1289.0 - Standards for Statistics on Cultural and Language Diversity, 1999

ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 22/11/1999

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Contents >> Country of Birth of Father >> Collection methods

Standard question module

40. Country of Birth of Father is closely related to the variable Country of Birth of Mother, and the two questions are generally asked together in collections with the Country of Birth of Father question traditionally asked first. If space constraints only allow enough room for one question on parents' birthplace, it is recommended that Country of Birth of Mother be asked as, in practice, people are more likely to know their mother's country of birth with a greater degree of certainty than their father's country of birth.

41. There are two standard question modules for Country of Birth of Father:

The Question Module for Detailed Data (see below) elicits the most detailed responses and data on Country of Birth of Father.

There are two alternatives for the Question Module for Detailed Data which may be used depending on space and cost considerations:

Alternative one: a set of tick boxes and an 'Other - please specify' response category for writing a country not specified in the tick box list;
Alternative two: a tick box for Australia and an 'Other - please specify' write-in category.

Alternative two is more compact but will incur additional coding costs.

The Question Module for Minimum Data (see below) only contains the tick box options 'Australia' and 'Other country' and therefore does not collect detail on countries other than Australia.

Question module for detailed data

Alternative one

42. This standard question module is recommended for all household based surveys and other statistical and administrative collections designed to collect extensive data on Country of Birth of Father.

43. The standard question module for obtaining detailed data for the variable Country of Birth of Father follows:

	Q1. In which country was [your] [the person's] [(name)'s] father born ?
		Australia
		England
		Italy
		New Zealand
		Scotland
		Greece
		Netherlands
		Germany
		Vietnam
		Lebanon
		Other - please specify: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

44. The countries provided with this module have been included primarily on the basis of their statistical significance in the Australian context. These countries accounted for over 80% of all Country of Birth of Father responses recorded in the 1996 Census of Population and Housing. This order and list of countries may change more rapidly than the classification structure. Although China is a country in which a large proportion of Australians' fathers were born, it is excluded from the list because it is not the only country in which 'Chinese' people may be born and, if included, may bias responses. For example, if China were included in the list, Taiwan and Hong Kong would also need to be included otherwise persons with a Chinese father born in these countries may be induced to mark the China tick box option.

45. The use of this list ensures compatibility across collections and minimises coding costs. This list will be reviewed periodically as different countries assume a greater or lesser significance in the Australian context as a result of changing migration patterns. The list of tick box options provided as part of the standard question module is appropriate within the Australia-wide context. However, some users may wish to capture country of birth of father data in specific areas which have a different population composition than Australia as a whole. In these instances Census small area data can be used to identify a list of more appropriate tick boxes. Where an instrument using this question module (Question module for detailed data, alternative one) collects 'Country of birth of person' and 'Country of birth of mother', as well as 'Country of birth of father', it is reasonable to substitute the response list for 'Country of birth of person' for the response options tailored for each question, even though this may reduce coding efficiency.

46. Each response to the 'Other - please specify' option will need to be matched to an entry in the Standard Australian Classification of Countries (SACC) Coding Index (see Coding Indexes in Classification and Coding).

47. This question module is recommended for all household-based surveys and other statistical and administrative collections designed to collect extensive data on Country of Birth of Father.

Alternative two

48. If there is a need for detailed information but space constraints are an over-riding consideration then the tick boxes can be deleted (except the tick box for Australia) and respondents with an overseas born father can write in his country of birth. If this is done, however, there will be significant additional coding costs since each overseas born response will need to be matched with an entry in the SACC coding index (see Coding Indexes in Classification and Coding). This is only likely to be appropriate in small scale data collection activities and in cases where data entry of verbatim responses is an administrative requirement, or where optical character recognition data capture technologies are used, allowing automatic matching of response data with index entries. The question module would be as follows:

	Q1. In which country was [your] [the person's] [(name)'s] father born ?
		Australia
		Other - please specify: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Question module for minimum data

49. The standard question module for obtaining minimum data for the variable Country of Birth of Father follows:

	Q1. In which country was [your] [the person's] [(name)'s] father born ?
		Australia
		Other country

50. This question module is suitable for statistical and administrative collections where there is no requirement for detailed data on Country of Birth of Father. It is primarily recommended for collections that simply seek to determine whether or not a person's father is a migrant.

Standard input categories

Input categories for detailed data

51. The standard input categories for the Country of Birth of Father question module for detailed data are the base-level units of the Standard Australian Classification of Countries (SACC) (Cat. no. 1269.0) and are represented by their four-digit codes. For operational reasons, supplementary codes also exist to enable incomplete responses to be coded at the four-digit level. Note this implies that the labels attached to the supplementary codes are input categories.

52. In the interests of compatibility and comparability, the ABS urges the use of the standard four-digit classification codes wherever possible. However, it is acknowledged that in certain circumstances a three-digit code is relevant for dissemination. In such circumstances the ABS recommends the use of the three-digit International Organization for Standardization (ISO) codes. To assist users, these three-digit codes are included in the SACC with a mapping to the standard four-digit codes. In circumstances where the ISO codes are used, the ABS urges that data be produced and presented within the framework of the SACC.

Input categories for minimum data

53. The standard input categories for the Country of Birth of Father question module for minimum data are:

Australia
Other country