United Nations Economic Commission for EuropeStatistical DivisionUnited Nations Economic Commission for EuropeStatistical Division
User Consultation Process* Helping good content and a successful
dissemination of census results *Presentation at the
Training Workshop on the Management of Population and Housing Censuses in SPECA
Member countries
Baku, Azerbaijan, 30.10 – 3.11.2006Petteri Baer, Regional Adviser, UNECE
3.11.2006 Petteri Baer - UNECE Statistical Division Slide 2
CES Recommendations In the
Recommendations for the 2010 Censuses on Population and Housing
Appendix VI includes generalized information on the User consultation process
In this presentation the experience of Statistics Canada is used as an example
3.11.2006 Petteri Baer - UNECE Statistical Division Slide 3
Censuses in Statistics Canada Census every 5 years Content Consultation every time Content Consultations since 1971 For the next Census in 2011 a Content
Consultation will be done for the 8th time Two main activities
• Content consultation• Content testing
Courtesy to Daniel Dufour, Census Marketing Manager at Statistics Canada
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The Role of Content Consultations in SC To determine and review content of survey
questionnaires To test new content To support collection activities To plan and review products and services To define geographic concepts To discuss preferred output media To build partnerships with stakeholders
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Consultation process materials in Statistics Canada (1)
A Consultation Guide• Including specific
discussion points for different audiences
• Helping Statistics Canada staff to focus on important issues in the interaction process
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Consultation process materials in Statistics Canada (2)
A Compilation of Information on Statistics Canada’s socio-economic data sources on Census related topics
To inform users of the existence of other services of SC than only the Census
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Consultation process materials in Statistics Canada (3)
A Census Consultation internet site was established
Participant list database for Census consultations
Consultation content database was established
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Consultation Mechanisms in Statistics Canada Bilateral committees between statistics
Canada and key federal departments Regular meetings with provincial /
territorial departments Advisory Committees (Labour, Social
Conditions, Health, Demography, …) Ad hoc consultations
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Two phases in the consultation (1)
The first phase• Invited written
submissions• Over 75 written
submissions were received
The second phase• Follow-up meetings
with different groups of data users
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Two phases in the consultation (2)
The second phase (continued)• 25 meetings were
organized throughout Canada
Altogether about 800 comments were collected
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Number of comments by type of organizationProvincial and Territorial Departments 326 41 %Federal Departments and Agencies 219 28 %Municipalities and Regions 141 18 %Secondary Distributors 36 5 %Academic & Professional Associations 30 4 %Advisory Committees / Working Groups 24 3 %Women’s Organizations 6 1 % Others 7 1 %
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Number of comments by Topic
Dissemination 124 16 %Geography 122 16 %Internet 70 9 %Paid Work 65 8 %Education 60 8 %Housing and Shelter Costs 51 7 %Unpaid Work 42 5 % Others 255 32 %
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The importance of internet During the consultation
period• The Consultation web site
welcomed 5 324 visits• …which resulted in 36
002 hits The most frequently
download files were• The 2006 Census
Consultation Guide (1 182) and
• The Cross-Sectional data source table (424)
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Feedback helped development of content and user relations
Received feedback was forwarded to the appropriate divisions at Statistics Canada
Comments and suggestions were given careful consideration in planning the 2006 Census and related programs
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Feedback helped development of content and user relations
Statistics Canada tested dozens of potential changes to the Census questionnaire content
The need to find a well working balance between including new phenomena and the need for continuity and comparability between censuses of different years