The 2009 Census of Population and Housing was held on 22 November 2009 and is the fourth full national census completed in the country. This 2009 Census report provides an analysis about the population of the country and its social, demographic and housing characteristics.

Abstract

IPUMS-International is an effort to inventory, preserve, harmonize, and disseminate census microdata from around the world. The project has collected the world's largest archive of publicly available census samples. The data are coded and documented consistently across countries and over time to facillitate comparative research. IPUMS-International makes these data available to qualified researchers free of charge through a web dissemination system.

The IPUMS project is a collaboration of the Minnesota Population Center, National Statistical Offices, and international data archives. Major funding is provided by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the Demographic and Behavioral Sciences Branch of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Additional support is provided by the University of Minnesota Office of the Vice President for Research, the Minnesota Population Center, and Sun Microsystems.

Geographic coverage

National coverage

Analysis unit

Households

UNITS IDENTIFIED: - Dwellings: No - Households: Yes

UNIT DESCRIPTIONS: - Group quarters: Group quarters consist of schools/colleges, barracks, prisons, hospitals and other institutions.

Universe

All persons who spent the Census Night in

Kind of data

Census/enumeration data [cen]

Sampling procedure

MICRODATA SOURCE: Constructed by census agency.

SAMPLE DESIGN: Systematic sample of every tenth household.

SAMPLE FRACTION: 10%

SAMPLE UNIVERSE: The microdata sample includes conventional households, unconventional households (i.e. group quarters and those included in special populations), and households in refugee camps.

SAMPLE SIZE (person records): 3,841,935

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

A long form was used to enumerate individuals in private households and in institutions such as schools, colleges, barracks, prisons, and hospitals. The long form includes both individual and housing characteristics. A greatly abbreviated form was used for persons in transit or who slept outdoors, in hotels or boarding houses.

Abstract

OBJECTIVES

For making current administrative decisions and prepare longer term socio-economic development policies governments and private organisations need reliable up-to-date knowledge about available natural and human resources. In a country like Solomon Islands one of the most important statistical systems for obtaining the required socio-economic information is the population census. This does not only provide a numerical description of the population at a given census date - through comparison with previous census results - but also of the ongoing trends in a sustained and sustainable development of certain population characteristics such as changes in population growth, age composition, direction of mobility and levels of urbanisation, economic activities and educational status. Such knowledge may allow the development planner to devise policies that will stem the flow of trends considered not in line with development aims. Alternatively, trends considered fitting can be identified and fostered by the introduction of appropriate policies. The success thereof can then be assessed when a next census is held some ten years later.

By the end of the project it is expected: 1. To have provided basic information on population development indicators at a particularly point in time namely November 2009. 2. To have ensured the continuity of collection of demographic and socio-economic data so that comparison with the previous census is possible and population projections can be made. 3. To have strengthened the technical and managerial capability at national and regional level, for efficient data collection, processing, analysis and dissemination.

The results of the 2009 census will be required to:

a. help produce high-quality information for planning, decision-making, and monitoring of development progress in Solomon Islands. This implies very heavy data requirements and these requirements are continuously increasing, particularly towards development planning, implementation monitoring and evaluation of Government policies outlined in NERDEP and the current Medium Term Development Strategies.

b. The data from the Census will also be used for monitoring the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG's) and other goals included in the International Conference for Population & Development (ICPD).

c. check whether the population policies, which were put in place after the 1986 census on the basis of 1976-86 population trends and then as reviewed in the early 2000s in respect of the 1999 population trends, proved effective, and

d. Establish a new benchmark and a new set of post-1999 population trends on which to base a reconsideration of existing (population) policies in the framework of sustained and sustainable development.

e. Also, the results of this census will help facilitate updating of constituencies in preparation to the 2010 national election of Solomon Islands.

f. Further to these, the results of the census will provide a sample Frame from which further household capability surveys which include a household income expenditure in 2010/2011, a second demographic and health survey (DHS) 2011/2012 and a Labour Force Survey before the next census can be undertaken.

g. The 2009 census will also provide the much needed village level data on population, resources and infrastructure for government's bottom-up approach development policy initiative.

Geographic coverage

The 2009 Population and Housing Census Covers 100% of geography as in Urban and Rural Areas for the Entire Country :

The Solomon Islands as a whole by:

• 10 Provinces
• Constituencies
• Wards
• Enumeration Areas
• Household Level

Analysis unit

• Households
• Individuals

Universe

All de facto population of Solomon Islands on census night, in private and institutional households, including expatriates and tourists, but excluding diplomats

Kind of data

Census/enumeration data [cen]

Sampling procedure

Not applicable for complete enumeration survey.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

1. QUESTIONNAIRE AND SCANNING

The different Government Ministries were consulted in formulating the questionnaire.

The need to set up the questionnaire in terms of suitability for local printing was done, using a software package called in-design, or whatever is most appropriate, which will then allow “optimisation ” for scanning with check boxes, drop-out colours (colours which are then filtered out by the scanner) etc. It is important that the questions are laid out correctly to make sure the results of the scan are possible and legible and eligible or recorded. Prior to the pilot census, the questionnaire needs to be finalised and come up with something everyone is happy with, finalise it and then make sure it works (if questions/formatting needs amendments as a result of the pilot, such changes will of course be done).

The questionnaire was finalised and a reliable printer to print the questionnaires was sought in advance through the tender bidding process. There are a whole series of things the Census office need to check here to make sure that the job gets done to a sufficient standard and that the scanning works well (good quality machines, paper, ink, air conditioned operating environment etc). There was no printing company in Honiara who can do this thus the printing done in Australia

In addition the questionnaire develop and were all in English language as people normally understand the English reading than the Solomons pidgin.The quetionnaire was designed in Adobe Illustrator as to make sure the lines and writtings all well linned and parallel to what had written.Hence the census form have to have the right color which the scannning has to read and can easily collect the characters and values.

As such the census forms had been well protected while in field and properly manage in a way which the forms will not destroyed easily by rain or sea. Hence,the census questionnaire covers Households and Housing.

Cleaning operations

Data editing took place at a number of stages throughout the processing, including:

a) After Scanning data exported to CSPro4.0 edited done by data proccessing officer. b) Secondly the Data proccessing officer pass the data to Data verifiers c) Structure checking and completeness by verifiers in terms of wrong written numbers and spellings

d) Batch editing: - Variables out of range - Fertility Questions - Coding and Value sets - Editing of Variables..eg.age,date of birth and etc.

Detailed documentation of the editing of data can be found in the "Data processing guidelines" document provided as an external resource.

Sampling error estimates

Not apply for Census

Data appraisal

The 2009 Census data was involved people from SPC and SINSO for checking and assisting in terms of cleaning,and verifying.After Census dataset cleaned on 19/09/2011,Census dataset has checked my running tabulation on Male and female by villages,and checking Villages were all coded and no village coded with zero "0".mean makesure all villages has values and makesure the villages with same name coded with unique code where they located by their on provinces.

To provide estimates of employment, unemployment, and other characteristics of the general labor force, of the population as a whole, and of various subgroups of the population. Monthly labor force data for the country are used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to determine the distribution of funds under the Job Training Partnership Act. These data are collected through combined computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) and computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI). In addition to the labor force data, the CPS basic funding provides annual data on work experience, income, and migration from the March Annual Demographic Supplement and on school enrollment of the population from the October Supplement. Other supplements, some of which are sponsored by other agencies, are conducted biennially or intermittently.

Abstract

The 2009 Population and Housing Census was implemented according to Prime Ministerial Decision No. 94/2008/QD-TTg dated 10 July, 2008. This was the fourth population census and the third housing census implemented in Vietnam since the nation was reunified in 1975. The Census aimed to collect basic data on the population and housing for the entire territory of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, to provide data for research and analysis of population and housing developments nationally and for each locality. It responded to information needs for assessing implementation of socio-economic development plans covering the period 2001 to 2010, for developing the socio-economic development plans for 2011 to 2020 and for monitoring performance on Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations to which the Vietnamese Government is committed.

Geographic coverage

National

Analysis unit

Households Individuals Dwelling

Universe

The 2009 Population and Housing Census enumerated all Vietnamese regularly residing in the territory of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam at the reference point of 0:00 on 01 April, 2009; Vietnamese citizens given permission by the authorities to travel overseas and still within the authorized period; deaths (members of the household) that occurred between the first day of the Lunar Year of the Rat (07 February, 2008) to 31 March, 2009; and residential housing of the population.

Population and housing censuses were implemented simultaneously taking the household as the survey unit. The household could include one individual who eats and resides alone or a group of individuals who eat and reside together. For household with 2 persons and over, its members may or may not share a common budget; or be related by blood or not; or marital or adoptive relationship or not; or in combination of both. The household head was the main respondent. For information of which the head of household was unaware, the enumerator was required to directly interview the survey subject. For information on labour and employment, the enumerator was required to directly interview all respondents aged 15 and older; for questions on births, the enumerator was required to directly interview women in childbearing ages (from 15 to 49 years of age) to determine the responses. For information on housing, the enumerator was required to directly survey the household head and/or combine this with direct observation to determine the information to record in the forms.

Kind of data

Census/enumeration data [cen]

Sampling procedure

Sample size In the 2009 Population and Housing Census, besides a full enumeration, some indicators were collected in a sample survey. The census sample survey was designed to: (1) expand survey contents; (2) improve survey quality, especially for sensitive and complicated questions; and (3) save on survey costs. To improve the efficiency and reliability of the census sample data, the sample size was 15% of the total population of the country. The sample of the census is a single-stage cluster sample design with stratification and systematic sample selection. Sample selection is implemented in two steps: Step 1, select the strata to determine the sample size for each district. Step 2, independently and systematically select from the sample frame of enumeration areas in each district to determine the specific enumeration areas in the sample.

The sample size of the two census sample surveys in 1989 and 1999 was 5% and 3% respectively, only representative at the provincial level; sample survey indicators covered fertility history of women aged 15-49 years and deaths in the household in the previous 12 months. In the 2009 Census, besides the above two indicators, many other indicators were also included in the census sample survey. The census sample survey provides data representative at the district level. When determining sample size and allocation, the frequency of events was taken into account for various indicators including birth and deaths in the 12 months prior to the survey, and the number of people unemployed in urban areas, etc.; efforts were also made to ensure the ability to compare results between districts within the same province/municipality and between provinces/ municipalities.

Stratification and sample allocation across strata To ensure representativeness of the sample for each district throughout the country and because the population size is not uniform across districts or provinces, the Central Steering Committee decided to allocate the sample directly to 682 out of 684 districts (excluding 2 island districts) throughout the country in 2 steps:

Step 1: Determine the sampling rate f(r) for 3 regions including: - Region 1: including 132 urban districts; - Region 2: including 294 delta and coastal rural districts; - Region 3: including 256 mountainous and island districts.

Step 2: Allocate the sample across districts in each region based on the sampling rates for each region as determined in Step 1 using the inverse sampling allocation method. Through applying to this allocation method, the number of sampling units in each small district is increased adequately to ensure representativeness. The formula used to calculate the sample rate for each district in each region is provided on page 22 of the Census Report (Part1) provided as external resources.

Sampling unit and method The sampling unit is the enumeration area that was ascertained in the step to delimit enumeration areas. The sampling frame is the list of all enumeration areas that was made following the order of the list of administrative units at the commune level within each district. In this way, the whole country has 682 sample frames (682 strata).

The provincial steering committee was responsible for selecting sample enumeration areas using systematic random sampling as follows: Step 1: Take the total of all enumeration areas in the district, divide by the number of enumeration areas needed in the sampleto determine the skip (k), which is calculated with precision up to 1 decimal point. Step 2: Select the first enumeration area (b, with b = k), corresponding to the first enumeration area to be selected. Each successive enumeration area to be selected will correspond to the order number: bi = b + i x k ; here i = 1, 2, 3…. Stopping when the number of enumeration areas needed has been selected.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The questionnaires and survey materials were designed and tested three times before final approval.

Cleaning operations

The 2009 Population and Housing Census applied Intelligent Character Recognition technology/scanning technology for direct data entry from census forms to the computer to replace the traditional keyboard data entry that is commonly used in Vietnam at present. This is an advanced technology, and the first time it had been applied in a statistical survey in Vietnam. Preparatory work had to be done carefully and meticulously. Through organization of many workshops and 7 pilot applications with technical and financial assistance from the UNFPA, the new technology was mastered, and the Census Steering Committee Standing Committee approved use of this technology to process the entire results of the 2009 Population and Housing Census. The Government decided to allocate funds through the project on Modernization of the General Statistics Office using World Bank Loan funds to procure the scanning system equipment, software and technical assistance. The successful use of this technology will create a precedent for continued use of scanning technology in other statistical surveys

After checking and coding at the Provincial/municipal steering committee office, (both the complete census and the census sample survey), forms were checked and accepted then transferred for processing to one of three Statistical Computing Centres in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang. Data processing was implemented in only a few locations, following standard procedures and a fixed timeline. The steering committee at each level and processing centres fully implemented their assigned responsibilities, especially the checking, transmitting and maintenance of survey forms in good condition. The Central Steering Committee collaborated with the Statistical Computer Centres to set up a plan for processing and compiling results, setting up tabulation plans, interpreting and synthesizing output tables, and developing options for extrapolating from sample to population estimates.

The General Statistics Office completed the work of developing software applications and training using ReadSoft software (the one used in pilot testing), organized training on network management and training on systems and programs for logic checks and data editing, developed a data processing protocol, integrated these systems and completed data flow management programs. The General Statistics Office collaborated with the contractor, FPT, to develop software applications, train staff, testl the system and complete the programs using the new TIS and E-form software.

Compilation of results was implemented in 2 stages. In stage 1 data were compiled from the Census Sample Survey by the end of October, 2009, and in stage 2, data were compiled from the completed census forms, with work finalized in May 2010.

Sampling error estimates

Estimates from the Census sample survey were affected by two types of error: (1) non-sampling error, and (2) sampling error. Non-sampling error is the result of errors in implementation of data collection and processing such as visiting the

Abstract

The key objective of every census is to count every person (man, woman, child) resident in the country on census night, and also collect information on assorted demographic (sex, age, marital status, citizenship) and socio-economic (education/qualifications; labour force and economic activity) information, as well as data pertinent to household and housing characteristics. This count provides a complete picture of the population make-up in each village and town, of each island and region, thus allowing for an assessment of demographic change over time.

With Vanuatu, as many of her Pacific island neighbours increasingly embracing a culture of informed, or evidence-based policy development and decision-making, national census databases, and the possibility to extract complex cross-tabulations as well as a host of important sub-regional and small-area relevant information, are essential to feed a growing demand for data and information in both public and private sectors.

Educational, health and manpower planning, for example, including assessments of future demands for staffing, facilities, and programmed budgets, would not be possible without periodic censuses, and Government efforts to monitor development progress, such as in the context of its Millennium Development Goal (MDG) commitments, would also suffer greatly, if not be outright impossible, without reliable data provided by regular national population counts and updates.

While regular national-level surveys, such as Household Income and Expenditure Surveys, Labour force surveys, agriculture surveys and demographic and health surveys - to name but just a few - provide important data and information across specific sectors, these surveys could not be sustained or managed without a national sampling frame (which a census data provides). And the calculation and measurement of all population-based development indicators, such as most MDG indicators, would not be possible without up-to-date population statistics, which usually come from a census or from projections and estimates that are based on census data.

With most of this information now already 9 years old (and thus quite outdated), and in the absence of reliable population-register type databases, such as those provided from well-functional civil registration (births and deaths) and migration-recording systems, the 2009 Vanuatu census of population and housing, will provide much needed demographic, social and economic statistics that are essential for policy development, national development planning, and the regular monitoring of development progress.

Apart from achieving its general aims and objectives in delivering updated population, social and economic statistics, the 2009 census also represented a major national capacity building exercise, with most Vanuatu National Statistics Office (VNSO) staff who were involved with the census, having no prior census experience. Having been carefully planned and resourced, all 2009 census activities have potentially provided very useful (and desired) on-the-job-training for VNSO staff, right across the spectrum of professional rank and responsibilities. It also provided for short-term overseas training and professional attachments (at SPC or ABS, or elsewhere) for a limited number of professional staff, who subsequently mentored other staff in the Vanuatu National Statistics Office (VNSO).

With some key senior VNSO members involved with the 1999 census, they provided a wealth of experience that was available in-house and not to mention the ongoing surveys such HIES and Agriculture Census that the office has conducted before the census proper. The VNSO has also professional officers who have qualified in the fields of Population and Demography who had manned the project, and with this type of resources, we managed to conduct yet another successful project of the 2009 census.

While some short-term census advisory missions were fielded from SPC Demography/ Population programme staff, standard SPC technical assistance policy arrangements could not cater for long-term, or repeated in-country assignments. However, other relevant donors were invited for the longer-term attachments of TA expertise to the VNSO.

Geographic coverage

The 2009 Population and Housing Census Geographical Coverage included:

• National (Vanuatu)
• Provinces (Torba, Sanma, Penama, Malampa, Shefa, tafea)
• Inhabited Islands (From Hiu, Torres Islands to Aneityum, Southern Islands)
• Ennumeration Areas (EA assigned to each enumerator)
• Villages / Towns
• Household or Dwelling

Analysis unit

The Unit Analysis of the 2009 Population and Housing Census included: - Household - Person (Population)

Universe

The census covered all households and individuals throguhout Vanuatu

Kind of data

Census/enumeration data [cen]

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The questionnaire basically has 5 sections; the geographical identifiers, the general population questions and education, labour force questions, the women and fertility questions and the housing questions.The geographical identifiers include the Village name, GPS code, EA number, household number and the Enumerator ID.The Person questions contain the person demographics including the education level and labour force status. A section on fertility for women in the reproductive age is also included. All have been guided by 'skip patterns' to guide the flow of questions asked.Household questions contained the basic description of the house materials, tenure, access to water and sanitation, energy, durables, use of treated mosquito nest and internet access.

Cleaning operations

In the Census proper, the Optical Character Recognition (OCR) system (ReadSoft Application System) was used to capture information from the completed forms. The captured data were then exported to MS Access database system for further editing and cleaning before the final data is transferred to CSPro for more editing and quality checks before the data was finalised. All system files and data files were stored in the server under 2009PopCensus folder. Three temporary data operators were hired to do the job, under the supervision of Rara Soro, the system analyst for VNSO. No data was stored in work stations, because all data were directly written to the DATA folder in the server.

Range checks and basic checks (online edits) were built in the manual data entry system, while the complex edits were written in a separate batch edit program. If the system encounter and error during data entry, an error message will be displayed and the data operator cannot proceed unless the error displayed is fixed. e.g Males + Females = Total Persons. Please re-enter. It was strongly recommended to the data operators not to make up answers but consult the supervisor if he/she cannot fix it. Listed below are the checks that were built into the data entry system.

01 Person 1 must be the head of household 02 Sex against relationship 03 Age against date of birth 04 Marital status - Married people should be age 15+ 05 Spouse should be married 06 P9, P10, P11 against village enumerated 07 Never been to school but can use internet - Is this possible 08 Check for multiple head or spouse in the household 09 Husband and wife of same sex 10 Total persons match total people in personal form 11 Total children born and live in household (F2a) against total persons total 12 Age difference of head and child is less than 13 13 Total children born (F4) against total alive(F2) + total died(F3)

A separate batch edit program was developed for further data cleaning. All online edits were also re-written in this program to make sure that all errors flagged out during data entry were fixed. Some of the errors detected are not really errors, but still requires double checking, and if the answer recorded is the correct answer, don't change it. The batch edit was performed on each batch, and also on the concatenated batch. Below is the summary list of errors generated from manual data entry data before batch editing.

MDE Error message summary
Age does not match date of birth 272 Total children born and living in household (F2a) > total in 1
Attend school full-time in P12 but also working 16
Too young for highest education recorded 14
Highest education completed does not match with grade currently attending 80

Age had the highest errors rate, and this is due to an error in the logic statement, otherwise all ages that do not match their date of birth are corrected during data entry.

The Data capturing (Scanning) and Editing process took about 6 months to be completed but then more checks were made after that to finalise the dataset before publishing the results.

During re-coding of zero's and blanks, a couple of batch edit statement written in the batch edit program were wrong, and it created errors in the scanned data. The batch edit was suppose to recode only those people that didn't answer questions P19, P23 - P25, but instead it recoded valid codes as well to blanks. This was only picked up when tables were generated and numbers were found to be so much different in manual data entry and scanned data. Another batch edit program was developed to recode and fix this problem.

Data appraisal

Household characteristics and basic demographic variables for the census data was used in comparision with the 1999 census data to determine the accuracy of the pilot data. Some of the key indicators used for comparision are the household size, sex ratio, educational attainment, employment status. A pyramid was also used

This dataset shows the households headed by females and their ownership of assets based on region and county

Abstract

The key objective of every census is to count every person (man, woman, child) resident in the country on census night, and also collect information on assorted demographic (sex, age, marital status, citizenship) and socio-economic (education/qualifications; labour force and economic activity) information, as well as data pertinent to household and housing characteristics. This count provides a complete picture of the population make-up in each village and town, of each island and region, thus allowing for an assessment of demographic change over time.

With Vanuatu, as many of her Pacific island neighbours increasingly embracing a culture of informed, or evidence-based policy development and decision-making, national census databases, and the possibility to extract complex cross-tabulations as well as a host of important sub-regional and small-area relevant information, are essential to feed a growing demand for data and information in both public and private sectors.

Educational, health and manpower planning, for example, including assessments of future demands for staffing, facilities, and programmed budgets, would not be possible without periodic censuses, and Government efforts to monitor development progress, such as in the context of its Millennium Development Goal (MDG) commitments, would also suffer greatly, if not be outright impossible, without reliable data provided by regular national population counts and updates.

While regular national-level surveys, such as Household Income and Expenditure Surveys, Labour force surveys, agriculture surveys and demographic and health surveys - to name but just a few - provide important data and information across specific sectors, these surveys could not be sustained or managed without a national sampling frame (which a census data provides). And the calculation and measurement of all population-based development indicators, such as most MDG indicators, would not be possible without up-to-date population statistics, which usually come from a census or from projections and estimates that are based on census data.

With most of this information now already 9 years old (and thus quite outdated), and in the absence of reliable population-register type databases, such as those provided from well-functional civil registration (births and deaths) and migration-recording systems, the 2009 Vanuatu census of population and housing, will provide much needed demographic, social and economic statistics that are essential for policy development, national development planning, and the regular monitoring of development progress.

Apart from achieving its general aims and objectives in delivering updated population, social and economic statistics, the 2009 census also represented a major national capacity building exercise, with most Vanuatu National Statistics Office (VNSO) staff who were involved with the census, having no prior census experience. Having been carefully planned and resourced, all 2009 census activities have potentially provided very useful (and desired) on-the-job-training for VNSO staff, right across the spectrum of professional rank and responsibilities. It also provided for short-term overseas training and professional attachments (at SPC or ABS, or elsewhere) for a limited number of professional staff, who subsequently mentored other staff in the Vanuatu National Statistics Office (VNSO).

With some key senior VNSO members involved with the 1999 census, provides a wealth of experience that was available in-house and not to mention the ongoing surveys such HIES and Agriculture Census that the office has conducted before the census proper. The VNSO has also professional officers who have qualified in the fields of Population and Demography who had manned the project, and with this type of resources, we managed to conduct yet another successful project of the 2009 census.

While some short-term census advisory missions were fielded from SPC Demography/ Population programme staff, standard SPC technical assistance policy arrangements could not cater for long-term, or repeated in-country assignments. However, other relevant donors were invited for the longer-term attachments of TA expertise to the VNSO.

Geographic coverage

The 2009 Population and Housing Census Geographical Coverage included:

• National (Vanuatu)
• Provinces (Torba, Sanma, Penama, Malampa, Shefa, tafea)
• Inhabited Islands (From Hiu, Torres Islands to Aneityum, Southern Islands)
• Enumeration Areas (EA assigned to each enumerator)
• Villages / Towns

Analysis unit

The Unit Analysis of the 2009 Population and Housing Census included: - Household - Person (Population)

Universe

The census cover all households and individuals throughout Vanuatu.

Kind of data

Census/enumeration data [cen]

Sampling procedure

Not Applicable

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The questionnaire basically has 5 sections; the geographical identifiers, the general population questions and education, labour force questions, the women and fertility questions and the housing questions.

The geographical identifiers contains the Village name, GPS code, EA number, household number and the Enumerator ID The Person questions contain the person demographics including the education level and labour force status. A section on fertility for women in the reproductive age is also included. all have been guided by 'skips' to guide the flow of questions asked

Household questions contains the basic description of the house materials, tenure, access to water and sanitation, energy, durables, use of treated mosquito nest and internet access.

Cleaning operations

In the Census proper, the Optical Character Recognition (OCR) system (ReadSoft Application System) was used to capture information from the completed forms. The captured data were then exported to MS Access database system for further editing and cleaning before the final data is transferred to CSPro for more editing and quality checks before the data was finalised. All system files and data files were stored in the server under 2009PopCensus folder. Three temporary data operators were hired to do the job, under the supervision of Rara Soro, the system analyst for VNSO. No data was stored in work stations, because all data were directly written to the DATA folder in the server.

Range checks and basic checks (online edits) were built in the manual data entry system, while the complex edits were written in a separate batch edit program. If the system encounter and error during data entry, an error message will be displayed and the data operator cannot proceed unless the error displayed is fixed. e.g Males + Females = Total Persons. Please re-enter. It was strongly recommended to the data operators not to make up answers but consult the supervisor if he/she cannot fix it. Listed below are the checks that were built into the data entry system.

01 Person 1 must be the head of household 02 Sex against relationship 03 Age against date of birth 04 Marital status - Married people should be age 15+ 05 Spouse should be married 06 P9, P10, P11 against village enumerated 07 Never been to school but can use internet - Is this possible 08 Check for multiple head or spouse in the household 09 Husband and wife of same sex 10 Total persons match total people in personal form 11 Total children born and live in household (F2a) against total persons total 12 Age difference of head and child is less than 13 13 Total children born (F4) against total alive(F2) + total died(F3)

A separate batch edit program was developed for further data cleaning. All online edits were also re-written in this program to make sure that all errors flagged out during data entry were fixed. Some of the errors detected are not really errors, but still requires double checking, and if the answer recorded is the correct answer, don't change it. The batch edit was performed on each batch, and also on the concatenated batch. Below is the summary list of errors generated from manual data entry data before batch editing.

MDE Error message summary
Age does not match date of birth 272 Total children born and living in household (F2a) > total in 1
Attend school full-time in P12 but also working 16
Too young for highest education recorded 14
Highest ed completed do not match with grade currently attending 80

Age had the highest errors rate, and this is due to an error in the logic statement, otherwise all ages that do not match their date of birth are corrected during data entry.

The Data capturing (Scanning) and Editing process took about 6 months to be completed but then more checks were made after that to finalise the dataset before publishing the results.

During re-coding of zero's and blanks, a couple of batch edit statement written in the batch edit program were wrong, and it created errors in the scanned data. The batch edit was suppose to recode only those people that didn't answer questions P19, P23 - P25, but instead it recoded valid codes as well to blanks. This was only picked up when tables were generated and numbers were found to be so much different in manual data entry and scanned data. Another batch edit program was developed to recode and fix this problem.

Sampling error estimates

Not Applicable

Data appraisal

Household characteristics and basic demographic variables for the census data was used in comparision with the 1999 census data to determine the accuracy of the pilot data. Some of the key indicators used for comparision are the

Abstract

The 2009 Agricultural Census was undertaken by the Samoa Bureau of Statistics in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. The Census collected a large volume of information pertaining to the agricultural activities of households. Enumeration was carried out for 5 weeks in November/December 2009 by enumerators selected from the villages through interview and a basic test. The test included basic mathematical skills, knowledge of agricultural practices and map reading. This was to ensure that the enumerators are of high quality. The officers of the Samoa Bureau of Statistics and the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries were allocated to specified areas as supervisors.

Geographic coverage

National

Analysis unit

Households (Agricultural and non-Agricultural) Agricultural Holdings

Kind of data

Census/enumeration data [cen]

Sampling procedure

For any census to be successfully carried out, good household lists and enumeration area maps are pre-requisites. A list of households in respect of each enumeration block in the country was prepared in 2005 for the 2006 Population Census. The updated household list from the 2006 Population Census was used as a frame for the Agricultural Census.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The methodology for carrying out the census of Agriculture in Samoa was a combination of complete count and sample survey. Thus the census was basically two part operation. The first part involved all households who were required to complete the Household Form. The households identified as agriculturally active from the Household Forms (Subsistence, Subsistence and Cash and Commercial) were required to complete the Holding Form for every holding operated.

The second part of the questionnaire was designed to cover 25 percent of all agricultural holdings as identified in the first part, with selection made on systematic sample basis (every fourth holding selected). Thus while the Household Form was canvassed in respect of all households, the Holding Form was to be completed by agriculturally active Households only and the Parcel Form was completed in respect of 25 percent of the agricultural holdings.

Printing of Questionnaires and Instruction Manuals In all there were three questionnaires and two instruction manuals one in Samoan and one in English. The three questionnaires were printed on different coloured paper for ease of identification. All census documents were printed and distributed well in advance of the start of the field work.

Cleaning operations

The Secretariat of Pacific community (SPC) provided technical assistance for data processing. The TA was delivered in two separate missions, first to implement data entry, and the second mission was to perform data editing and generate final tabulation for final report. Prior to the start of data entry, Siaumau Misela of Samoa Bureau of Statistics was invited to SPC in December 2009 for a two weeks attachment. Misela worked closely with the SPC data processing specialist in developing the data entry system using CSPro (Census and Survey Processing System). The first mission of the data processing specialist in January 2010 was to finalize and implement data entry. The second mission in October 2010 concentrated mainly on data editing, data recode and generating final tables. The data processing (manual and computer) was done in the Data Processing Section of the Samoa Bureau of Statistics. To facilitate the manual and machine processing of the forms, questionnaires from the same enumeration area were bound together in a batch / folio and assigned a batch id. This id consists of the District, Village and the enumeration area codes. These forms were subjected to manual data scrutiny and corrections. The data entry was implemented using ENTRY of CSPro, and BATCH EDIT for the validation of encoded data items. Data entry was run through a network, which link all data entry work station to a server. A team of 6 staff (1 permanent and 5 temporary) were assigned to do the data processing.

Data appraisal

Fifty percent key verification was done on all the batches, and questionnaires with key verification error rate higher than the tolerance limit was subjected to 100 percent key verification. Additional checks were added in the validation program. Detected errors and inconsistencies were corrected in the batch files.

Abstract

IPUMS-International is an effort to inventory, preserve, harmonize, and disseminate census microdata from around the world. The project has collected the world's largest archive of publicly available census samples. The data are coded and documented consistently across countries and over time to facillitate comparative research. IPUMS-International makes these data available to qualified researchers free of charge through a web dissemination system.

The IPUMS project is a collaboration of the Minnesota Population Center, National Statistical Offices, and international data archives. Major funding is provided by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the Demographic and Behavioral Sciences Branch of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Additional support is provided by the University of Minnesota Office of the Vice President for Research, the Minnesota Population Center, and Sun Microsystems.

Geographic coverage

National coverage

Analysis unit

Occupied dwellings

UNITS IDENTIFIED: - Households: Yes - Individuals: Yes - Group quarters: No - Special populations: Mortality at household level available as unharmonized variables.

UNIT DESCRIPTIONS: - Group quarters: Households living in tent/camp/inn/hotel: or collective house, barrack, campus, etc. or no living house.

Universe

Residents in Vietnam, including those usually resident in Vietnam, but who were overseas at the time of the census; special groups were enumerated, including the police force, army and foreign affairs.

Kind of data

Census/enumeration data [cen]

Sampling procedure

MICRODATA SOURCE: Constructed by census agency. Microdata files from CD dated November, 2010

SAMPLE DESIGN: Stratified systematic sample of enumeration areas. Strata correspond to 3 groups of districts. All dwellings/households within an enumeration area are included in the sample.

SAMPLE FRACTION: 15%

SAMPLE SIZE (person records): 14,177,590

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

Two forms: long (15% sample survey) and short (remaining 85% of the population). The long form contained both the core and sample questions.

Abstract

The 2009 Census falls within the 2010 Round of Pacific Census, ten years after the 1999 census.

The results of the 2009 census will be required to:

a. help produce high-quality information for planning, decision-making, and monitoring of development progress in Solomon Islands. This implies very heavy data requirements and these requirements are continuously increasing, particularly towards development planning, implementation monitoring and evaluation of Government policies outlined in NERDEP and the current Medium Term Development Strategies.

b. The data from the Census will also be used for monitoring the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG's) and other goals included in the International Conference for Population & Development (ICPD).

c. check whether the population policies, which were put in place after the 1986 census on the basis of 1976-86 population trends and then as reviewed in the early 2000s in respect of the 1999 population trends, proved effective, and

d. Establish a new benchmark and a new set of post-1999 population trends on which to base a reconsideration of existing (population) policies in the framework of sustained and sustainable development.

e. Also, the results of this census will help facilitate updating of constituencies in preparation to the 2010 national election of Solomon Islands.

f. Further to these, the results of the census will provide a sample Frame from which further household capability surveys which include a household income expenditure in 2010/2011, a second demographic and health survey (DHS) 2011/2012 and a Labour Force Survey before the next census can be undertaken.

g. The 2009 census will also provide the much needed village level data on population, resources and infrastructure for government's bottom-up approach development policy initiative.

Accepting the notion that a new census is required and that a number of overseas aid organisations will be able to support the government on an undertaking similar to the 1999 census, the following points are considered in more detail in this project proposal.

It is recommended that the present census interval should not exceed ten years and that the same month should be selected in 2009, for the period of enumeration as in 1999, mainly to ensure that seasonal factors would not reduce the comparability of the information provided by the two censuses. As a result of this recommendation, 22nd November 2009 is therefore proposed as the new census date. This date will be formally announced by the Prime Minister in line with the Census Act.

For making current administrative decisions and prepare longer term socio-economic development policies governments and private organisations need reliable up-to-date knowledge about available natural and human resources. In a country like Solomon Islands one of the most important statistical systems for obtaining the required socio-economic information is the population census. This does not only provide a numerical description of the population at a given census date - through comparison with previous census results - but also of the ongoing trends in a sustained and sustainable development of certain population characteristics such as changes in population growth, age composition, direction of mobility and levels of urbanisation, economic activities and educational status. Such knowledge may allow the development planner to devise policies that will stem the flow of trends considered not in line with development aims. Alternatively, trends considered fitting can be identified and fostered by the introduction of appropriate policies. The success thereof can then be assessed when a next census is held some ten years later.

Geographic coverage

The 2009 Population and Housing Census Covers 100% of geography as in Urban and Rural Areas for the Entire Country :

The Solomon Islands as a whole by:

• 10 Provinces
• Constituencies
• Wards
• Enumeration Areas
• Household Level

Analysis unit

1. Population ( Urban and Rural )
2. Household ( Urban and Rural )
3. Provincial records
4. National Records
5. Geography

Universe

The National Population and Housing Census 2009,covers the entire Population,the ones in the Hotels,Motels,Ships which was collected when all ship arrived at wharf during the Census times. It covers all overseas people living in and aorund Solomon Islands,Urban and Rural,excluded the Diplomats. In overroll:- This is any individual member of the household or institution who is present on the census night and is therefore counted in the census. This includes every young and old, male of female, expatriates or residents, tourist and locals alike.

Kind of data

Census/enumeration data [cen]

Sampling procedure

Census - Not applicable for complete enumeration survey

This section only apply for Sample Surveys.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

1. QUESTIONNAIRE AND SCANNING

The need to set up the questionnaire in terms of suitability for local printing have done, using a software package called in-design, or whatever is most appropriate, which will then allow “optimisation ” for scanning with check boxes, drop-out colours (colours which are then filtered out by the scanner) etc. It is important that the questions are laid out correctly to make sure the results of the scan are possible and legible and eligible or recorded. Prior to the pilot census, the questionnaire needs to be finalised and come up with something everyone is happy with, finalise it and then make sure it works (if questions/formatting needs amendments as a result of the pilot, such changes will of course be done).

The questionnaire was finalised and a reliable printer to print the questionnaires was sought in advance through the tender bidding process. There are a whole series of things the Census office need to check here to make sure that the job gets done to a sufficient standard and that the scanning works well (good quality machines, paper, ink, air conditioned operating environment etc). There was no printing company in Honiara who can do this thus the printing done in Australia

In addition the questionnaire develop and were all in English language as people normally understand the english reading than the Solomons pidgin.The quetionnaire was design in Adobe Illustrator as to make sure the lines and writtings all well linned and parallel to what had written.Hence the census form have to have the right color which the scannning has to read and can easily collect the characters and values. As such the census forms had been well protected while in field and properly manage in a way which the forms will not distroyed easily by rain or sea. Hence,the census questionnaire covers Households and Housing.All Persons and GPS,more detailed in Scope section.

Cleaning operations

Data editing took place at a number of stages throughout the processing, including:

a) After Scanning data exported to CSPro4.0 edited done by data proccessing officer. b) Secondly the Data proccessing officer pass the data to Data verifiers c) Structure checking and completeness by verifiers in terms of wrong written numbers and spellings

d) Batch editing: - Variables out of range - Fertility Questions - Coding and Value sets - Editing of Variables..eg.age,date of birth and etc.

Detailed documentation of the editing of data can be found in the "Data processing guidelines" document provided as an external resource.

Sampling error estimates

Not apply for Census

Data appraisal

The 2009 Census data was involved people from SPC and SINSO for checking and assisting in terms of cleaning,and verifying.After Census dataset cleaned on 19/09/2011,Census dataset has checked my running tabulation on Male and female by villages,and checking Villages were all coded and no village coded with zero "0".mean makesure all villages has values and makesure the villages with same name coded with unique code where they located by their on provinces.

2009 Census Volume II Table 3: Population, 3 years and above Attending School by Sex, and Highest Level of Education Reached County estimates

2009 census data on total population by gender, area in square kilometers, gender index and density by constituency

To provide estimates of employment, unemployment, and other characteristics of the general labor force, of the population as a whole, and of various subgroups of the population. Monthly labor force data for the country are used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to determine the distribution of funds under the Job Training Partnership Act. These data are collected through combined computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) and computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI). In addition to the labor force data, the CPS basic funding provides annual data on work experience, income, and migration from the March Annual Demographic Supplement and on school enrollment of the population from the October Supplement. Other supplements, some of which are sponsored by other agencies, are conducted biennially or intermittently.

Census 2009 Table 16: Population with Disability (Multiple) by Type, County estimates

2009 Census data on male and female populations by core-urban, peri-urban and rural locations.

All Census information is as of April 1, 2009. Ward Reports are based on the 6-Ward system, which existed in the City of Edmonton until October, 2010. No data on any individual residence will be released. To protect the privacy of individuals, data is compiled and presented at the city-, ward- and neighbourhood-level only. The designation of “No Response” includes households from which no census data could be collected or only partial data was available. Bulk-count data from multiple-resident facilities (such as group homes, transient drop-in centres, residential hotels or criminal detention centres) may be limited when personal information can not be obtained (i.e. information is not available or can not be released by the facility administration). “Other Residential” includes dwelling units not covered by the other categories, such as a unit attached to a non-residential structure (e.g. an apartment in a store or church) or a movable structure (e.g. recreational vehicle, tent, etc.).

To provide estimates of employment, unemployment, and other characteristics of the general labor force, of the population as a whole, and of various subgroups of the population. Monthly labor force data for the country are used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to determine the distribution of funds under the Job Training Partnership Act. These data are collected through combined computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) and computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI). In addition to the labor force data, the CPS basic funding provides annual data on work experience, income, and migration from the March Annual Demographic Supplement and on school enrollment of the population from the October Supplement. Other supplements, some of which are sponsored by other agencies, are conducted biennially or intermittently.

Information on person and household broadband (high-speed Internet) use, where it is used, by what types of devices, what type of service provider, and other characteristics.

Data derived from Population Estimates, American Community Survey, Census of Population and Housing, State and County Housing Unit Estimates, County Business Patterns, Nonemployer Statistics, Economic Census, Survey of Business Owners, Building Permits