Geneva,
30 October 2009
An online system for multi-channel,
register-based census data
collection
Giuseppe Sindoni, Istat, Italy
Geneva,
30 October 2009
Italian Census 2011:
organization context
• European regulation
– N. 763/2008, 09/07/2008
• Variables and classifications
• Deadline for data delivery:
1 April 2014
Geneva,
30 October 2009
What’s new for the 2011 Population Census?
•Use of street numbers in field operations
•Business and household geocoding to the census tract
•Use of administrative archives
•New questionnaire delivery process
•Personalised questionnaires
•Mail out
•New methods and survey techniques
•Census areas
•Short and long form
•Multi-channel collection
•Flexible organisation network
•Downsized municipal front-office => Stronger back-office
•Population-based differentiation
•Enumerator guidance
Geneva,
30 October 2009
Census pilot
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Started 25 October 2009
Stratified sample
31 municipalities
About 80,000 households
About 195,000 people
6 survey schemes to be tested on
different types of municipalities
Geneva,
30 October 2009
This presentation
• Architecture of the web-based
collection and management system
• Technical characteristics
• The online questionnaire
• The Census Management System
Geneva,
30 October 2009
System architecture
Geneva,
30 October 2009
On line questionnaire:
main features
• Generalized system for
questionnaire structure definition
• Web application framework
• Implements rule-based validation,
both client and server side
• Java script and server-side based
customization
• Platform independent
Geneva,
30 October 2009
The management and
monitoring system
• Aimed at simplifying back-office
work
• Needed to:
– manage the day-to-day work of
enumerators
– monitor multi-channel data collection
Geneva,
30 October 2009
Management system:
access modes
• Access through a web site
• Access management allows to
define user profiles with
authorizations depending on user
tasks, also by territorial level
• Each user will be given a role, that
is a set of allowed functions
Geneva,
30 October 2009
Management system: users
• ISTAT: Central and Regional officers
• Census organizations: Municipal Census
Back Office, coordinators and enumerators
• Other organizations: e.g. the company in
charge of printing and mailing questionnaires
Geneva,
30 October 2009
Management and monitoring
system: main functions
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Census tract status
Summary reports
Operator management
Questionnaire management
Documentation
Geneva,
30 October 2009
Geneva,
30 October 2009
Technical features
• Three layer architecture
– RDBMS - application server browser
• Model-View-Controller pattern
• Java Enterprise Edition 5
– Servlet + Java Server Pages
Geneva,
30 October 2009
Final thoughts
•Very difficult to assess the right usability issues for the
questionnaire
•The pilot will probably provide a lot of feedback on
user satisfaction, from both households and municipal
back offices
Geneva,
30 October 2009
Generalized system for
questionnaire structure definition
• Desktop application
– Interactive editor for section
structure, questions and fields
– Prerequisite: DB to store microdata
• Automatic generation of
– JSP pages
– .jar package
Geneva,
30 October 2009
Web application framework
• Basic functions to run an on line
questionnaire
– User interaction flow control
– Validation rule configuration
– Validation rule execution
– DB interaction
Geneva,
30 October 2009
Rule-based validation
• Basic validation
– Field format
– Mandatory fields
• “Business” rules
– Range checks
– Inter-field logical rules
• Client-side validation based on
Javascript
• If JS disabled -> server-side validation
Geneva,
30 October 2009
Customization
• Java script and server-side based
customization
– JSP pages can be customized
client-side
– New modules can be added to the
web framework
Geneva,
30 October 2009
Platform independence
• Based on Java and relational
technologies
• Runs on any platform where the
Tomcat application server is
available
Geneva,
30 October 2009
Management system:
operator management
The following functions are provided:
•Adding and modifying personal information of municipal
enumerators and coordinators
•Assignment of census tracts to enumerators
•Assignment of enumerators to coordinators
•Assignment of roles to operators
•Monitoring operators’ activity
•Account management
Municipal Census Office supervisors can autonomously
organize their work
Geneva,
30 October 2009
Management system:
operator management
ISTAT will provide Municipal Offices
with the supervisor/s accounts,
which will be enabled to all
operator management functions
Each account will be linked to an
individual operator
Geneva,
30 October 2009
Management system:
census tract status
The following functions are available:
• Census tract journal visualization and
printing
• Census tract journal update
• Auxiliary form visualization
• Auxiliary form update
Enumerators’ daily work can be guided
and targeted through census tract
status control.
Geneva,
30 October 2009
Management system:
summary reports
The following functions are provided:
• Visualization of summary reports on collection progress
at the census tract level of detail
• Monitoring multi-channel collection
• Visualization of aggregated data on collection results
Geneva,
30 October 2009
Management system:
questionnaire management
The following functions are provided:
• Personal data change visualization
• Individual questionnaire visualization
• Questionnaire or additional individual form print
• Postal reception registration
• Monitoring postal delivery status
Management system:
on line documentation
Geneva,
30 October 2009
The following documents will be available:
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Survey instructions
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User manual
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FAQ
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Training materials
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