output produced, including Non-response rates. Census results are compared to information technology data collected from other ABS surveys.
• 2001 Census of Population and Housing: Income (Census Paper 03/04) examines the quality of Income data from the 2001 Census. Changes in question format, collection and processing procedures are analysed, as are Non-response rates, and intercensal change. Comparisons with other sources of income data provide further measures of data quality.