Abstract

The 2000 Republic of Palau Census of Population and Housing was the second census collected and processed entirely by the republic itself. This monograph provides analyses of data from the most recent census of Palau for decision makers in the United States and Palau to understand current socioeconomic conditions. The 2005 Census of Population and Housing collected a wide range of information on the characteristics of the population including demographics, educational attainments, employment status, fertility, housing characteristics, housing characteristics and many others.

Geographic coverage

National

Analysis unit

• Household;
• Individual.

Universe

The 1990, 1995 and 2000 censuses were all modified de jure censuses, counting people and recording selected characteristics of each individual according to his or her usual place of residence as of census day. Data were collected for each enumeration district - the households and population in each enumerator assignment - and these enumeration districts were then collected into hamlets in Koror, and the 16 States of Palau.

Kind of data

Census/enumeration data [cen]

Sampling procedure

No sampling - whole universe covered

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The 2000 censuses of Palau employed a modified list-enumerate procedure, also known as door-to-door enumeration. Beginning in mid-April 2000, enumerators began visiting each housing unit and conducted personal interviews, recording the information collected on the single questionnaire that contained all census questions. Follow-up enumerators visited all addresses for which questionnaires were missing to obtain the information required for the census.

Cleaning operations

The completed questionnaires were checked for completeness and consistency of responses, and then brought to OPS for processing. After checking in the questionnaires, OPS staff coded write-in responses (e.g., ethnicity or race, relationship, language). Then data entry clerks keyed all the questionnaire responses. The OPS brought the keyed data to the U.S. Census Bureau headquarters near Washington, DC, where OPS and Bureau staff edited the data using the Consistency and Correction (CONCOR) software package prior to generating tabulations using the Census Tabulation System (CENTS) package. Both packages were developed at the Census Bureau's International Programs Center (IPC) as part of the Integrated Microcomputer Processing System (IMPS).

The goal of census data processing is to produce a set of data that described the population as clearly and accurately as possible. To meet this objective, crew leaders reviewed and edited questionnaires during field data collection to ensure consistency, completeness, and acceptability. Census clerks also reviewed questionnaires for omissions, certain inconsistencies, and population coverage. Census personnel conducted a telephone or personal visit follow-up to obtain missing information. The follow-ups considered potential coverage errors as well as questionnaires with omissions or inconsistencies beyond the completeness and quality tolerances specified in the review procedures.

Following field operations, census staff assigned remaining incomplete information and corrected inconsistent information on the questionnaires using imputation procedures during the final automated edit of the data. The use of allocations, or computer assignments of acceptable data, occurred most often when an entry for a given item was lacking or when the information reported for a person or housing unit on an item was inconsistent with other information for that same person or housing unit. In all of Palau’s censuses, the general procedure for changing unacceptable entries was to assign an entry for a person or housing unit that was consistent with entries for persons or housing units with similar characteristics. The assignment of acceptable data in place of blanks or unacceptable entries enhanced the usefulness of the data.

Sampling error estimates

Human and machine-related errors occur in any large-scale statistical operation. Researchers generally refer to these problems as non-sampling errors. These errors include the failure to enumerate every household or every person in a population, failure to obtain all required information from residents, collection of incorrect or inconsistent information, and incorrect recording of information. In addition, errors can occur during the field review of the enumerators' work, during clerical handling of the census questionnaires, or during the electronic processing of the questionnaires. To reduce various types of non-sampling errors, Census office personnel used several techniques during planning, data collection, and data processing activities. Quality assurance methods were used throughout the data collection and processing phases of the census to improve the quality of the data.

Census staff implemented several coverage improvement programs during the development of census enumeration and processing strategies to minimize under-coverage of the population and housing units. A quality assurance program improved coverage in each census. Telephone and personal visit follow-ups also helped improve coverage. Computer and clerical edits emphasized improving the quality and consistency of the data. Local officials participated in post-census local reviews. Census enumerators conducted additional re-canvassing where appropriate.