2901.0 - Census Dictionary, 2006 (Reissue)

ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 17/11/2006 Reissue

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Contents >> Glossary >> Self-enumeration

Self-enumeration

Self-enumeration is the term used to describe the way Census data are collected. The Census forms are generally completed by householders (or individuals in non-private dwellings) rather than by interviewers, although interviewers are available in some areas if required.

The ABS also implements a range of strategies which have been developed to overcome language and cultural barriers. The following Census related services assist the community:

Census Inquiry Service;
Telephone Interpreter Service;
community liaison activities with ethnic groups;
media promotion targeted towards specific groups; and
interviews, with Indigenous interviewers and specially designed forms, in the discrete communities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Self-enumeration gives rise to some deficiencies in the reliability of the information collected. Where information is obtained through self-enumeration, interviewers cannot readily clarify issues, and so there is a higher probability that questions will be misunderstood. However, self-enumeration does avoid interviewer bias and is considered to be the most cost-efficient method of collecting information from the very large number of respondents involved in the Census.