1. 2006 Census of Population and Housing – Output Strategy
Siu-Ming Tam
IMODBC, the Hague, 5-9 September 2005

2. What am I going to cover?
A brief overview of the Census output strategy
A demonstration of the Census Community Data and Table Build(time permitting)
My main contention is:
. Need to design our website and web based products and services to maximise communication
. This talk will outline principles and strategies for doing this.

3. Census Output Strategy
Previous census data strategies
Small population groups/ area data
Community profiles - A highly popular small area data series since 1996 Census -1 to 3 dimensional tables from CDs to States
Basic, Expanded, Time series, Ethnicity, Usual Residence etc. profiles
CDATA – bundling of profiles, GIS and digital boundaries
Communication is defined as the conveyance of information from statisticians to users in such a manner that the messages are understood.
Increase use – the primary reason for our existence. If stats are not used then very quickly we become irrelevant
Increase informed use – to minimise misuse. This is our mission – informed decision making. Duty of care.
Dissemination is a much more inwardly focussed act – our job is done once we published the information.
Communication is more outcome focussed – our job is not done until the messages are read and understood.

4. Review of 2001 Census Outcomes
1,000,00 plus visits
600,000 plus downloads
One size fits all or none
Difficult paths to data
Lack of flexibility to subset profiles
Snapshots are very popular
Stories about the local area
Significant load on ABS to manage diverse range of release platforms – CDROMs, web and paper
If there is only one piece of information, need only to be concerned about the selection of content (relevance) and how to present (to maximise communication). If more than one piece, inter relationship between the pieces and how they are structured together (Sklar Design – 3 column is becoming the international standard)
To maximum communication, we need to understand how the mind comprehends information. We have undertaken research into cog psychology literature, and have developed design principles and strategies.
Our research suggests that “Hos” has three crucial components.

5. Proposed 2006 Census strategy
User consultations
Preliminary views on strategy
Preliminary views on content
State/Territory seminars
Internet is the principal release platform
Increase flexibility for download profiles
Selecting subsets of profiles
Selecting data via topics
On line slicing and dicing of data cubes
Self helped customised table generation service – Table Build
CDROMs to be redeveloped as web products
Whilst our theory is of general applicability, bear in mind two special issues when we design for web communication.
. On screen reading – a lot of skim reading, and hence satisficing. Eyes get tired easily. No cues on the physical size of the documents. Eg to come later. Non-linearity (through doclinks)
. Diverse range of users – tourists, miners and harvesters. Need to cater for all needs.

7. Detailed Area Data
Areas can be located by: Typing in an address, using the geographic hierarchy, using the map…

8. Detailed Area Data - search
Areas can be located by typing in a street address or area name…

9. Detailed Area Data - hierarchy
The geographic can be expanded by clicking on the arrows, as the areas are selected they are shown in the map…

10. Detailed Area Data - map
Areas can also be selected from the map. Low levels of geography can be shown to assist with location...

11. Detailed Area Data – select table
Tables can be selected via a Topic or Word Search…

12. Detailed Area Data – Table loaded
The table is loaded for the areas selected…

13. Detailed Area Data – Change table
Dimensions can be collapsed and variable removed/added or grouped…

14. Detailed Area Data – Totals and persents
Calculation can be added to the table…

15. Detailed Area Data – Charts
The table can be graphed…

16. Detailed Area Data – Maps
The table can be mapped – this is equal distribution mapping…

17. Detailed Area Data – Maps
The table can be mapped – this is equal division mapping…

18. Detailed Area Data – ColourVIEW
For the people who live in the area selected, are their any relationships between peoples age and country of birth?

19. Detailed Area Data – ColourVIEW
ColurVIEW shows the strength of the relationships between variables in a table. The RED cells show a very strong positive relationship…

20. Table Builder Online access to Census micro data

21. Table Builder – Full micro data access
Household and person records are available. User simple select the fields they wish to use…

22. Table Builder – select any variables
We can select all the Labour Force Status values and add them to the table…

23. Table Builder – add variables to the table
Sex can be added to the column…

24. Table Builder – select specific values
Never married and Now married from the Marital Status field can be added to the columns…

25. Table Builder – re-arrange table
The table can be re-arranged by dragging and dropping…

26. Questions?