National Boot camp Vancouver Heather Dryburgh and Michel B. Séguin May 31 st, 2011 Survey Life cycle

25/12/2015 Statistics Canada Statistique Canada 2 What the heck is a survey?

25/12/2015 Statistics Canada Statistique Canada 3 WHAT IS A SURVEY?  The collection of information from People Businesses Organizations Farms

25/12/2015 Statistics Canada Statistique Canada 4 TYPES OF SURVEYS CENSUS Includes all units of the population SAMPLE  Includes some units of the population which represent the population Regular surveys Supplementary surveys Post-censal surveys Longitudinal surveys PROXY OR NON-PROXY

25/12/2015 Statistics Canada Statistique Canada 5 MAJOR COMPONENTS OF A SURVEY WHOWHAT HOWWHAT ARE YOU DOING TO IT WHAT’S THE NEWS

25/12/2015 Statistics Canada Statistique Canada 6 WHO????? What is the universe Is it a census or a sample Sample Based on the geography Based on the age Based on presence of children in household Is the sample representative or not of the universe Sample size will be defined according to geography of dissemination Is the sample based on population, households, families, farms

25/12/2015 Statistics Canada Statistique Canada 7 WHAT????? Questionnaire design Concepts and definitions Wording of questions Closed questions – open-ended questions -Coding of open-ended questions - Single and multiple responses Measured or self-reported Flows and skip patterns – questionnaire layout Instructions for Interviewers Computer Assisted Applications Testing of questions (may take 2-3 cycles to test a question)

25/12/2015 Statistics Canada Statistique Canada 8

25/12/2015 Statistics Canada Statistique Canada 9 HOW???  In person – Computer assisted personal interviews (CAPI)  By telephone – Computer assisted telephone interviews (CATI)  Mail out – Mail back  Internet  Visit to clinic  TRAINING OF INTERVIEWERS  INSTRUCTION TO INTERVIEWERS

25/12/2015 Statistics Canada Statistique Canada 10 HOW???  Respondent relations Purpose of survey Confidentiality assurances Volunteer / mandatory aspects of survey Projects for linking data Projects for sharing of data

25/12/2015 Statistics Canada Statistique Canada 11 WHAT ARE WE DOING WITH THE DATA???  Processing the data Editing errors –Interviewers errors –Capture errors –Respondent errors Inter-question relationships Path and flows Coding of write-in responses Imputations for non-response or response error Creation of variables and derived variables

25/12/2015 Statistics Canada Statistique Canada 12 PROCESSING THE DATA Imputation of Data from Other Records on File

25/12/2015 Statistics Canada Statistique Canada 13 PROCESSING THE DATA The end product of processing = master file!

25/12/2015 Statistics Canada Statistique Canada 14 PROCESSING THE DATA Weights are added to the Master file

25/12/2015 Statistics Canada Statistique Canada 15 PROCESSING THE DATA Weights are added to the Master file

25/12/2015 Statistics Canada Statistique Canada 16 WHAT’S THE NEWS???  WE are now in the DISSEMINATION mode  Articles in the Daily and Summary TablesDailySummary Tables  Tables in CANSIMCANSIM  Internet Publications  Public Use Microdata Files  Masterfiles/Sharefiles in the RDC

25/12/2015 Statistics Canada Statistique Canada 17 WHAT’S THE NEWS???  PUBLIC USE MICRODATA FILES Subset of the Master file Variables and derived variables No personal identifiers Extremes that could lead to identify someone are removed Geographies are regrouped as required  Some provinces, some CMAs, Urban/Rural Multiple revisions following visits to the Microdata Release Committee

25/12/2015 Statistics Canada Statistique Canada 18 WHAT’S THE NEWS???  PUBLIC USE MICRODATA FILES Data file Documentation  Users guide  Code book  Record layout  Questionnaire  Variables and derived variables index  Variance tables  SPSS format file  SAS format file  This is ideal… you don’t always get all these files….

25/12/2015 Statistics Canada Statistique Canada 19 NOW THAT YOU HAVE THE DATA, HAVE FUN…