Planning, Organization and
Management of Population and
Housing Censuses
Part I
United Nations Statistics Division
United Nations Workshop on Revision 3 of Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing
Censuses and Evaluation of Census Data, Amman 19 – 23 October 2014
Overview
 Main processes for planning, organization and
management
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Overall census planning
Strategic objectives
Legal basis
Financial management
Administrative organization
User consultation, communication and publicity
Human resource management
Census calendar
Logistics management
Contracting out
Quality assurance
United Nations Workshop on Revision 3 of Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing
Censuses and Evaluation of Census Data, Amman 19 – 23 October 2014
Overall census planning
 Census planning require multi-dimensional and
simultaneous approach as it is:
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The most complicated and expensive operation
Consisting of a complex series of interrelated steps
In general, census operations can be divided into the following
phases- census questionnaire, mapping, testing, enumeration,
data processing, evaluation, dissemination and analysis
For successful census operation, sufficient and appropriate
weights should be given to a wide range of subject-matter and
statistical requirements particularly for cross-cutting issues
such as technology used for many essential phases of the
census
United Nations Workshop on Revision 3 of Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing
Censuses and Evaluation of Census Data, Amman 19 – 23 October 2014
Overall census planning
 Main questions for overall planning
 What are main innovations for the upcoming
censuses
 Census methodology?
 Technological options?
 Realistic approaches according to country`
conditions
 How the benefits from the census can be improved?
United Nations Workshop on Revision 3 of Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing
Censuses and Evaluation of Census Data, Amman 19 – 23 October 2014
Strategic objectives
Strategic objectives are important for successful development of
census plans and will differ according to national circumstances
Census content: to meet with the requirements of the users taking into account
cost-effectiveness, human resources, time availability and response burden
Impact on the public and the census staff: to ensure personal information is
secure and confidential, inform the public about census objectives, content and
methods and their rights and obligations
Production of census results: to deliver census products and services to meet
legal obligations and users` needs with stated quality standards and predetermined
timetable
Cost-effectiveness: to plan and carry out a census as inexpensively as possible
without compromising the other strategic objectives –adopting more efficient data
collection and processing methods, contracting out appropriate parts, international
cooperation, reuse of systems
Cost benefit: to increase the value and benefit generated from the census
- the plans should focus on realizing these benefits
United Nations Workshop on Revision 3 of Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing
Censuses and Evaluation of Census Data, Amman 19 – 23 October 2014
Legal basis
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Legal authority for implementing, obtaining necessary fund and
determining general scope and timing
Depending on national legal practices and procedures and on
organization of the national civil services, the content of the
census legislation should be determined
The following components are usually represented:
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coverage, assigning the mandate to a specific institution, purpose
of the census, obligations and rights of the citizens, modes of
financing the census, right and obligations of enumerators and
supervisors, census data dissemination, treatment of individual
data, confidentiality and privacy of respondents and their data
and archiving
Necessary details should be contained in the census
regulations prepared by the census authority
United Nations Workshop on Revision 3 of Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing
Censuses and Evaluation of Census Data, Amman 19 – 23 October 2014
Financial management
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All census operations including planning, cartography,
enumeration, processing, evaluating, dissemination and
analysis should be budgeted from the beginning and efforts
should be made to mobilize the required fund
 Key issues:
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Cost-effective strategies to reduce census costs without comprising
the quality
Census operation should be seen as national task involving all
stakeholders- improve the advocacy for sufficient funding
Technologies and methods must be decided in advance
Outsourcing to the private sector should be considered as costsaving option
Control measures for costs of census activities and monitoring
systems must be developed for cost effectiveness
United Nations Workshop on Revision 3 of Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing
Censuses and Evaluation of Census Data, Amman 19 – 23 October 2014
Administrative organisation
 It is important to consider the role of various executive
and advisory organs
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An office continuously responsible for census workprincipal body for initiating preparatory work, formulation
of the programme, following developments in technology
and methodology, continuity of knowledge and skills from
one census to another
National, subnational and local commissions and
communities during planning and preparation of census
activities
 Census operation is a unique opportunity to exercise
statistical leadership in promoting the use of statistics
United Nations Workshop on Revision 3 of Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing
Censuses and Evaluation of Census Data, Amman 19 – 23 October 2014
User consultation, communication and publicity
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Comprehensive communication programme covers three
distinct audiences:
 Major users of data- consultation on census topics,
definitions and on dissemination of census results –from
governmental departments, ministries, universities,
research institutions, private sector, NGOs
 Persons and institutions participating in the census
operations - providing personnel, equipment, supplies,
space, transportation or communications facilities
 General public- through publicity and information
campaigns building public awareness on the purposes , the
benefits and to inform about the confidentiality of
individual data
United Nations Workshop on Revision 3 of Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing
Censuses and Evaluation of Census Data, Amman 19 – 23 October 2014
Human resource management
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Consideration should be given to the needs for certain
specialized skills – mapping, data capture and processing,
specific dissemination outputs/tools especially new
technology/method is used
An efficient and comprehensive training programme for
building capacity in application of new or improved
technologies/softwares/methods
An effective training programme for large numbers of fresh
employees with the necessary skills
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Early arrangements for developing training programme is
necessary to use appropriate training facilities and produce
training manuals
United Nations Workshop on Revision 3 of Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing
Censuses and Evaluation of Census Data, Amman 19 – 23 October 2014
Census calendar
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Census calendar indicating the sequence and estimated
duration of each of the component operations of the census is
necessary at the early stage of census planning
The calendar should be shared with all stakeholders in advance
for advise and support
The calendar should be revised and made more detailed as
planning proceeds , with the aim of establishing final dates as
soon as practicable
United Nations Workshop on Revision 3 of Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing
Censuses and Evaluation of Census Data, Amman 19 – 23 October 2014
Logistics management
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It is a process of planning, implementation and controlling the
flow of census materials and equipment needed for
implementation of census operations
Scope of logistics programme usually differs from one country
to another but mostly covers; a) renting central and field
offices, b) installing furniture and equipment, c) providing help
desk support, d)delivering and collecting all census materials
including manuals, questionnaires, publicity materials and
others
National statistical offices may need to establish a special team
for planning, implementation and controlling the logistic
programme
Outsourcing of some activities should be carefully examined at
the planning phase of logistics programme
United Nations Workshop on Revision 3 of Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing
Censuses and Evaluation of Census Data, Amman 19 – 23 October 2014
Contracting out
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Contracting out can be used as a way of increasing efficiency by
utilizing the advanced methods and technologies not necessarily
available in the national statistical office through a competitive
selection process
The following activities are examples:
 Layout and printing of census questionnaires
 Packing, delivery of census materials and return collection of
census materials
 Census mapping
 Publicity and public relations
 Training
 Inventory and storage of filled in questionnaires
 Scanning/data entry
 Data processing and tabulation
 Publication and dissemination
United Nations Workshop on Revision 3 of Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing
Censuses and Evaluation of Census Data, Amman 19 – 23 October 2014
Contracting out
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The NSO should build the capacity to ensure proper outsourcing which
requires a solid and comprehensive knowledge of contemporary
technologies and their advantages and disadvantages as well as past
experiences at home or in other countries
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Risk assessment should be made to identify a critical component for
outsourcing; what are the risks for failure and costs and what would
be a plan to solve the failures
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In the context of quality management, the outsourcing of components
of census operations requires the NSO to take full responsibility for the
quality of the census data
United Nations Workshop on Revision 3 of Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing
Censuses and Evaluation of Census Data, Amman 19 – 23 October 2014
Contracting out
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Careful consideration for following criteria:
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Strict protection of data confidentiality
Method of confidentiality assurance that satisfies the general public
Guaranteed measures of quality assurance
Ability of manage and monitor the outsourced census activities
Control over the core competence of the NSO and appropriateness
judgement, considering the specific situation of each country
Continuous monitoring of the progress of work entrusted to the
selected company is necessary and the NSO should ensure that
a system for monitoring quality is built into the contract
United Nations Workshop on Revision 3 of Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing
Censuses and Evaluation of Census Data, Amman 19 – 23 October 2014
Importance of quality assurance programme
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A major goal of quality assurance programme is to detect errors during
the process and take remedial actions- a quality improvement
programme
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The system should be established at all phases of census operations
including planning, pre-enumeration activities, enumeration, document
flow, data capture, coding, editing, tabulation and dissemination
Without such a programme, the census data may contain
many errors which can severely diminish the usefulness of
the results
United Nations Workshop on Revision 3 of Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing
Censuses and Evaluation of Census Data, Amman 19 – 23 October 2014
Dimensions of statistical quality
 The followings are generally accepted attributes:
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Relevance – the degree to which statistics meet users`needs
Completeness- the degree to which statistics fully cover the
phenomenon they are supposed to cover
Accuracy- distance between the estimated and (unknown)
true value
Comparability- the degree to which statistics are comparable
over geographical area and time
Coherence- the degree to which the census information can
be successfully brought together with other statistical
information within a broad frame work and overtime
United Nations Workshop on Revision 3 of Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing
Censuses and Evaluation of Census Data, Amman 19 – 23 October 2014
Dimensions of statistical quality
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Timeliness – time elapsed between release of data and
reference point (usually census date)
Accessibility- the ease with which statistical data can be
obtained by users
Interpretability- the availability of supplementary
information and metadata necessary to interpret and use it
Quality is relative, based on what is acceptable or fit
for the purpose, rather than a concept of absolute
perfection
United Nations Workshop on Revision 3 of Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing
Censuses and Evaluation of Census Data, Amman 19 – 23 October 2014
Components of quality assurance
 Determining quality targets
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Targets should be realistic, affordable and manageable for
all possible dimensions of quality assurance
Some examples of such targets:
 Accuracy- to produce national population with at least
95 percent confidence Timeliness- to release first final results within one year
of census day
 Accessibility- to disseminate all outputs online
 Relevance- consultation with users on the census
content at least one year before finalizing the content
of the census questionnaire-setting process
United Nations Workshop on Revision 3 of Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing
Censuses and Evaluation of Census Data, Amman 19 – 23 October 2014
Components of quality assurance
 Operational quality control
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To minimize the errors, it is essential to monitor and
control errors at all stages of census operations

Measure
quality
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Implement
corrective
action
Identify
problems
Identify
causes
of
problems
Many census tasks are highly repetitive and
a operational quality control system can be
established
The following issues should be identified in
advance for developing such system:
 The types of errors that may occur
 What information is required to identify
such errors
 How this information will be collected in
a timely manner during live operations
 What action will be taken
United Nations Workshop on Revision 3 of Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing
Censuses and Evaluation of Census Data, Amman 19 – 23 October 2014
Components of quality assurance
 Census operations which quality assurance
programme can be developed
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Topic selection
Form design and testing
Field operations-mapping, enumeration, PES
Data processing-data capture, coding, editing/imputation
Dissemination and utilization
 Quality assurance programme should be documented –
methodology, types of errors, actions to solve, lessons
learned, recommendations for future censuses
United Nations Workshop on Revision 3 of Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing
Censuses and Evaluation of Census Data, Amman 19 – 23 October 2014
Units, Place and Time
of Enumeration
United Nations Workshop on Revision 3 of Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing
Censuses and Evaluation of Census Data, Amman 19 – 23 October 2014
Units of Enumeration
 Clarity about the units of enumeration is essential for
planning the census activities
Population census
Unit of enumeration:
Person
Housing census
Unit of enumeration:
Household
Households
Households
Institutions
Living quarters
(Housing units
and collective
living quarters)
Buildings
United Nations Workshop on Revision 3 of Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing
Censuses and Evaluation of Census Data, Amman 19 – 23 October 2014
Place of enumeration
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The place of enumeration would be either the place where the
person is found or the place of usual residence of the person at
the census reference moment
It should be ensured that each person should have only one
place of enumeration
In general, “usual residence” is defined for census purposes as the
place at which the person lives at the time of the census, and has
been there for some time or intends to stay there for some time.
United Nations Workshop on Revision 3 of Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing
Censuses and Evaluation of Census Data, Amman 19 – 23 October 2014
Place of enumeration
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It is recommended that countries apply a threshold of 12
months when considering place of usual residence according to
one of the following two criteria:
 The place at which the person has lived continuously for
most of the last 12 months (that is, for at least six months
and one day), not including temporary absences for
holidays or work assignments, or intends to live for at least
six months;
 The place at which the person has lived continuously for at
least the last 12 months, not including temporary absences
for holidays or work assignments, or intends to live for at
least 12 months.
United Nations Workshop on Revision 3 of Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing
Censuses and Evaluation of Census Data, Amman 19 – 23 October 2014
Place of enumeration
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The following persons would generally be considered in the usually
resident population:
 Persons found at the moment of enumeration that cannot identify
their place of usual residence, such as those that move often
 National military, naval and diplomatic personnel and their
families, located outside the country
 Foreign persons working for international organisations (not
including foreign diplomats or military forces), provided that they
meet the criteria for the usual residence in the country
 Merchant seamen and fishermen usually resident in the country
but at sea at the time of the census (including those who have no
place of residence other than their quarters aboard ship)
 Persons who may be illegal, irregular or undocumented migrants,
and persons who have applied for or been granted refugee status
provided that they meet the criteria for the usual residence in the
country
United Nations Workshop on Revision 3 of Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing
Censuses and Evaluation of Census Data, Amman 19 – 23 October 2014
Place of enumeration
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The following persons would generally be considered in the usually
resident population:
 Persons who cross a frontier daily or weekly to work or study in
another country, provided that they meet the criteria for the usual
residence in the country
 Children born in the twelve months before the census reference
time and whose families are usually resident in the country at the
census reference time
 Persons of minor age studying abroad for one year or more to
attain the primary or secondary level of education, regardless of
the frequency of return to the family home located within the
country. If the person is also working abroad, the same rules for
cross-border workers apply
 Persons who regularly live in more than one country during a year,
if they are present in the country at the moment of the
enumeration
United Nations Workshop on Revision 3 of Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing
Censuses and Evaluation of Census Data, Amman 19 – 23 October 2014
Place of enumeration
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The following group of persons need to be considered for being
excluded from the usual resident population:
 Foreign military, naval and diplomatic personnel and their families,
located in the country, regardless of their place of usual residence
 Persons of minor age attending the primary or secondary level of
education whose family home is located abroad, regardless of the
duration of their stay. However, if these persons are also working
in the country, then the identification of the place of usual
residence follows the same rules for cross-border workers
 Third level students who are absent from the country for one year
or more
 Persons who regularly live in more than one country during a year,
if they are not present in the country at the moment of the
enumeration
United Nations Workshop on Revision 3 of Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing
Censuses and Evaluation of Census Data, Amman 19 – 23 October 2014
Time of enumeration
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One of the essential features of population and housing
censuses is that each person and/or each set of living quarters
must be enumerated as nearly as possible in respect of the
same well-defined point of time - by fixing a census "moment"
at midnight at the beginning of the census day
For the population census,
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Each person alive up to the census moment is included in the total
population
Infants born after the census moment are not to be included in the
total population
United Nations Workshop on Revision 3 of Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing
Censuses and Evaluation of Census Data, Amman 19 – 23 October 2014