ROLE OF META DATA IN CENSUS DATA DISSEMINATION

ROLE OF META DATA IN CENSUS DATA DISSEMINATION REGIONAL SEMINAR ON CENSUS DATA DISSEMINATION AND SPATIAL ANALYSIS, BANGKOK, THILAND 5 th -8 th Oct 2010 By HABIB ULLAH KHAN POPULATION CENSUS ORGANIZATION, PAKISTAN

POPULATION CENSUS Ø First regular census in areas now comprising Pakistan was held in 1881. Since then regular censuses have been conducted after every 10 years except 1998 census. Ø Five censuses have been undertaken in Pakistan: First in 1951 followed by in 1961, 1972, 1981 and 1998 and now proposed in 2011. Ø Census is held under legal frame-work of Census Ordinance, 1959

SCOPE OF CENSUS Area Census covers the entire territory of Pakistan including Tribal Areas, Jammu Azad & Kashmir and Gilgit and Baltistan. Population All persons living in the country on census date are enumerated. Foreign nationals are also counted except diplomatic personnel and their families. Topics (Questionnaire) Census questionnaires are prepared in consultation with data users to cover national needs.

CENSUS METHODOLOGY Enumeration : Collection and recording of information is done by the enumerators through door to door visits and interaction with head or responsible member of household. Population count: Population is counted at usual place of residence. Population by district of birth also counted and published. Field Operation: Field operations are in two stages covering house listing and complete count. House listing is usually carried out 4 - 6 months before census enumeration.

PROPOSED REVISED SCHEDULE Two proposals have been submitted to the Govt. Option - I House Listing and Population & Housing Census in one go March/April, 2011 Option – II House Listing March/April, 2011 Population and Housing Census Sept/Oct, 2011 International Community considers 2010/2011 as Census Year. Therefore, we may keep our self with the world community. 7

DELIMITATION For effective field supervision, the country has been delimited on a four-tier system in to; 410 - Census Districts (Tehsil /Big Towns / Cantts) 3186 - Census Charges (Qanoongo Halka / STC in rural and Town or part of Town / Cantt. in urban areas) 20063 - Census Circle (Patwar / Tapedar Circle in rural and part of Town / Cantt. in urban areas) 145684 - Census Blocks (Village, part of Town) Census block roughly comprises of two hundred households and is assigned to one enumerator.

PREPRATION OF CARTOGRAPHY/MAPS Ø To ensure complete coverage of area / population, maps of each admin and census area prepared/ updated. Ø 50666 maps of rural areas (villages) updated. Ø 7594 maps of census circles of urban areas prepared. These maps are being updated through Google Earth. Ø The maps and the lists of settlements therein will be provided to the enumerators and supervisors.

DISTRICT MAPS DISTRICT MAP (SHOWING UC BOUNARY)

URBAN AREA MAPS OF JHELUM CITY (SHOWING CHRGE/CIRCLE/BLOCK) BOUNDARY

DEVELOPMENT OF QUESTIONNAIRES Ø The topics to be covered in census are determined keeping in view the national needs, comparability of information, International practices and recommendations. Ø Information is collected by using the Short and long questionnaires. Short questionnaire is used for census part and Long questionnaire is on sample basis.

FIELD STAFF Ø Census operation requires about 180, 000 enumerators and supervisors for a short period. Ø School teachers and revenue staff is hired as enumerators and Supervisors. Their appointment is made through Provincial and District Governments. Ø Persons selected as enumerators and supervisors are paid remuneration equal to their one month salary.

DATA DISSEMINATION n It is the process of extraction Statistical information from publications, data bases or other repository to produce statistical output which may be useful for efficient planning.

Data Dissemination n It increases demands of data for country’s empirical analysis, n Due to excessive use of internet, statistical data has become available to data users who are making intelligent use of this information. n Provides way not only to intelligent use of data but also ensure easy access to many users.

Census Data Dissemination in Pakistan Currently the Census data is being disseminated in the form of press releases, press briefings and hard & soft copy publications and through website. Ø Census reports are supplied to data users on complimentary basis. Ø Data on important variables is placed on website of PCO i. e. www. census. gov. pk which is updated from time to time.

DISSEMINATION OF CENSUS DATA n Detailed data on Population and Housing Census is available on CDs and supplied on payment. n Supply of data to National and International Agencies is a continuous process. n Special Tabulations are prepared to meet specific demands of data users.

REGULAR CENSUS REPORTS Ø National & Provincial Census Reports. Ø District Census Reports. Ø Reports of FATA and Agencies. Ø Reports of Azad Kashmir & Districts. Ø Reports of Northern Areas & Districts.

IMPORTANT VARIABLES Ø Information on Population by urban/rural, sex, religion, marital status, household size, age groups, level of education, labour force participation, unemployment and migration etc. is available on internet. Ø Housing indicators such as housing units by construction type, number of rooms, ownership, source of drinking water, source of lighting & cooking sources of communication etc. is also available on net.

METADATA It is defined as “ Data about data ”. However, the term Metadata has been explained as: • Metadata are physical representation of information about data and the process of producing and using of data. • Metadata are the data that are needed for production and usage of the data. • It is evident from the above that role of Metadata is to provide explanation of the data being produced.

METADATA In a very general sense, Data users have few principal requirements from the metadata, which are: n To help Data users to: – – – – Locate and retrieve the data they are looking for Understand the data they retrieved Provide unified documentation of different metainformation retrieval; Decide on suitability and appropriateness of data, in comparison with their original needs; Combine different time series from different sources, if needed; Have access those data (in terms of content and quality, etc); Pin point errors and omissions.

METADATA n Metadata are very important in order to guarantee the quality of information generated by the Department. n Metadata on quality of data is rather insignificant for the general data users. n Therefore, Meta data should concentrate on the issues like source of the information, an overall descriptions and assessment of their accuracy, the collection method, the year of reference and possible explanation of some other terms related to other existing data source.

PRE-REQUISITE OF METADATA n The available metadata should be strongly linked with the referenced data and follow them while data are “traveling” over the net. n Metadata should accompany data in all the performed calculations and manipulations. n The metadata system should be open and flexible enough, to be able to collaborate with other systems, exchange information with them and able to provide the ability for combination with multivariate information system. n It should also be user-centric and allow users to formulate complex, ad-hoc queries.

CURRENT STATUS OF METADATA IN PAKISTAN n In Pakistan Metadata exist in the format of concepts and definitions about the variables collected in the census, methodologies used in collection or computation of indicators from census data. n Currently plans are also under way to improve the quality of the metadata in the forth coming census in the country. n Census Metadata is being disseminated through publications and is being provided to data users on CDs.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION n Metadata plays an important role in disseminating statistical information and particularly census data hence it is recommended that metadata may be developed. n However it should be ensured that metadata may be in various formats for easy access and offer more options for users. n Security of metadata may be ensured.

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