View Full Version : Census day
Del Lardo
27-03-2011, 16:04
Don't forget, just done ours online and only took 30 mins so not too painful.
To we have to have completed it by today?
BB x
Today is the day you're supposed to do it on, some of the responses are based on who is in your house today.
Oh. Ha ha.. ok... so its not the deadline then?
BB x
Knipples
27-03-2011, 17:01
I'm slightly depressed by the fact that I am now back in the same house I was in the last time one got filled in :(
Piggymon
27-03-2011, 17:20
We haven't had a form through the post so we clearly don't count ;D
Very glad it's today and not last Sunday! Could have been tough to explain having 18 people in the one house!
We haven't had a form through the post so we clearly don't count ;D
You ought to chase that up, you can get fined for not doing it even if it's just because it never showed up afaik.
Went online earlier and ordered another form.
So I have a form - should I do the form or can I do online instead???
:huh:
BB x
Knipples
27-03-2011, 19:53
So I have a form - should I do the form or can I do online instead???
:huh:
BB x
Either. My Dad wanted to fill the form in so I had no choice. I'd have preferred to do it online to be honest. :)
Did mine last week when it arrived, did it online, seemed easier as it then skips all irrelevant questions for you as you fill it in.
Just done it!
Painless enough :)
BB x
Did it weeks ago, as long as you fill it in with the people who are oing to be in the house today, you can do it when ever.
also 30mins :eek: how many of you is there. It was like 5mins for two of us.
LeperousDust
27-03-2011, 23:59
Done!
Better do this tonight :D
Just completed it - fave question was number 17
Is that the 'Do you or anyone else in your household speak Welsh?'
Not for me (it might have been for you). I had:
"17. This question is intentionally left blank. Go to 18"
That is what we get in England for Q17. In Wales it asks if you speak Welsh. All the question numbers were left the same for everything else for consistency which is why we get the blank question.
Thought so :)
It's just an attempt to make you feel uncomfortable, like everyone else got a question (about you) & you didnt ;)
Still havent done it.
That is what we get in England for Q17. In Wales it asks if you speak Welsh. All the question numbers were left the same for everything else for consistency which is why we get the blank question.
But I DO have someone in my house who speaks welsh!!! Boo. I wanted to be able to answer that question :-(
volospian
30-03-2011, 08:59
But I DO have someone in my house who speaks welsh!!! Boo. I wanted to be able to answer that question :-(
They're not interested in Welshists outside of their jurisdiction though. I had a look at the Census site...
On the Wales questionnaire question 17 asks: Can you understand, speak, read or write Welsh? (select)
In Wales this information helps public bodies to understand the extent to which the Welsh language is used and, therefore, to meet their statutory duties under the Welsh Language Act 1993. It is also used for policy development and monitoring, and provides data for the allocation of grants to support the Welsh language.
This question was first asked in 1891
It's a shame not to ask about languages in general (maybe they did, the missus filled ours in) as that would give an idea of all the languages spoken, and by how many people. The Welsh Assembly are bound by law to teach Welsh, but because a lot of Welsh people move to England for their careers they don't necessarily know how well they're doing if they only ask the question in Wales.
Mind you, it seems to take them a long time to act on the info if they started asking the question over 100 years before they decided to legislate on it :)
They asked (somewhat) - Q18 - What is your main language? :)
What languages do you speak might have been an interesting subsidiary question, but I'm not sure it's got any governmental relevance.
Still no form for us so balls to it.
volospian
31-03-2011, 08:18
They asked (somewhat) - Q18 - What is your main language? :)
What languages do you speak might have been an interesting subsidiary question, but I'm not sure it's got any governmental relevance.
I suppose it depends on what they want to do with the census data. It's a great opportunity for gathering data regarding wider reaching information which could be used later for additional demographics.
What DO they do with the data?
Knipples
31-03-2011, 08:39
What DO they do with the data?
Use it to work out who's living where, what they need and therefore central government can work out how much money they need to give to the councils. It's a headcount basically, so they know how much money to divvy out. Yer supposed to fill it in so they have accurate population data.
Essex is going to get nada this year by the look of things :p
BB x
We were on holiday when the date passed. Got back home and 2 days later knock on the door chasing up why it hadn't been done. Giz us a chance ;D Done it that night, 10 mins on the net :)
SidewinderINC
10-04-2011, 18:10
What DO they do with the data?
Basically what knips has said, but also so they can statistically show where different jobs are and how the country is split up into different economic and industrial regions.
For example the south east is big for chemical/biological science, the south west not so much - the census will show that.
It's just nosey statistics :p
Use it to work out who's living where, what they need and therefore central government can work out how much money they need to give to the councils. It's a headcount basically, so they know how much money to divvy out. Yer supposed to fill it in so they have accurate population data.
You see I don't buy that and think it's a load of BS. They need a census that only runs every ten years to work out how much a local council will get when they know how many people are living in the area via things like council tax and god knows what else.
We had a knock at the door today asking why ours hadn't been completed. Said we'd do it online.
SidewinderINC
10-04-2011, 20:52
You see I don't buy that and think it's a load of BS. They need a census that only runs every ten years to work out how much a local council will get when they know how many people are living in the area via things like council tax and god knows what else.
We had a knock at the door today asking why ours hadn't been completed. Said we'd do it online.
See my post above, i wasn't as detailed as I should have been.
It's for statistics about what people in the UK do for a living, how healthy people are and how many people live in certain areas etc. etc. compared to 10 years ago to show how the country is evolving.
Completely useless to most people, but some people in the national statistics office get all hard over it.
I get all that, but why did they need to know who's staying in your house on that date etc.
SidewinderINC
10-04-2011, 21:28
I get all that, but why did they need to know who's staying in your house on that date etc.
that i have no idea!
These questions ask basic information about visitors staying overnight on census day, Sunday 27 March.
We collect information on the name, sex, date of birth and usual address of visitors to make sure that everyone is counted at their usual address. Counting people at their usual address allows us to produce high quality counts of the population that are required for planning and funding decisions. Collecting details for people who are away from their usual address helps us to make sure we haven’t missed anyone.
Local authorities need information on domestic and international visitors to ensure effective planning of service provision. The data are also used to measure the total demand on services such as transport and health in areas with a large number of visitors who are working or studying.
These questions were first asked in 1801.
Apparently..
I find some of the questions a little intrusive, and some don't offer the flexibility I want to answer them the way I want to.
The thing is they have most of the details from our HMRC, Council Tax bills, Vote register, and so on.
Why they need to know what sort of central heating I've got, and who I had round on the 27th I know not... what if you pulled and had a one night stand and didn't know her name?! There's no way I'm going to be telling them about that!
As for my employment, they're a little tetchy about describing what I do, so I asked HR what I should say and they gave me a nice succinct explanation of what needs to be written.
I spend more than 30 days away from the UK a year, but I am not going to tell them that where I go, I didn't, and I'm not telling them if I have property abroad or if I stay in a hotel. I was as cryptic in some of my answers and decided the choose the most applicable one to what I wanted to reveal to them.
The heating one could be seen to work out where to put funding; no need to put loads into electric if 80% of people have gas.
As for the work one I just put admin as both the job title and job description
I love how, on the whole, the description of most people's job is already in their title e.g.
Job: Software Manager
Description: Managing Software/Team
You only get about 20-30 characters worth of space so not much more you can do!
Same, job - lecturer in bookkeeping and accounts, description - errr well.....
The heating one could be seen to work out where to put funding; no need to put loads into electric if 80% of people have gas.
As for the work one I just put admin as both the job title and job description
They can tell that from the gas/electricity suppliers though.
I mean how many people have only coal/wood fired central heating?!?! And why does it matter how many bathrooms/toilets you have or how many rooms you have in your home?
What I'm getting at is a lot of these questions don't really help advise anything that they don't already know.
volospian
11-04-2011, 13:15
They can tell that from the gas/electricity suppliers though.
I mean how many people have only coal/wood fired central heating?!?! And why does it matter how many bathrooms/toilets you have or how many rooms you have in your home?
What I'm getting at is a lot of these questions don't really help advise anything that they don't already know.
Will, you seem to be under the assumption that various government bodies actually share data with each other. Sadly this is about as common as rocking horse manure.
There are some link ups in data locally, and there are a few systems that are linked nationally, such as the Locta database, but the idea that data is available across the country, to whichever government body that wants it, is not really correct.
It's true that the data is collected by various agencies, and it's theoretically true that the ONS could get access to that data, but the practicality of making those data sources talk to each other, and to maintain integrity while mining that data (i.e. knowing that John Smith on the Benefits database is the same John Smith on the Gas Supplier database and the same John Smith on the Births and Deaths register, for example) would be technically difficult and extremely costly.
It's simply cheaper to ask everybody for the same information again.
I love how, on the whole, the description of most people's job is already in their title e.g.
Job: Software Manager
Description: Managing Software/Team
You only get about 20-30 characters worth of space so not much more you can do!
haha, Leo put 'Software Developer' or similar and said 'What shall I put for the description. I said 'Developing Software'.
Same was mine - Code & Release Management - Managing & Releasing code.
Will, you seem to be under the assumption that various government bodies actually share data with each other. Sadly this is about as common as rocking horse manure.
There are some link ups in data locally, and there are a few systems that are linked nationally, such as the Locta database, but the idea that data is available across the country, to whichever government body that wants it, is not really correct.
It's true that the data is collected by various agencies, and it's theoretically true that the ONS could get access to that data, but the practicality of making those data sources talk to each other, and to maintain integrity while mining that data (i.e. knowing that John Smith on the Benefits database is the same John Smith on the Gas Supplier database and the same John Smith on the Births and Deaths register, for example) would be technically difficult and extremely costly.
It's simply cheaper to ask everybody for the same information again.
Seems absolutely daft and a huge waste of money!
The thing is they have most of the details from our HMRC, Council Tax bills, Vote register, and so on.
HMRC is no guarantee for people who can't work, council tax tells you nothing about who lives in the household, electoral roll is no good for people who don't vote, and so on. There is no other system on which everyone must appear by law, so there simply is no other way.
Why they need to know what sort of central heating I've got, and who I had round on the 27th I know not...
Energy policy. Heating is the biggest single item on the vast majority of household energy bills.
I don't get what all the fuss is about. The law says you must complete it it doesn't say they're going to park up outside your front door and count how many days you're not there - nor haul you off to jail for staying one day longer than you said. If you don't want to tell them something then don't. :)
semi-pro waster
11-04-2011, 18:57
They can tell that from the gas/electricity suppliers though.
I mean how many people have only coal/wood fired central heating?!?! And why does it matter how many bathrooms/toilets you have or how many rooms you have in your home?
What I'm getting at is a lot of these questions don't really help advise anything that they don't already know.
Some of the questions are there more for historical purposes to track trends than because of the necessity for guiding future policy. Say a question about whether you have an indoor water closet - the number of people in the UK who would answer in the negative is almost certainly vanishingly small but it's potentially still interesting for statistical purposes to show how this has changed over time.
Some as Mark says won't reveal answers any other way, we could guess but why do that when you can hopefully get the correct information.
Seems absolutely daft and a huge waste of money!
While much of the information is held across a variety of sources there's a few issues to sharing it including (but not exclusively) that it's difficult to get all the systems to talk to each other, data integrity and security is certainly more difficult to maintain when you're combining systems that were never intended for it, matching data against incomplete records (either because the information was never requested, someone didn't fill in the data correctly or because they've moved house/changed name/got married/whatever) is difficult if you want to get anything reliable out of it. Then of course there's potentially issues with the DPA since most of us won't have consented to our gas supplier sharing the information with others in any way that could possibly identify us - use any service you like as an example but most will at the very least have an opt out about sharing data which I almost habitually select even without thinking. It's one of those "damned if you do..." situations - if the collation of data was done by getting all government records systems and service supplier systems to talk to each other (assuming it could be done and the information was there) then it's Big Brother and unacceptable intrusion into their lives for a large percentage of the population, if they don't do this then it's a waste of time for the people who don't care about such a conflation of their personal data.
In essence it's simpler for both practical and political reasons as well as more likely to get a useful set of data requesting it fresh from every household than trying to cobble together information from a variety of data sources.
If it helps then try dividing the time you've spent on completing the census by the number of years until you get asked again - I work it out to be maybe 3 minutes a year?
Oh I answered it ubt my answers were as vague and cryptic as possible - and ticked the n/a or similar option as many times as possible.
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