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Territorial inequalities have long been a subject of study and concern in Canada. In the face of large structural changes such as industrial shifts and the decarbonization of our economies, there is an urgency to understand such inequalities and design effective policy interventions for those places facing persistent economic decline. This paper shares a novel composite index that measures economic disparity across Canadian Census Subdivisions (CSDs) using Census data from 2001 through 2016 and the 2011 National Household Survey. Named the "Index of Economic Disparity," it is comprised of an equally weighted average of four sub‐indices that assign percentile rankings for all CSDs based on whether they experience persistent and substantial decline in key economic areas: population, labour force outcomes, working‐age share of population, and industrial diversity. The variation of outcomes across geographies—urban and rural—highlights the importance of place‐based policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In South Africa, households were formed at about twice the rate that the population grew be-tween census 1996 and census 2011 and the number of single-person households ballooned by 150%. Reweighted household survey data shows a surge in household formation in the late 1990s was driven by prime-aged and older women and Black African men, likely connected to new freedoms afforded to these groups after the transition to democracy. Household formation steadied in the 2000s, hiding variation in who formed what types of households. Astonishing growth in the rate at which South Africans live alone was led by Black African men, a group historically associated with circular labour migration. Women instead are heading up complex households including children. These changes connect to long-term marital decline. By 2011, most female heads were never-married and the growing majority population group of never-married adults increased their rate of household formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To assess the contemporary prevalence of trachoma in Brazil's non-indigenous population, surveys of those thought to be at greatest risk of disease were conducted. Rural census tracts of non-indigenous population from nine mesoregions were selected to compose the survey evaluation units (EUs) by considering previously endemic municipalities at greatest risk of trachoma. In each of the nine EUs, we conducted a population-based prevalence survey. Every resident of selected households aged $$ \ge $$ ≥ 1 year was examined for trachomatous inflammation — follicular (TF) and trachomatous trichiasis (TT). Additionally, data were collected on household-level access to water, sanitation, hygiene (WASH) and education. A total of 27,962 individuals were examined across nine EUs. The age-adjusted TF prevalence in 1–9-year-olds was <5% in each EU. The age- and gender-adjusted prevalence of TT unknown to the health system in ≥15-year-olds was <0.2% in eight EUs; in one EU, it was 0.22%. The median number of households surveyed per EU with access to an improved drinking water source within a 30-minute roundtrip of the house was 66%. School attendance was >99% of surveyed children. The prevalence of TF was well below the target for elimination as a public health problem in all EUs. Because EUs surveyed were selected to represent the highest-risk non-indigenous areas of the country, TF prevalence is unlikely to be ≥5% in non-indigenous populations elsewhere. In one EU, the prevalence of TT was above the target threshold for elimination. Further investigation and possibly improvement in TT surgical provision are required in that EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International survey researchers are increasingly turning to a geospatial sampling approach known as gridded population sampling for finer resolution and a more updated sampling frame than conventional census-based sampling. To date, there have been no direct comparisons of accuracy between survey results derived from the two methods. This experiment fielded two parallel public opinion surveys concurrently before Uruguay's 2019 first-round election to compare the accuracy of both probabilistic sampling approaches. Holding other factors constant, we found that the gridded population sample survey performed slightly better than the conventionally drawn census sample survey at predicting election results. The quality of the Uruguayan census frame set a high standard for the gridded population sample, and our experimental results demonstrate that it surpassed it. Given gridded population sampling's additional demonstrated advantages, particularly time savings, these results suggest that it is a promising approach for face-to-face survey sampling in many lower- and middle-income countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Target 3.8 of the Sustainable Development Goals calls for the guaranteeing of universal health service coverage without generating financial risks for households and individuals. In Colombia, there is no up-to-date information on the proportion of households that suffer catastrophic health expenditure (CHE), nor about how these expenses are associated with the place of residence. To contribute to an understanding of these issues, this study analyses the differences in the levels of CHE among Colombian households, and their association with the province and area (urban or rural) of residence. Methods: This is a descriptive and analytical cross-sectional study using the 2016–2017 National Household Budget Survey, the household and population Census 2018, and the Register of Health Providers 2017. We used the definition of CHE proposed by the World Health Organization, with a threshold of 20%. We estimated the percentage of households facing CHE, and its intensity, and estimated a multi-level logistic regression model, using as the dependent variable the question of whether a household experienced CHE, and the province as a second level, where explanatory variables related to the province were included. Results: We found differences in CHE levels according to the province of residence. At the national level, 1.77% of households experienced CHE, and households in the provinces of Boyacá (5.04%), Nariño (4.04%), Cauca (3.82%), and Chocó (3.78%) faced the highest CHE. For most households with CHE in these provinces, spending on medicines and medical consultations represented close to 50% of their out-of-pocket spending. The multi-level logistic regression model indicated that there are significant variations in CHE attributed to the provinces under study, where the contextual variables of hospital-bed density (AOR = 0.91; 95% CI 0.86–0.96) and incidence of multi-dimensional poverty (AOR = 1.13; 95% CI 1.01–1.30) were factors associated with CHE. For an urban household, 6.58% of the CHE variation is attributed to the province in question, while for a rural household the corresponding variation is 1.56%. Conclusions: The geographical location of the household is a key factor when studying CHE in Colombia, where rural households present higher levels of CHE, mainly in the delivery of medicines and medical consultations. The findings reveal the need to analyse financial protection at the local level and establish policies to protect households, especially poor households, from CHE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Most existing facility assessments collect data on a sample of health facilities. Sampling of health facilities may introduce bias into estimates of effective coverage generated by ecologically linking individuals to health providers based on geographic proximity or administrative catchment. Methods: We assessed the bias introduced to effective coverage estimates produced through two ecological linking approaches (administrative unit and Euclidean distance) applied to a sample of health facilities. Our analysis linked MICS household survey data on care-seeking for child illness and childbirth care with data on service quality collected from a census of health facilities in the Savanes region of Cote d'Ivoire. To assess the bias introduced by sampling, we drew 20 random samples of three different sample sizes from our census of health facilities. We calculated effective coverage of sick child and childbirth care using both ecological linking methods applied to each sampled facility data set. We compared the sampled effective coverage estimates to ecologically linked census-based estimates and estimates based on true source of care. We performed sensitivity analyses with simulated preferential care-seeking from higher-quality providers and randomly generated provider quality scores. Results: Sampling of health facilities did not significantly bias effective coverage compared to either the ecologically linked estimates derived from a census of facilities or true effective coverage estimates using the original data or simulated random quality sensitivity analysis. However, a few estimates based on sampling in a setting where individuals preferentially sought care from higher-quality providers fell outside of the estimate bounds of true effective coverage. Those cases predominantly occurred using smaller sample sizes and the Euclidean distance linking method. None of the sample-based estimates fell outside the bounds of the ecologically linked census-derived estimates. Conclusions: Our analyses suggest that current health facility sampling approaches do not significantly bias estimates of effective coverage produced through ecological linking. Choice of ecological linking methods is a greater source of bias from true effective coverage estimates, although facility sampling can exacerbate this bias in certain scenarios. Careful selection of ecological linking methods is essential to minimize the potential effect of both ecological linking and sampling error. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines to what extent household surveys and censuses in low- and middle-income countries include disability questions and the types of questions under use. We found that only 31% of 734 datasets between 2009 and 2018 from 133 low- and middle-income countries have at least one disability-related question. Of the surveys reviewed, 15% of the datasets have functional difficulty questions that meet international standards, i.e. Washington Group short set or other functional difficulty questions. Meanwhile, the most asked disability question "Do you have a disability?" is problematic as it does not produce meaningful and internationally comparable data. We recommend the adoption of functional difficulty questions for all surveys and censuses to track the progress of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as well as the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers increasingly use aggregate relational data to learn about the size and distribution of survey respondents’ weak-tie personal networks. Aggregate relational data are collected by asking questions about respondents’ connectedness to many different groups (e.g., “How many teachers do you know?”). This approach can be powerful, but to use aggregate relational data, researchers must locate external information about the size of each group from a census or administrative records (e.g., the number of teachers in the population). This need for external information makes aggregate relational data difficult or impossible to collect in many settings. Here, the authors show that relatively simple modifications can overcome this need for external data, significantly increasing the flexibility of the method and weakening key assumptions required by the associated estimators. The key idea is to estimate the size of these groups from the sample of survey respondents, rather than relying on external sources of information. These methods are appropriate for using a sample survey to study the size and distribution of weak-tie network connections. They can also be used as part of the network scale-up method to estimate the size of hidden populations. The authors illustrate this approach with two empirical studies: a large simulation study and original household survey data collected in Hanoi, Vietnam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disaggregated population counts are needed to calculate health, economic, and development indicators in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs), especially in settings of rapid urbanisation. Censuses are often outdated and inaccurate in LMIC settings, and rarely disaggregated at fine geographic scale. Modelled gridded population datasets derived from census data have become widely used by development researchers and practitioners; however, accuracy in these datasets are evaluated at the spatial scale of model input data which is generally courser than the neighbourhood or cell-level scale of many applications. We simulate a realistic synthetic 2016 population in Khomas, Namibia, a majority urban region, and introduce several realistic levels of outdatedness (over 15 years) and inaccuracy in slum, non-slum, and rural areas. We aggregate the synthetic populations by census and administrative boundaries (to mimic census data), resulting in 32 gridded population datasets that are typical of LMIC settings using the WorldPop-Global-Unconstrained gridded population approach. We evaluate the cell-level accuracy of these gridded population datasets using the original synthetic population as a reference. In our simulation, we found large cell-level errors, particularly in slum cells. These were driven by the averaging of population densities in large areal units before model training. Age, accuracy, and aggregation of the input data also played a role in these errors. We suggest incorporating finer-scale training data into gridded population models generally, and WorldPop-Global-Unconstrained in particular (e.g., from routine household surveys or slum community population counts), and use of new building footprint datasets as a covariate to improve cell-level accuracy (as done in some new WorldPop-Global-Constrained datasets). It is important to measure accuracy of gridded population datasets at spatial scales more consistent with how the data are being applied, especially if they are to be used for monitoring key development indicators at neighbourhood scales within cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coronavirus pandemic has had devastating mental health consequences across the world. Among others, economic uncertainty created by job loss due to the pandemic has been a main culprit. This study examines the deleterious effect of losing a job personally or living with a family member who did on mental health among American adults. We also examine whether this link varies across two measures of vulnerability at the individual level (low household income and ethnic minority status). We further run cross-level interaction models between job loss and two contextual moderators (COVID-19 cases and community social capital). Based on multilevel analysis of Census House Pulse Survey consisting of U.S. probability samples collected over a 10-month period between April 2020 and February 2021, we find strong support for the positive relationship between job loss and mental distress, which is more pronounced among Americans with lower household income. This relationship also increases in regions with higher average coronavirus infections but decreases in places with higher stock of social capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Zimbabwe achieved 75-86% HPV vaccine coverage among all 10 to 14 year old girls. • HPV vaccine coverage was slight lower in older aged girls compared to younger. • Cervical cancer protection and trust in vaccines were reasons for high acceptance. Zimbabwe has one of the highest incidence rates of cervical cancer in the world – 61.7 per 100,000 women. The government of Zimbabwe introduced bivalent HPV vaccine with a 0,12 month schedule to all 10–14 year old girls using a pulsed-campaign approach in May 2018 (dose 1) and May 2019 (dose 2). In August 2019, we conducted a population-based, two-stage cluster survey of households with girls who were eligible for the national HPV vaccination program to determine two-dose HPV vaccination coverage in three districts of Zimbabwe. All households with girls currently aged 11 to 15 years were line-listed through a census conducted in the pre-selected clusters from each district prior to survey administration. A simple random sample of eligible households was selected from these lists to estimate HPV vaccine coverage at sufficient power with a margin of error of +/- 5%. Criteria for district selection included estimated vaccine uptake (low, medium, high), rural/urban/ peri -urban, geographic area, estimated number of girls not in school, and recent natural disasters or disease outbreaks. We oversampled households with girls aged 13 or 14 years at the time of dose 1. On-time dose 1 uptake ranged from 88 to 94% and two-dose HPV vaccine coverage ranged from 75 to 86% across the three districts. Nearly all vaccinations occurred in schools, and less than 2% of girls did not attend school. There were challenges assessing ages of girls at schools prior to vaccination – 9% of girls vaccinated were less than 10 years old at time of dose 1. Zimbabwe has demonstrated that high uptake and successful completion of 2-dose HPV vaccination can be achieved with an annual dosing schedule. Efforts going forward will need to focus on minimizing dropout between doses and routinizing annual vaccinations in schools for every subsequent new cohort of eligible girls in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to rationalize the massive use of administrative data in the production of demographic and social statistics, the French national statistical institute (INSEE) has decided to launch a program to create a system of interconnected registers of individuals, dwellings and households. This program, called RESIL, is based on the mobilization of external data, particularly administrative data, in strict compliance with the conditions for the protection of individual data. Thus, through these registers, INSEE will have a reference universe that will allow: (i) to constitute the sampling frames as well as the calibration margins of household surveys; (ii) to measure the quality of the coverage of sources; and (iii) to match different datasets: surveys with administrative data, administrative data with administrative data in order to provide richer information. To set up this information system, INSEE will draw on international experiences, as it plans to use methodologies already implemented in several national statistical institutes, including: • deterministic and probabilistic matching methods for identifying and comparing different administrative sources. These methods are essential insofar as France does not have a unique and shared identifier; • the sign of life method to define the reference population from the presence of individuals in several input data; • the Dual System Estimation methodology to measure the quality of coverage of the registers using annual population census data (it is a real opportunity to have these annual points of comparison to assess the quality of the registers, especially during the set-up period). This paper will therefore present the stakes and the context, in particular the legal context, of the implementation of these registers, and will then describe the main methodological principles and the proofs of concept planned for its implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Geographic proximity is often used to link household and health provider data to estimate effective coverage of health interventions. Existing household surveys often provide displaced data on the central point within household clusters rather than household location. This may introduce error into analyses based on the distance between households and providers. Methods: We assessed the effect of imprecise household location on quality-adjusted effective coverage of child curative services estimated by linking sick children to providers based on geographic proximity. We used data on care-seeking for child illness and health provider quality in Southern Province, Zambia. The dataset included the location of respondent households, a census of providers, and data on the exact outlets utilized by sick children included in the study. We displaced the central point of each household cluster point five times. We calculated quality-adjusted coverage by assigning each sick child to a provider's care based on three measures of geographic proximity (Euclidean distance, travel time, and geographic radius) from the household location, cluster point, and displaced cluster locations. We compared the estimates of quality-adjusted coverage to each other and estimates using each sick child's true source of care. We performed sensitivity analyses with simulated preferential care-seeking from higher-quality providers and randomly generated provider quality scores. Results: Fewer children were linked to their true source of care using cluster locations than household locations. Effective coverage estimates produced using undisplaced or displaced cluster points did not vary significantly from estimates produced using household location data or each sick child's true source of care. However, the sensitivity analyses simulating greater variability in provider quality showed bias in effective coverage estimates produced with the geographic radius and travel time method using imprecise location data in some scenarios. Conclusions: Use of undisplaced or displaced cluster location reduced the proportion of children that linked to their true source of care. In settings with minimal variability in quality within provider categories, the impact on effective coverage estimates is limited. However, use of imprecise household location and choice of geographic linking method can bias estimates in areas with high variability in provider quality or preferential care-seeking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the global context, the health and quality of life of people are adversely affected by either one or more types of chronic diseases. The chronic pain associated with diagnosed patients may include heavy medical expenditure along with the physical and mental suffering they undergo. Usually, unbearable amounts of medical expenses are incurred, to improve or sustain the health condition of the patient. Consequently, the heavy financial burden tends to push households from a comfortable or secure life, or even from bad to worse, towards the probability of becoming poor. Hence, this study is conducted to identify the impact chronic illnesses have on poverty using data from a national survey referred as the Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES), with data gathered by the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS) of Sri Lanka in 2016. As such, this study is the first of its kind in Sri Lanka, declaring the originality of the study based on data collected from the local arena. Accordingly, the study discovered that married females who do not engage in any type of economic activity, in the age category of 40–65, having an educational level of tertiary level or below and living in the urban sector have a higher likelihood of suffering from chronic diseases. Moreover, it was inferred that, if a person is deprived from access to basic education in the level of education, lives in the rural or estate sector, or suffers from a brain disease, cancer, heart disease or kidney disease, he is highly likely to be poor. Some insights concluded from this Sri Lankan case study can also be applied in the context of other developing countries, to minimise chronic illnesses and thereby the probability of falling into poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Surgical care is an integral part of any healthcare system, yet there is a paucity of data on the burden of surgical disease, surgical capacity and access to surgical services in the Pacific region. This study aimed to evaluate access to surgical care through a pilot household survey in the Vanuatu island of Efate and five of its surrounding islands. Methods: The 2009 Vanuatu census' GPS coordinates were used to randomly select 150 rural and 150 urban households from Efate and its surrounding islands. A total of 143 urban households and 142 rural households were available for inclusion in this study. A household questionnaire was developed to evaluate access to surgical care and included information regarding household demographics, socio-economic indicators and perceived and realised barriers to accessing care. The questionnaire was administered by local health workers, and data were collected electronically. Results: Questionnaires were completed by 285 households. Two hundred and forty-one out of 254 (94.8%) households reported being able to access Port Vila Hospital, if required. The most commonly cited potential barriers to accessing surgical care were financial constraints (42.4%) and transport (26.4%). Conclusion: Our results provide important insights into the geographic, sociocultural and economic barriers to seeking, reaching and receiving surgical care in this region of Vanuatu. Identifying specific areas and communities with poor access to care, alongside the determinants of access, will help in designing both clinical and policy interventions to improve access to surgical care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), household survey data are a main source of information for planning, evaluation, and decision-making. Standard surveys are based on censuses, however, for many LMICs it has been more than 10 years since their last census and they face high urban growth rates. Over the last decade, survey designers have begun to use modelled gridded population estimates as sample frames. We summarize the state of the emerging field of gridded population survey sampling, focussing on LMICs. Methods: We performed a systematic scoping review in Scopus of specific gridded population datasets and "population" or "household" "survey" reports, and solicited additional published and unpublished sources from colleagues. Results: We identified 43 national and sub-national gridded population-based household surveys implemented across 29 LMICs. Gridded population surveys used automated and manual approaches to derive clusters from WorldPop and LandScan gridded population estimates. After sampling, some survey teams interviewed all households in each cluster or segment, and others sampled households from larger clusters. Tools to select gridded population survey clusters include the GridSample R package, Geo-sampling tool, and GridSample.org. In the field, gridded population surveys generally relied on geographically accurate maps based on satellite imagery or OpenStreetMap, and a tablet or GPS technology for navigation. Conclusions: For gridded population survey sampling to be adopted more widely, several strategic questions need answering regarding cell-level accuracy and uncertainty of gridded population estimates, the methods used to group/split cells into sample frame units, design effects of new sample designs, and feasibility of tools and methods to implement surveys across diverse settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Country-level census data are typically collected once every 10 years. However, conflicts, migration, urbanization, and natural disasters can rapidly shift local population patterns. This study demonstrates the feasibility of a "bottom-up"-method to estimate local population density in the between-census years by combining household surveys with contemporaneous geo-spatial data, including village-area and satellite imagery-based indicators. We apply this technique to the case of Sri Lanka using Poisson regression models based on variables selected using the Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO). The model is estimated in villages sampled in the 2012/13 Household Income and Expenditure Survey, and is employed to obtain out-of-sample density estimates in the non-surveyed villages. These estimates approximate the census density accurately and are more precise than other bottom-up studies using similar geo-spatial data. While most open-source population products redistribute census population "top-down" from higher to lower spatial units using areal interpolation and dasymetric mapping techniques, these products become less accurate as the census itself ages. Our method circumvents the problem of the aging census by relying instead on more up-to-date household surveys. The collective evidence suggests that our method is cost effective in tracking local population density with greater frequency in the between-census years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Household surveys are the main source of demographic, health and socio-economic data in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). To conduct such a survey, census population information mapped into enumeration areas (EAs) typically serves a sampling frame from which to generate a random sample. However, the use of census information to generate this sample frame can be problematic as in many LMIC contexts, such data are often outdated or incomplete, potentially introducing coverage issues into the sample frame. Increasingly, where census data are outdated or unavailable, modelled population datasets in the gridded form are being used to create household survey sampling frames. Methods: Previously this process was done by either sampling from a set of the uniform grid cells (UGC) which are then manually subdivided to achieve the desired population size, or by sampling very small grid cells then aggregating cells into larger units to achieve a minimum population per survey cluster. The former approach is time and resource-intensive as well as results in substantial heterogeneity in the output sampling units, while the latter can complicate the calculation of unbiased sampling weights. Using the context of Somalia, which has not had a full census since 1987, we implemented a quadtree algorithm for the first time to create a population sampling frame. The approach uses gridded population estimates and it is based on the idea of a quadtree decomposition in which an area successively subdivided into four equal size quadrants, until the content of each quadrant is homogenous. Results: The quadtree approach used here produced much more homogeneous sampling units than the UGC (1 × 1 km and 3 × 3 km) approach. At the national and pre-war regional scale, the standard deviation and coefficient of variation, as indications of homogeneity, were calculated for the output sampling units using quadtree and UGC 1 × 1 km and 3 × 3 km approaches to create the sampling frame and the results showed outstanding performance for quadtree approach. Conclusion: Our approach reduces the manual burden of manually subdividing UGC into highly populated areas, while allowing for correct calculation of sampling weights. The algorithm produces a relatively homogenous population counts within the sampling units, reducing the variation in the weights and improving the precision of the resulting estimates. Furthermore, a protocol of creating approximately equal-sized blocks and using tablets for randomized selection of a household in each block mitigated potential selection bias by enumerators. The approach shows labour, time and cost-saving and points to the potential use in wider contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global Nonresponse Rate (GNR) is a variable used by Statistics Canada to indicate data quality within delineated geographic areas with respect to the information gathered by the NHS. While the fact remains that specific characteristics of the nonrespondents cannot be known with certainty, the prediction of GNR based on respondent characteristics, and conversely, the prediction of respondent characteristics based on GNR can inform the use of NHS data. The juxtaposition of the spatial distribution of GNR and that of our selected study variables displays a relationship between GNR and several variables representing social deprivation. [Extracted from the article]

Accurate smoking prevalence data is critical for monitoring, surveillance, and evaluation. However, estimates of prevalence vary across surveys due to various factors. This study examines smoking prevalence estimates for 18–21 year olds across six U.S. national telephone, online and in-person surveys for the years 2013 and 2014. Estimates of ever smoking ranged from 35% to 55%. Current smoking ranged from 16% to 30%. Across the three modalities, household surveys were found to yield the highest estimates of smoking prevalence among 18 to 21 year olds while online surveys yielded the lowest estimates, and this was consistent when stratifying by gender and race/ethnicity. Assessments of the joint effect of gender, race/ethnicity, educational attainment and survey mode indicated that the relative differences in the likelihood of smoking were consistent across modes for gender and education groups. However, the relative likelihood of smoking among minority groups compared with non-Hispanic Whites varied across modes. Gender and racial/ethnic distributions for most surveys significantly differed from the U.S. Census. Over and underrepresentation of certain demographic subpopulations, variations in survey question wording, and social desirability effects may explain modality differences in smoking estimates observed in this study. Further research is needed to evaluate the effect of survey mode on variation in smoking prevalence estimates across national surveys, particularly for young adult populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: With India preparing for the next decennial Census in 2021, we compared the disability estimates and data collection methodology between the Census 2011 and the most recent population-level survey for India and its states, to highlight the issues to be addressed to improve robustness of the disability estimates in the upcoming Census. Methods: Data from the Census 2011 and from two complementary nationally representative household surveys that covered all Indian states with the same methodology and survey instruments–the District-Level Household Survey-4 (DLHS-4, 2012–2013) and the Annual Health Surveys (AHS three rounds, 2010–11, 2011–12 and 2012–13) were used. Data from DLHS-4 and AHS 2012–13 round were pooled to generate estimates for the year 2012–13. Data collection methodology between the sources was compared, including the review of definitions of each type of disability. The overall, mental, visual, hearing, speech, and movement disability rate (DR) per 100,000 population were compared between the sources for India and for each state, and the percent difference in the respective rates was calculated. We explored the reliability of these estimates comparing yearly data from the AHS for three successive rounds. Results: Survey data were collected through proxy reporting, however, it is not entirely clear whether the data were proxy- or self-reported or a mix of both in the Census. The overall DR was 25.1% higher in the Census (2,242; 95% CI 2,241–2,243) than the survey (1,791; 95% CI 1,786–1,797) per 100,000 population, with the state-level difference ranging from -64% in Tamil Nadu to 107% in Sikkim state. Despite both sources using nearly similar definitions for overall disability and disability by type, the difference in DR was 125.5%, 54.2%, -25.7%, -19.7%, and 21.9% for hearing, speech, mental, movement, and visual DR, respectively. At the state-level, the difference in disability-specific estimates ranged from -84% to 450%. The extent of variations in the disability-specific estimates in AHS successive rounds ranged from -25% to 929% at the state-level. Conclusions: There is momentum globally towards building disability measurement that is consistent with the data required for monitoring of the Sustainable Development Goals to ensure robust estimation of disability. The current estimates from the Census and surveys seem much lower than would be expected at the population level. We make recommendations that India needs to take serious note of in order to improve the validity and reliability of India’s disability estimates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study proposes a flexible and scalable single-level framework for origin–destination matrix (ODM) inference using data from IoT (Internet of Things) and other sources. The framework allows the analyst to integrate information from multiple data sources, while controlling for differences in data quality across sources. We assess the effectiveness of the framework through a real-world experiment in Greater Adelaide (GA), Australia. We infer car OD flows within the region using four separate data sources: site-level traffic counts from loop detectors, vehicle trajectories recorded by roadside Bluetooth sensors, partial OD flows based on data from in to vehicle navigation systems, and journey-to-work OD data collected by the Australian Census. We compare our OD inferences with those from the current version of the Strategic Adelaide Model (SAM), calibrated using data from traditional household travel surveys. We find remarkable consistency between our inferences and those from SAM, despite differences in input data and methodologies. For example, for the morning peak period, we predict the total number of trips made within GA to be equal to 556,000, while the corresponding prediction from SAM is equal to 484,000. The two predictions are within 15 per cent of each other. When we compare the spatial distribution of trips, in terms of origins and destinations, we find that our inferred OD matrix has an 86 per cent cosine similarity to the corresponding SAM matrix. Travel time predictions based on our OD inferences correspond closely to those predicted by the Google Directions API, lending further confidence in our inferences. In summary, our results show that the proposed framework can produce highly comparable ODM, trip production and trip attraction patterns to those inferred from traditional household travel survey-based transportation demand modelling methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Lahe Township belongs to Myanmar`s Naga Self-administered Zone, which is one of the most remote and mountainous areas in Myanmar. However, the limited health data available for the region suggests that there could be neglected health needs that require attention. The purpose of this study was to assess the health status of the population of Lahe Township. Methods: A cross-sectional study design incorporating a two-stage cluster sampling methodology recommended by the WHO was used to conduct a household level survey. In the first stage, 30 village clusters were selected from all villages situated in the Lahe Township through systematic sampling with probability of selection proportional to the population size of each village based on the 2014 Myanmar census. In the second stage, a GPS-based sampling method was used to select 30 households within a village cluster. The head of the household completed the survey for all members of the household. Questionnaires inquired about maternal health, mortality, morbidities, childhood nutritional status, access to health care, and water & sanitation. The resulting data was stratified by urban/rural status. Results: Data was collected on 5,929 individuals living in 879 households, of which 993 individuals (16.7%) were children 5 years old or younger. The median age was 18.0 (IQR 8.0–35.0). Children 15 years old or younger represented 44.7% of the population. 19.8% of households reported at least 1 household member sick during the previous 30 days. The crude mortality rate per 10,000 people per day was 0.58 (95% CI: 0.48–0.69). The under 5 mortality per 10,000 people per day was 0.74 (95% CI: 0.50–1.06). Only 46.7% of households could access a hospital if there was a need. Conclusion: Our results demonstrate a high rate of mortality and the inability to access healthcare in Lahe Township, which should be addressed to prevent further deterioration of health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 1831 census database is the newest addition to the series of 19th century Canadian census microdata available for social science research, thanks to a collaboration between the Programme de recherche en démographie historique (PRDH) and FamilySearch. This article presents the work undertaken to prepare this database and the main challenges encountered in the course of this work. While the data extracted from the 1831 census are an invaluable tool for demographic research, particularly on account of the agricultural and industrial questions included in this census, cleaning these data have required particular attention to the age-sex-marital status tallies of the household co-residents. Additional efforts were devoted to integrating missing data for Montréal's Notre-Dame parish and for other parishes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses the empirical representativeness of micro-data by comparing the Malawi 2008 census to two representative household surveys - ‘the Living Standard Measurement Survey’ and the ‘Demographic and Health Survey’ - both implemented in Malawi in 2010. The comparison of descriptive statistics - demographics, asset ownership, and living conditions - shows considerable similarities despite statistically identifiable differences due to the large samples. Differences mainly occur when wording, scope, and pre-defined answer categories diverge across surveys. Multivariate analyses are considerably less representative due to loss of observations with composite indicators yielding higher comparability as individual ones. Household-level fixed-effect specifications produce more similar results, yet are not suited for policy conclusions. Comparability of micro-data should not be assumed but checked on a case-by-case basis. Still, micro-data constitute reliable grounds for factually informed conclusions if design and context are appropriately considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use data from the Canadian Censuses (1991-2006) and National Household Survey (2011) to examine how household incomes vary across Aboriginal communities with and without modern agreements. These agreements include self-government, comprehensive land claims and opt-in legislation regarding financial and land management authority. Using a difference-in-difference regression methodology, we find that standalone comprehensive land claims agreements, both with and without associated self government agreements, are associated with income gains for Aboriginal households, primarily through increased labour income. Joint opt-in arrangements combining fiscal and land management authority are associated with smaller income gains. But, other agreement types are not associated with increased household incomes. We also find evidence of continued income growth for CLCAs in the medium term. Finally, we find that income gains—where they are found—are much larger for non-Aboriginal households than for Aboriginal households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Population numbers at local levels are fundamental data for many applications, including the delivery and planning of services, election preparation, and response to disasters. In resource-poor settings, recent and reliable demographic data at subnational scales can often be lacking. National population and housing census data can be outdated, inaccurate, or missing key groups or areas, while registry data are generally lacking or incomplete. Moreover, at local scales accurate boundary data are often limited, and high rates of migration and urban growth make existing data quickly outdated. Here we review past and ongoing work aimed at producing spatially disaggregated local-scale population estimates, and discuss how new technologies are now enabling robust and cost-effective solutions. Recent advances in the availability of detailed satellite imagery, geopositioning tools for field surveys, statistical methods, and computational power are enabling the development and application of approaches that can estimate population distributions at fine spatial scales across entire countries in the absence of census data. We outline the potential of such approaches as well as their limitations, emphasizing the political and operational hurdles for acceptance and sustainable implementation of new approaches, and the continued importance of traditional sources of national statistical data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Violence against women is often exacerbated by war, but most civilian research has investigated short term impact. We describe the conflict experiences of men and women from the general population of Bougainville Papua New Guinea, perceptions of the enduring impact of conflict, and the associations between these and the major health and development problems on the islands: mental ill-health and violence against women. Methods: Fourteen years after the end of the decade long civil war, we conducted a household survey with a random sample of adult (n = 864) men and (n = 879) women living in Bougainville. The interviews were mostly conducted face-to-face, with very sensitive questions self-completed. Results: Mental ill-health was highly prevalent, 37.8% of women and 32% of men had high levels of depressive symptomatology, 34.4% of men abused alcohol and 15.1% of women and 24.6% of men had high levels of PTSD symptoms. Among women, 23.3% had been raped in the year prior to the interview and 33.3% had experience physical or sexual partner violence. The prevalence of exposure to trauma during the civil war was very high and many of the men and women experienced lingering impact of conflict. Multiple logistic regression models showed that war trauma was associated with PTSD symptoms in women and PTSD symptoms, alcohol abuse and depressive symptoms in men. The perceived enduring impact of conflict was associated with depressive symptoms in men and women, problem drinking and suicidal thoughts in women and drug use in men. The perceived enduring conflict impact was associated with perpetration of past year rape and physical and/or sexual partner violence. Discussion: The Bougainville civil war had a devastating impact on the population’s lives. Reversing this legacy is essential but requires addressing what is perceived as the enduring social, economic and psychological impact of the conflict and a major focus on prevention of violence against women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International best practice on survey design recommends using a complete listing to develop the second-stage sampling frame for a household survey. In certain contexts, though, this approach may not be practical or possible due to concerns ranging from cost to security. This paper focuses specifically on security constraints encountered during the planning of a survey in Mogadishu, Somalia. The paper develops an artificial census for three neighborhoods based on data from the Mogadishu High Frequency Survey. Simulation models are then used to select individual dwellings to examine the implications of the choice of second stage selection methodology on bias and variance. Among the other findings, the simulations show that the bias introduced by a random walk design leads to the underestimation of the number of households in poverty by approximately 10 percent, with unweighted random point selection design leading to overestimation of a similar magnitude. The paper also discusses the time required and technical complexity of the associated back-office preparation work and weight calculations for each method. The paper concludes by considering practicality of each method, including the ease of implementation and options for remote verification, and outlines areas for future research and pilot testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use Census and National Household Survey data to generate estimates of the private rate of return to a Canadian bachelor's degree that allow for differences in earnings determination, taxes and tuition by birth cohort. Log-earnings equation estimates that allow for cohort effects suggest that earnings equations have shifted significantly across cohorts in ways that have increased the returns to education. These effects dominate the effect of changes to taxes and tuition across the 1927-1981 birth cohorts examined. The results suggest that rate-of-return estimates based on a single cross-sectional data set underestimate the rates of return of recent cohorts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To ascertain household coverage achieved by Swaziland's national community health worker (CHW) programme and differences in household coverage across clients' sociodemographic characteristics.Methods: Household survey from June to September 2015 in two of Swaziland's four administrative regions using two-stage cluster random sampling. Interviewers administered a questionnaire to all household members in 1542 households across 85 census enumeration areas.Results: While the CHW programme aims to cover all households in the country, only 44.5% (95% confidence interval: 38.0% to 51.1%) reported that they had ever been visited by a CHW. In both uni- and multivariable regressions, coverage was negatively associated with household wealth (OR for most vs. least wealthy quartile: 0.30 [0.16 to 0.58], P < 0.001) and education (OR for >secondary schooling vs. no schooling: 0.65 [0.47 to 0.90], P = 0.009), and positively associated with residing in a rural area (OR: 2.95 [1.77 to 4.91], P < 0.001). Coverage varied widely between census enumeration areas.Conclusions: Swaziland's national CHW programme is falling far short of its coverage goal. To improve coverage, the programme would likely need to recruit additional CHWs and/or assign more households to each CHW. Alternatively, changing the programme's ambitious coverage goal to visiting only certain types of households would likely reduce existing arbitrary differences in coverage between households and communities. This study highlights the need to evaluate and reform large long-standing CHW programmes in sub-Saharan Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many less developed countries, household surveys collect full and summary birth histories to provide estimates of child mortality. However, full birth histories are expensive to collect and cannot provide precise estimates for small areas, and summary birth histories only provide past child mortality trends. A simple method that provides estimates for the most recent past uses questions about the survival of recent births in censuses or large household surveys. This study examines such data collected by 45 censuses and shows that on average they tend to underestimate under-5 mortality in comparison with alternative estimates, albeit with wide variations. In addition, the high non-sampling uncertainty in this approach precludes its use in providing robust estimates of child mortality at the country level. Given these findings, we suggest that questions about the survival of recent births to collect data on child mortality not be included in census questionnaires. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: Disability affects approximately 15% of the world’s population, and has adverse socio-economic effects, especially for the poor. In Rwanda, there are a number of government compensation programs that support the poor, but not specifically persons with disability (PWDs). This study investigates the relationship between poverty and government compensation on disability among working-age adults in Rwanda. Methods: This was a secondary analysis of 35,114 adults aged 16 to 65 interviewed in the 2010/2011 Rwanda Household Wealth and Living Conditions survey, a national cross-sectional two-stage cluster survey, stratified by district. This study estimated self-reported major disability, and used chi-square tests to estimate associations (p<0.1) with income, government compensation, occupation type, participation in public works programs, and household poverty status. Non-collinear economic variables were included in a multivariate logistic regression, along with socio-demographic confounders that modified the relationship between any economic predictor and the outcome by 10% or more. All analyses adjusted for sampling weights, stratification, and clustering of households. Results: Over 4% of working-age adults reported having a major disability and the most prevalent types of disability in order were physical, mental, and then sensory disability. In bivariate analysis, annual income, occupation type, and poverty status were associated with major disability (p<0.001 for all). Occupation type was dropped because it was collinear with income. Age, education, and urban/rural residence were confounders. In the multivariate analysis, adults in all income groups had about half the odds of disability compared to adults with no income (Rwf1-120,000 OR = 0.57; Rwf120,000–250,000 OR = 0.61; Rwf250,000–1,000,000 OR = 0.59; Rwf1,000,000+ OR = 0.66; p<0.05 for all), and non-poor adults had 0.77 the odds of disability compared to poor adults (p = 0.001). Conclusion: Given that personal income rather than government programming is associated with disability in Rwanda, we recommend deliberately targeted services to those with disability via cash transfers, placements in disability-appropriate employment, and micro-savings programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ukraine used to be one of the most ethnically mixed Soviet republics due to a high level of immigration, mostly from other parts of the Soviet Union. This article uses the sample of households available at IPUMS International to study the information about birthplaces, migration and marriage partners in recently released microdata from the 2001 census. Since Ukraine’s independence in 1991 a large emigration surplus and ethnic estrangement have turned the country into a place with a lower degree of internal migration and ethnic intermarriage. With the exception of the capital Kiev, there was relatively little interchange of migrants between the eastern, Russian-dominated regions and the western regions. The highest degree of intermarriage was among people with at least one partner born abroad, most often in Russia. There is evidence of an elite of migrants from Russia to the Russia-oriented south-eastern provinces, who may feel especially threatened by the Ukrainian nationalistic takeover of power which happened after the Maidan insurrection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mobile telephone numbers are increasingly being included in household surveys samples. As approach letters cannot be sent because many do not have address details, alternatives approaches have been considered. This study assesses the effectiveness of sending a short message service (SMS) to a random sample of mobile telephone numbers to increase response rates. A simple random sample of 9000 Australian mobile telephone numbers: 4500 were randomly assigned to be sent a pre-notification SMS, and the remaining 4500 did not have a SMS sent. Adults aged 18 years and over, and currently in paid employment, were eligible to participate. American Association for Public Opinion Research formulas were used to calculated response cooperation and refusal rates. Response and cooperation rate were higher for the SMS groups (12.4% and 28.6% respectively) than the group with no SMS (7.7% and 16.0%). Refusal rates were lower for the SMS group (27.3%) than the group with no SMS (35.9%). When asked, 85.8% of the pre-notification group indicated they remembered receiving a SMS about the study. Sending a pre-notification SMS is effective in improving participation in population-based surveys. Response rates were increased by 60% and cooperation rates by 79%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Objectives: Growing evidence indicates that self-reported height and weight are biased, but little is known about systematic errors in the general adult population in Japan. This study takes advantage of the unique opportunity to examine this issue provided by the 1986 National Nutrition Survey. Subjects/Methods: Individual-level data on a nationally representative sample aged 20–89 years from the National Nutrition Survey (November 1986) were merged with Comprehensive Survey of Living Conditions (September 1986) data to obtain a dataset containing both self-reported and measured data on height and weight for each person (n = 10,469). Discrepancies between self-reported and measured means of height, weight, and body mass index (BMI) were tested across measured BMI categories (<18.5, 18.5–24.9, 25.0–27.4, 27.5–29.9, and ≥30.0 kg/m2), age groups (20–44, 45–64, and 65–89 years), and sexes. Reporting bias in mean BMI was decomposed into the contributions of misreporting height and weight. The sensitivity and specificity of self-reported BMI categories were estimated. Results: Mean self-reported BMI was substantially underestimated in older women (P<0.001; Cohen’s d, -0.4), and the major contributor to the bias was their over-reported height. Mean self-reported BMI was also considerably underestimated in both men and women who were overweight and obese (P<0.001; Cohen’s d, -1.0 to -0.6), due mainly to their underreported weight. In contrast, mean self-reported BMI was considerably overestimated in underweight men (P<0.001; Cohen’s d, 0.5), due largely to their over-reported weight. The sensitivity of self-reported BMI categories was particularly low for individuals who had a measured BMI of 27.5–29.9 kg/m2 (40.9% for men and 26.8% for women). Conclusions: Self-reported anthropometric data were not sufficiently accurate to assert the validity of their use in epidemiological studies on the general adult population in Japan in the late 1980s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Micro-data from the 2009 Vietnam census indicate that lone mothers represent 11.0% of all women aged 15 to 49 living with at least one of their children (≤17 years old). Results from logistic regression models show that school enrollment and attainment levels are lower for children of lone mothers than for children living with two parents. This negative effect is observed for children of never married, divorced or separated, and widowed lone mothers as well as for children of women currently married to a migrant not residing in the household provided they are not head of household. This disadvantage may be explained by reduced availability of human, material, and financial resources; restricted agency of the mother; and long-term socioeconomic and demographic processes shaping family relations and migration. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

While the importance and high value of census and population statistics is well recognised in New Zealand, there are pressures on the sustainability of the current 5 yearly census model. In response to these pressures and to new opportunities, Statistics NZ has developed a census transformation strategy to shape the future direction of census-taking in New Zealand. The strategy consists of two parallel strands: a short to medium term focus on modernising the current full enumeration census; and investigating the feasibility of producing census information from administrative data sources in the longer-term.We contrast the administrative data available in New Zealand with those typically found in countries that have moved to register-based censuses. The paper provides early results for population estimates constructed from the linked administrative sources available at present, and outlines the approaches being taken to improve the quality of statistical outputs derived from administrative data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Statistics Canada conducts over 350 business, social and institutional surveys a year. Of all social or household type surveys, only one in addition to the Census of Population is conducted on a mandatory basis, the Labour Force Survey. By their very nature, voluntary surveys will achieve lower rates of response and are thus exposed to higher risks of bias. For the 2011 Census of Population program, the long form census was for the first time collected on a voluntary basis as the National Household Survey. The survey content was basically the same as that of previous Census long forms and covered various socio-demographic topics that are of high importance to a wide variety of stakeholders in Canada. Given that one of the key characteristics of a census is to produce data for small regions and for subgroups of the population, collecting the survey on a voluntary basis introduced several challenges. Statistics Canada, based on its extensive experience with voluntary surveys, developed a number of processes and approaches to ensure the highest data quality possible. This paper describes what these measures were for data collection, data processing and estimation. It also provides a brief description of the quality assurance processes underlying the release strategy of the 2011 survey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tigers (Panthera tigris), like many large carnivores, are threatened by anthropogenic impacts, primarily habitat loss and poaching. Current conservation plans for tigers focus on population expansion, with the goal of doubling census size in the next 10 years. Previous studies have shown that because the demographic decline was recent, tiger populations still retain a large amount of genetic diversity. Although maintaining this diversity is extremely important to avoid deleterious effects of inbreeding, management plans have yet to consider predictive genetic models. We used coalescent simulations based on previously sequenced mitochondrial fragments (n = 125) from 5 of 6 extant subspecies to predict the population growth needed to maintain current genetic diversity over the next 150 years. We found that the level of gene flow between populations has a large effect on the local population growth necessary to maintain genetic diversity, without which tigers may face decreases in fitness. In the absence of gene flow, we demonstrate that maintaining genetic diversity is impossible based on known demographic parameters for the species. Thus, managing for the genetic diversity of the species should be prioritized over the riskier preservation of distinct subspecies. These predictive simulations provide unique management insights, hitherto not possible using existing analytical methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the article by Hélène Vézina et al. on the relation between ancestral origins and reported ethnic origins in Canada published in this same issue, this second article shows how an individual's reported ethnic affiliation is liable to vary over time. Using record linkage between the 2001 and 2006 censuses, Éric CARON-MALENFANT, Simon COULOMBE, Eric GUIMOND, Chantal GRONDIN and André LEBEL reveal the extent to which individuals' self-reported identity changes within the space of five years. Between the two censuses, this ethnic mobility accounted for much of the increase in populations of North American Indians, and of Métis in particular, to the detriment of non- Aboriginal populations. This article shows how these ethnic categories are appropriated and used by different populations, and reveals the instability of reported ethnic affiliation over the life course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Household registers, which were compiled every three years and contained a variety of demographic information, are invaluable sources with which to investigate family and demographic behaviors of historical populations in Korea, especially during the period of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Linking three sets of household registers that covered the area of Danseong from 1780 to 1786, in this study we examine longitudinal features of Korean household registers. We assess the degree of attrition over six years at both individual and household level, and identify social and demographic characteristics associated with attrition. Our investigation shows a considerable degree of attrition of individuals and households over six years which is significantly associated with the social status of individuals and the household heads. We supplement the analysis of exits with the analysis of new entrances, which shows that in each year of register a substantial number of individuals, comparable to the size of individuals and households lost, were newly added. Those who newly entered the registers are very similar in their characteristics to those who exited the registers. We discuss the implications of our findings for studies that rely on Korean household registers to examine family and demographic behaviors of historical populations in Korea and East Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Categories that capture the Indian sub-continent-origin population – ‘Indian’, ‘Pakistani’, ‘Bangladeshi’ – have been included on all the British census forms (1991, 2001, 2011) that have asked about ethnicity. Additionally, a free-text ‘Any other Asian background’ option was added in 2001 and repeated in 2011. These ethnicities are regarded as amongst the more stable in the British censuses, with greater reliability than those for the black groups. However, analysis of longitudinal data sets raises concerns about the quality of the data for the UK-born Indian origin population. Moreover, some of the groups concealed in residual census categories – such as Sri Lankans – have grown significantly. Other communities, such as ‘Kashmiris’, have unsuccessfully sought inclusion in the 2011 Census. While such concerns should not inhibit the use of the Indian sub-continent census data, monitoring of the utility and validity of these categories is required to ensure that they continue to meet data users' needs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Summary: In developing countries, assessments of progress toward development goals are based increasingly on household surveys. These are inappropriate for obtaining information about the poorest. Typically, they omit by design: the homeless; those in institutions; and mobile, nomadic, or pastoralist populations. Moreover, in practice, household surveys typically under-represent: those in fragile, disjointed households; slum populations and areas posing security risks. Those six sub-groups constitute a large fraction of the “poorest of the poor”. We estimate that 250 million are missed worldwide from the sampling frames of such surveys and from many censuses and their omission may well lead to substantial biases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the 2000 Mexican Census, we examined whether the level of migration was associated with total fertility and the proportion of women married in 314 municipalities from seven traditional sending states. Across these municipalities, we observe lower fertility in higher-migration areas. Municipalities in the quartile with the highest levels of migration have total fertility more than half a child lower than municipalities in the lowest migration quartile. However, there are no differences in marital fertility by level of migration, indicating that lower proportions of women married account for lower total fertility in high-migration municipalities. In municipal-level regression models, lower sex ratios are associated with a lower proportion of women married, while there is an inverse association between education and marriage. The level of migration also has an independent association with marriage, suggesting that there may be changing ideas surrounding family formation in high-migration areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A thorough knowledge of the dog demography should be an integral element in the planning, implementation and evaluation of dog population control measures. In May 2008, a door-to-door household census of human and owned canine populations was conducted in 12 contiguous neighbourhoods in the town of Todos Santos Cuchumatán, Guatemala. During the census, household and footpath data were recorded using a handheld Global Positioning System (GPS), and used to create digital census route maps, and perimeter and area estimates of the study region. Approximately 99% of all households (472/476) participated in the census, representing 2461 people in the overall estimated study region area of 80 hectares (ha). A total of 382 dogs were owned by 50.8% (240/472) of households, yielding means of 0.8 (382/472) owned dogs per household and 1.6 (382/240) dogs per dog-owning household. Of the total 382 owned dogs, 88.2% (337/382) were aged three months or older; of these, 68.5% (231/337) were reported as not normally being confined on the household property during the average day, and 9.7% (24/247) of the males and none of the females (0/81) were reported to be neutered. Of the households that owned female dogs, 89.7% (52/58) and 91.4% (53/58) reported that they would have females surgically or non-surgically neutered, respectively, if these services were available. Of the households that owned male dogs, 90.3% (176/195) and 92.3% (180/195) reported that they would have males surgically or non-surgically neutered, respectively, if these services were available. Approximately 72% (238/330) of owned dogs were vaccinated for rabies, and 80% (187/238) of these were males. The owned dog male:female ratio was 2.6:1 (275/107), the owned dog:human ratio was 1:6.4 (382/2461), and the absolute density was 478 (382/0.80) owned dogs/km2. This knowledge of the owned dog demography was generated using simple means and has been of direct use in support of, and as baseline data for the planning, implementation and evaluation of subsequent dog population control measures in this population; they may be of similar use in other comparable populations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Besides examining the gigantic nature of works carried out by the census operators at various levels, the paper also attempts to analyze the course of development of census operation in the country during the last one hundred and fifty years. The evolutionary course of census in india has been discussed in the paper under four phases. viz. the Formative, the Constructive, the Emprical and the Development phases. Though the seeds of census operation in india were sown by the British during the mid-19th century, but it should not be considered that we have been just carrying on the colonial legacy; instead, during the last six decades census of india has markedly undergone certain changes. During the initial decades after independence, it was also influenced by the concepts of some American anthropologists, and gradually, by introducing new elements in census operation, Census of india has been establishing its own identity. Role of anthropology is increasingly realized in census today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Los múltiples cambios sociales que han tenido lugar en las últimas décadas, han repercutido de forma especial en la elaboración de las estadísticas en nuestro país. En este trabajo se describen las estadísticas que mayor repercusión tienen a nivel económico y que son elaboradas por el organismo oficial de las estadísticas oficiales, el Instituto Nacional de Estadística. Concretamente, se desarrolla la metodología utilizada en la elaboración de la Encuesta de Población Activa (EPA), cuyos resultados permiten conocer la actividad económica en relación al componente humano. Por otro lado, y respecto al Índice de Precios al Consumo (IPC), se describen los aspectos técnicos del índice base 2006 y base 2011, entendiendo que éste último constituye una actualización del anterior. El trabajo se completa con los Censos Demográficos 2011, cuya metodología ha experimentado una gran variación. Aunque se describe el proceso de elaboración del Censo de Edificios y del Censo de Viviendas, se concreta de forma más detallada el Censo de Población, considerado como el mayor proyecto estadístico de un país. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]