Census 2018 data quality
Since August 2018, I’ve been on an external data quality review panel looking at the Census 2018 data, as augmented by StatsNZ’s mitigation efforts. Our final report is out now (yesterday). From the StatsNZ press release
The panel was convened by the Government Statistician in August 2018 to provide an independent, external review of the quality of 2018 Census data and to provide recommendations to the Government Statistician around improvements to census data quality. The eight-member panel includes experts on census methods, statistics, Māori data, demography, and equity.
It was the Government Statistician’s intention that the panel’s reports would be released publicly and unedited, as a matter of transparency, so all New Zealanders could see both the quality of the variables and the composition of the data.
Here’s the complete series
- Initial report
- Quality assessments for most of the variables, one by one
- Final report
The basic message is that the quality of the data varies enormously, both by variable and depending on what you want to use it for. Some of it is very good; some of it is not. You should read our assessments and the StatsNZ data quality information before doing anything you might later regret.
Thomas Lumley (@tslumley) is Professor of Biostatistics at the University of Auckland. His research interests include semiparametric models, survey sampling, statistical computing, foundations of statistics, and whatever methodological problems his medical collaborators come up with. He also blogs at Biased and Inefficient See all posts by Thomas Lumley »
Do you have an opinion on when the next census should be? Wait 5 years or do it in 3 (2021) to get back into sync with past censuses?
4 years ago
The panel doesn’t have an official view on this; it’s out of scope for us.
However, the general attitude of people I’ve talked to who have actually worked on running a census is that the next census should absolutely not be done two years early. The next census *has to* work.
At some later point it might be worth doing a census early, but not the next one.
4 years ago
“Stats NZ agrees with most of the panel’s recommendations and progress has already been made on five of them, with a further 16 scheduled for review and consideration in the coming months.”
Does that mean most the recommendations are the “we’ll get back to you category”.
The ones they agree with are only ‘in progress”
Sounds like they are like many government departments where outside experts are just a smokescreen.
4 years ago
Are they going to do the next census the same way (field-wise) that they did the last one?
4 years ago
No idea.
4 years ago
At least they will have some hard data on areas where the online first approach works and areas where it doesnt.
The previous census could have told them that as well, but I remember getting the forms but using the online option – and I lived in semi rural area- but getting 2 reminders about not being at home when the collector called.
4 years ago