2003 Joint Statistical Meetings - Section on Government Statistics QUALITY MANAGEMENT IN THE 2006 CANADIAN CENSUS OF POPULATION Paul Poirier, Jean Dumais and Brad Hawkes Statistics Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A OT6, Canada KEY WORDS: Quality Management, Quality enumeration questionnaire which is distributed Assurance, Census of Population to approximately 80% of the population. The short version of the questionnaire contains Introduction questions covering basic demographic In 1666, Jean Talon arrived in New France with characteristics such as age, sex, marital and directions to help plan and develop the colony. common-law statuses, the relationship of In order to achieve this goal, Talon conducted household members to a reference person, and what we know to be the very first census in mother tongue. Canada, doing much of the data collection There are also three long version personally by visiting settlers throughout the questionnaires, which are virtually identical in colony. Not only did Talon’s census enumerate their content, but distributed to different the colony’s 3,215 inhabitants, but it also subpopulations. The long version questionnaires recorded their age, sex, marital status, and contain all of the questions found on the short occupation. version, and also include questions covering Census-taking in Canada has undergone citizenship and immigration, knowledge of a few changes during the 350 years since Talon’s languages, ethnic origins, education, labour force endeavour. Still, the key information collected participation and characteristics, sources of every five years by the Census is much the same, income, as well as questions related to dwelling and it proves to be essential to the planning and characteristics. One of the long version development of the country. questionnaires is administered by personal interview to Canadians living on Indian reserves Censuses Past or in Canada’s northernmost communities. The The most recent significant change to the Census remaining two are self-enumeration occurred in 1971, over the thirty year period questionnaires which are distributed either to since then Statistics Canada has conducted seven Canadian government employees and Armed censuses, introducing relatively minor changes to Forces personnel residing outside of Canada at the collection and processing activities of these the time of the census, and to a 20% sample of censuses. Its decentralised collection and data Canadian households. capture methodologies, and linear approach In administering the 2001 Census, over towards handling census questionnaires in 40,000 enumerators were hired, trained, and batches, passing each batch from one processing assigned a geographic area. Enumerators were activity to the next, was demonstrably very responsible for all enumeration activities within successful given the technology of the time. their area: they visited each dwelling, recorded The census cycle begins with a series of each address in their control document, and consultations with the general public, delivered the appropriate questionnaire package. corporations, and government departments at all In urban areas, the control document was also levels, in order to identify the topics to be compared to an Address Register booklet to help covered by the census. Following the reduce the undercoverage of dwellings. The consultation process, a series of qualitative and control document was used to monitor the quantitative tests are administered, using mock delivery and return of each questionnaire, for all questionnaires, questions, and response dwellings within the assigned geographic area. categories. The results of these testing activities Under this methodology, census field work was are analysed, and recommendations are then controlled at the level of the enumerator made to the Government of Canada on the exact assignment. content of the census questionnaires. Once Respondents completed the approved, the census questionnaires are sent to questionnaire they received, returned it by mail, be printed. and in turn the questionnaire was forwarded to There are four primary questionnaires the enumerator who originally dropped it off. used in administering the census. One Each enumerator checked returned questionnaire, the short version, is a self- questionnaires for completeness. The enumerator 3317 2003 Joint Statistical Meetings - Section on Government Statistics followed up on incomplete questionnaires, in Once the written responses were person or by telephone, so as to obtain missing successfully converted to numeric codes within information and thus complete the the coding operation, all responses entered the questionnaires. When questionnaires delivered edit and imputation process, whereby numerous to dwellings listed within an enumerator’s logical edits were employed to identify and control document were not received, the resolve problems of validity, consistency, and enumerator conducted non-response follow-up missing data. Missing data were automatically visits in order to complete the questionnaires by imputed in cases where an enumerator was personal interview. As enumerators were unsuccessful in obtaining information or following questionnaire collection and resolving data inconsistencies during follow-up completion procedures, their supervisors and with respondents. The subject-matter specialists quality control technicians were sampling the monitored and analysed response data as they quality of their work, ensuring that all were processed and transformed where necessary procedures were strictly observed. by the edit and imputation process. Once the enumerator had satisfied the Upon completion of the edit and collection and completion procedures for each of imputation process, the subject-matter specialists the questionnaires pertaining to their geographic would embark on the certification process, area, the questionnaires were collated into whereby they would assess the validity of batches. Each batch and the corresponding aggregated data by theme, and at various control document used to monitor the delivery geographic levels. Data were not only examined and return of each questionnaire were then within the context of the current census, but were forwarded to one of a number of Data Capture also compared with data from previous censuses Centres. as well as with data from external sources. Once the control documents and their Finally, once census responses were corresponding batches of questionnaires were collected, captured, coded, edited, imputed, and received and registered at one of the Data certified, they were ready for public use. Capture Centres, the responses provided within Disseminated data were available for a variety of the questionnaires were captured. Within each geographic levels, and they were presented in batch of census questionnaires, individual various standard formats and through custom questionnaires were sampled and re-keyed by a tabulations. Prior to being disseminated, the data quality control keyer. A third keyer adjudicated contained within aggregated tabulations were discrepancies and entire batches of verified by dissemination personnel against questionnaires would either pass and move on to control counts produced by subject-matter the next processing stage, or fail and be analysts. subjected to re-keying. In capturing census Three studies address coverage errors. responses by key entry, a total of slightly more In the first study, a sample of dwellings listed by than 3.8 billion key strokes were entered. census enumerators as being vacant or as Following the capture of census dwellings where they encountered non-response responses, the next stage of census processing is is revisited, in order to establish how many known as coding, whereby written responses to dwellings were in fact occupied on Census Day questions asking respondents to describe, for and the number of persons who were living in example, their ethnic origins, major field of these dwellings. Estimates of the total number study or occupation, are converted to numeric of households and persons missed are obtained codes. Hundreds of carefully trained coding in this way, and the census results are adjusted clerks were hired to convert over 40 million accordingly. written responses to numeric codes. The quality The remaining two studies provide of the work performed by coding clerks was estimates of gross undercoverage and monitored and controlled using an acceptance overcoverage, but are not used as a basis for sampling methodology. The written responses correcting census results. The Reverse Record coded by clerks were batched, sampled, and re- Check study estimates gross undercoverage by coded by a quality control coder. A third coder using administrative records to identify a sample adjudicated discrepancies and could cause entire of people, collecting all addresses where these batches of written responses either to pass and people may have been enumerated, and then move on to the next processing stage, or to fail checking census questionnaires received from and be subjected to re-coding. these addresses to see if these people were actually enumerated. 3318 2003 Joint Statistical Meetings - Section on Government Statistics The census also includes a study to households, that is, for those households located measure gross overcoverage. The Overcoverage in areas for which the quality of the Address Study contains three components. The first and Register is deemed sufficient. In the interest of main component is the Automated