Counting the Population or Describing Society? A Comparison of English and Welsh and French Censuses

Abstract

Data collected at household level in censuses are used for a wide range of purposes including practical planning and academic analysis of changing social conditions. Comparability is a core demographic value, and to understand the limits of the comparability of census data across time and space, it is important to recognise if, how and why, concepts and definitions change between censuses. This paper examines definitions of the household in censuses in England and Wales (E&W) and France from 1960 to 2012 in order to investigate how census definitions have changed and to examine the drivers of such changes. Two research methods were used: (1) longitudinal analyses of census documentation since the 1960s and (2) in-depth interviews with key informants oriented around respondents’ roles in the collection and/or use of household data from censuses and surveys. We identify two contrasting national approaches to the data collection exercise that is called a census, which reflect political and institutional differences. These differences call into question the comparability of some aspects of census data across national boundaries, despite increased harmonisation of approaches to data collection. By comparing the evolution of the definitions of the “household” in censuses, we develop insight into the diversity of the priorities of census commissioners and designers, and consider the broader implications of this for producing comparable data.

Socio-spatial Disparities and the Crisis: Swimming Pools as a Proxy of Class Segregation in Athens

“…Moreover, census tracks are often unstable spatial units over time and the use of non-point, polygon-based geo-referenced data does not prevent statistical problems, such as the Modifiable Area Unit Problem, when calculating interpretative models based on exploratory multivariate statistics or regression approaches (Reardon et al 2008). At the same time, although recording a comparatively homogeneous system of information-based on common definitions and nomenclature-census data may be less comparable across countries especially as far as classification of working systems is concerned, preventing an effective comparison among metropolitan regions (Coast et al 2016;Fowler et al 2016). By contrast, a better understanding of the increasingly complex spatial patterns of social segregation in contemporary cities requires comprehensive and comparative studies among metropolitan regions, using geo-referenced and high-resolution indicators over sufficiently long time intervals (Andersson et al 2018;Anjoy et al 2019;Nieuwenhuis et al 2019).…”

Mortality, morbidity and health in developed societies: a review of data sources

“…For a discussion of developments in census-taking see Baffour et al ( 2013 ). In addition, despite the standardisation and harmonisation efforts, there are limits to the comparability of census data across time and space due to changing concepts and definitions, such as that of ‘household’ (Coast et al 2016 ). And the absence of census sampling errors is often offset by important non-sampling errors.…”