219,000 households visited by SCAD's enumerators in 16 Days: SCAD

posted on 24/10/2011: 154 views

As "Abu Dhabi Census 2011"enters its fourth week, Statistics Centre - Abu Dhabi (SCAD) announced Sunday that 219,340 households were visited across the emirate. Figures also indicate that enumerators have been visiting 40 households on average every day, a rate that shows the project is progressing on schedule.

Some 1,321 inquiries about the census have been received so far through the Call Centre, attesting to the great interest Abu Dhabi residents take in the census project.

The largest proportion of the calls received were concerned with how to coordinate with enumerators to arrange an appointment for the enumerator's visit, in order to fill in or hand over the census questionnaire form. Statistics Centre - Abu Dhabi asserted that it pays special attention to ensuring that the census is conducted in convenient manner that does not disturb the respondents' comfort or privacy.

According to SCAD, a technical committee was set up for the census since the middle of last month, including some of the top local, Arab and international experts in the field of statistics, demographics, census methodologies and information technology, to provide advice to in accordance with best international practices, prepare and approve technical circulars to standardise the concepts and statistical terms used in the project, detect any technical issues that can affect the quality of census results and proactively propose appropriate solutions for them, in addition to supporting the centres managers and supervisors respond to technical questions.

The committee also takes charge of the quality assurance procedures for statistical outputs as well as scheduling the preparation of these outputs, besides constant monitoring of the data and evaluation of data quality and coverage ratios, review and provisional approval of the outputs of the micro- and macro editing systems and data auditing and coding.

The committee has received the some 242 telephone calls from supervisors and centres managers in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and the Western Region during the first three days of the census. Some of the inquiries were related to the identification of the types of buildings and units; other inquiries were concerned with the types of forms to be handed over to hotels, hospitals and household; while other calls requested clarifications on those targeted for enumeration.

The Committee also reviewed the data received on the first two days of the census and the tables showing the characteristics of buildings, units and the inhabitants in terms of gender, nationality, age, access to education, etc, in order to measure the quality of the data received and check if there are some common mistakes, e.g. in the classification of certain occupations, economic activities, sectors, etc, and to send circulars in that regard.

Several statistical techniques are used to ensure that the census data is as accurate and complete as possible- including editing, imputation, linear modelling, and automated coding - to identify errors, account for missing or inconsistent information, and categorise qualitative responses, in order to produce data sets that users can trust.

SCAD has created a monitoring and control "dashboard" in the operations room directly connected to the census management field work centres, for issuing of statistical reports and charts, through which it plays a key role in controlling and monitoring the activities of the project, in order to achieve several objectives including the issuance of statistical reports on the data received by the control room for the purposes of monitoring the progress and comparison of statistical data received in the form of tables, charts, statistically significant maps etc.

In addition the system is used in providing field supervisors with reports on their work areas, according to their administrative needs. As well the "dashboard" has the tools necessary to ensure access to all the changes taking place in different work areas, which aids in continuous monitoring to ensure tasks are accomplished in conformity with the required standards and in line the plan set, besides following up on the progress in field work in different enumeration areas.

The dashboard feedback also ensures the operations proceed on schedule, prompt corrective action is taken where necessary and early warning is obtained in the event of over/under coverage throughout the various phases of the project.

Fourth week of the census: As "Abu Dhabi Census 2011"enters its fourth week, Statistics Centre - Abu Dhabi (SCAD) praised the favourable response and cooperation of the emirate's residents, enabling successful progress of the project on schedule, and reflecting the recognition on the part of all segments of society of the significance of the census results as a crucial input in the formulation and implementation of development plans.



Enumerators were trained to use the Abu Dhabi Census 2011 software applications on the iPads, which are being used for the first time for census purposes, to perform functions including data collection, helping enumerators locate places within their work areas, save and store the data collected in central database and emailing questionnaires to the control room, thus ensuring accurate data collection and swift compilation of results.

Provisional and Final Results SCAD emphasised the importance it attaches to announcing all the details of the project progress, findings and preliminary data, in order to comply with principle of transparency at all stages of the project, adding that the preliminary aggregated data on the population of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and their characteristics will be announced on 25 December, while the census final results are scheduled to be announced in late May 2012.

Last Tuesday (October 4th) SCAD's enumerators had embarked on the field operations of "Abu Dhabi Census 2011" the largest project ever undertaken to count the population of the emirate and determine their characteristic with accuracy. The field operations phase of the project is scheduled to end on November 3rd, 2011. In preparation for the census, enumerators delivered envelopes containing census questionnaires at the doors of residential units such as villas, apartments, hotels, hospitals, etc. They subsequently started visiting households to collect the completed questionnaire. The census management centres have also received the geographical maps of all the regions of the Emirate showing the distribution of population in those regions, so that the enumerators would be able to perform their work accurately and quickly.

SCAD indicated that enumerators will be working mainly from 4 pm to 9 pm Sundays through Thursdays, and they may sometimes work morning shifts or during weekends. Enumerators will be based in 37 centres all over the emirate (Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and the Western Region).

According to SCAD also added that the census mechanism involves visits by the enumerators to the households targeted, in order to collect data electronically using "iPads" that are directly connected to the operations room at the main premises of Statistics Centre - Abu Dhabi. The household head can also fill in the paper questionnaire delivered to his residential unit before Tuesday on his own and hand it to the enumerator later on.

If the targeted respondents are not at home during the enumerator's first visit, he/she leaves a door hanger with his/her contact number and it is quite important that the household head call back the enumerator to schedule another visit.

Statistics Centre - Abu Dhabi would like to assure everybody that the Centre protects the privacy of the personal data of everyone in the Emirate, as the confidentiality of individual data is guaranteed by Law No. 7 issued for the year 2008 by His Highness President of the UAE on the establishment of the Centre. The Centre does not release any unit record data as the census data of interest to statisticians is aggregate data.

Enumerators as well as SCAD staff back at the Abu Dhabi and Al Ain offices have all signed a legal undertaking to treat the information provided is as confidential. The signing of this non-disclosure form is something many other countries ask their enumerators and office staff to sign as well.

After the enumerators finish their daily field visits within their work areas, they return to their centres to upload the collected data through a secure electronic channel to the Centre's head office, where the data analysis phase follows and the collected individual information is compiled into aggregate statistics.

The participation of everyone in the Abu Dhabi 2011 Census and the provision of accurate data is crucial to shaping the emirate's future and framing development policies in line with Abu Dhabi Vision 2030.

SCAD called upon everyone in Abu Dhabi Emirate to do his/her share and take a few minutes to fill in the census questionnaire: "Filling out the census form is the best way to ensure that you were included in the count. Thus, you can help the Emirate thrive, assist the Government in working better for you, get the medical and educational services your family needs, and help businesses grow in Abu Dhabi." Preparations for the "Abu Dhabi Census 2011" also included a census pilot that covered a selected sample of the population. This practice shed light on all the fieldwork technical details and enabled the Centre to predict any obstacles and propose ways to overcome them during the actual census. In addition intensive training was imparted to thousands of the project staff, including field management centres, supervisors, enumerators, volunteers, data entry clerks, coders, editors, etc.

Realising the multinational nature and the diverse cultural backgrounds characterising the emirate's residents, SCAD provides the census questionnaire in electronic and paper formats and in Arabic, English and six other languages, namely Urdu, Tagalog, Malayalam, Pashto, Bengali and Chinese. In addition, translators will be available at the census centres to facilitate the respondents' task and obtain accurate data to paint an overall picture about the demographic, social and economic characteristics of the population. This scale of preparation distinguishes the2011 project from the previous 8 censuses taken in the emirate, starting in 1968, when Abu Dhabi population was only 45,000 people, of whom approximately 44 percent were nationals.

The information obtained through the Census results would be used for setting policies and making decisions that would improve the quality of life in our communities as well as the social and economic conditions in the emirate. The government uses the results of the population census in support of programs and services, such as educational and social programs, housing, development and health care services, infrastructure and public works. The private sector uses census data as well to make decisions about the locations of factories, shopping malls, cinemas, banks and offices i.e. activities which often lead to creating new jobs.

As SCAD explains "Your data is used in so many other important ways - your contribution and willingness will help make Abu Dhabi Census 2011a success. Census results can help your community determine public improvement strategies. In addition, many day-to-day matters can be solved through answering the questions on the census form. For example, traffic congestion in a certain area; elderly people living alone or over-crowded schools. Non-profit organisations use census data to estimate the number of potential volunteers in communities across the Emirate".

SCAD encourages everyone to cooperate with the census enumerator's and believes that this cooperation represents the basic building block set to help those responsible for strategic planning to provide the highest standards of welfare and prosperity to everyone in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, under the emirate's wise leadership. - Emirates News Agency, WAM

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