THE ETHNIC DIVERSITY SURVEY Content and Data Availability Statistics Canada Statistique Canada Canadian Heritage Patrimoine canadien

Ethnic Diversity Survey objectives  To provide information on the ethnic and cultural backgrounds of people in Canada and how these backgrounds relate to their lives today  To provide information to better understand how Canadians of different ethnic backgrounds interpret and report their ethnicity  Survey funded jointly by Statistics Canada and the Department of Canadian Heritage

Target population & sample design  Non-Aboriginal individuals aged 15 and older living in private dwellings in Canada’s ten provinces  57,200 persons selected to be interviewed between April and August 2002  Two-phase stratified sampling design based on responses to the 2001 Census ethnic origin, birthplace & birthplace of parents questions; 15 strata were created

Reference period & data collection  Computer Assisted Telephone interviews April to August 2002  Average length of interview: 35 to 45 minutes  No proxy reporting  42,500 respondents: response rate = 75.6%

Languages of interview  English  French  Mandarin  Cantonese  Italian  Punjabi  Portuguese  Vietnamese  Spanish

Response Rates Total cases57, % Out-of-scope 1,026 2% Cases in-scope56,216 98% Final Response Rate42,480 76% Complete41,097 73% Partial 1,383 3% Non response*13,736 24% *Includes no contact, refusals, interviews prevented due to the respondent’s medical/ physical condition, language barriers, respondents absent for the duration of the survey, etc.

Content development  Theoretical framework developed  Balance of content, response burden and manageable costs  Operationalization of concepts into workable questions to be asked of a diverse population  Consultation with Advisory Committees  Focus groups, one-on-one testing, pilot test

Survey themes & questionnaire content  Entry Age, sex, marital status Family / household composition  Ethnic self-definition Ethnic ancestry Ethnic identity Importance of ancestries and identities

Survey themes and content (continued)  Respondent background Birthplace Citizenship Year of immigration Other countries lived in Visible minority status Religion: importance of, participation

Survey themes and content (continued)  Knowledge & use of languages First language: understood & spoken Knowledge of languages Home languages Languages used with friends Languages used with family to age 15 Languages used at work

Survey themes and content (continued)  Family background Ethnicity, first language, highest level of schooling and religion of mother and father Birthplace of parents and grandparents Ethno-cultural, immigration, language, education and religion data for spouse Language data for child aged 3 or older

Survey themes and content (continued)  Family Interaction Frequency of contact with family living in Canada Frequency of contact with family living in parents’ & grandparents’ birthplaces and in other countries Visits to country of birth & parents’ & grandparents countries of birth

Survey themes and content (continued)  Social Networks Friends in ethnic group, up until respondent was age 15 and now –For 2 highest rated ancestry groups other than “Canadian” Importance of carrying on customs and traditions –For 2 highest rate ancestry groups other than “Canadian” ranked a 4 or 5 in importance in ID module

Survey themes and content (continued)  Civic Participation Participation in groups or organizations in the past 12 months (ethnic and other types) Frequency of participation (for 3 groups) Ethnicity of co-members (for 3 groups) –For 2 highest rated ancestry groups other than “Canadian” ranked a 4 or 5 in importance in ID module Volunteering (for 3 groups) Voting in federal, provincial & municipal elections

Survey themes and content (continued)  Interaction with Society Feeling uncomfortable because of ethnicity, culture, race, language, religion: up until the age of 15 and now Discrimination or unfair treatment in the past 5 years as a result of ethno-cultural characteristics: frequency, reason & place Hate crime: experience, reason & worry

Survey themes and content (continued)  Attitudes Rating of sense of belonging to family, ethnic group, town/ city/ municipality, province, Canada, North America  Trust & Satisfaction General life satisfaction Trust: general, family, neighbours, people at work or school

Survey themes and content (continued)  Socio-economic activities Highest level of schooling, country of schooling & current school attendance Labour force questions, occupation, industry & income (personal & household) Ethnicity of co-workers –For 2 highest rated ancestry groups other than “Canadian” ranked a 4 or 5 in importance in ID module

Ethnic Diversity Survey products  Official release in Statistics Canada’s The Daily September 29, 2003  Analytic article: Ethnic Diversity Survey: portrait of a multicultural society  Analytical file at Research Data Centres  Custom tabulations  Possible Public Use Microdata File (2005)

Research Data Centres (RDCs)  University of British Columbia  University of Calgary  University of Alberta  University of Manitoba  University of Western Ontario  University of Waterloo  University of Toronto  McMaster University  University of Montréal  University of New Brunswick  Dalhousie University

Analytical data file at RDC’s  Access granted through Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council: criptions/ciss_reseach_data_e.asp  Output subject to Statistics Canada’s confidentiality rules, disclosure analysis, data quality, etc.

Final content of the Analytical File  All content from the survey (raw data)  Derived variables  Some 2001 Census information (e.g. major field of study, number of rooms in dwelling)  Postal code and other detailed geographic identifiers are present

Documentation available  Survey overview and questionnaire:  Codebooks with and without frequencies  Users’ Guide  WesVar Users’ Guide (bootstrap weights)

Survey weights  Final weights & bootstrap weights (used to determine coefficients of variation) are included on the Analytical File present in the RDCS  A weight is associated with each respondent and must be used for all estimates and analysis

The use of survey weights is crucial  The sampling ratio differs widely from one strata to another;  The final weight assigned to each respondent underwent numerous adjustments for non- response and post-stratification;  The weighting of data ensure that the EDS sample is representative of the target population;  Without the weights : false / misleading results for most types of analysis.

WesVar software  Used to verify coefficients of variation (cvs)  Can also be used for regression analysis  WesVar reads.ssd,.xpt,.sav,.dat and.txt files  Does not alter the original file, but creates a new one; can be used to view or print output  Tip: include all the variables in the first WesVar file you create - otherwise you will need to repeat later and importing files can be slow

Analysis: Level of geography  Good quality data are generally available at national, regional and provincial levels and for Toronto, Montréal and Vancouver CMAs;  Atlantic provinces are always aggregated;  Counts at the census subdivision and municipality level are generally small and the results of survey estimations will probably be unreliable and/or the results may be unsuitable for publication because of the risk of statistical disclosure.

Analysis: Complexity of data  Some concepts are similar yet distinctly different from one another: ancestry, identity, visible minority status, language, religion, etc.  Multiple response variables: e.g. ethnic ancestry, identity, languages, organizations, etc.  Follow-up questions for some topics: (a) universe is restricted; (b) requires link to inserted ethnic ancestry/language/group or organization.

Questions? Jennifer Chard Senior Analyst, Ethnicity & Immigration Statistics Vancouver, B.C Marjorie Kirk Technical Manager Ethnic Diversity Survey Ottawa, Ontario