1. Lincoln University Presented by Ruth Lum, Mike Moore, Paul Brown CURF Workshop

2.  New agreement between CONZUL and Statistics NZ  Products and Services available  Range of CURFS available / how to gain access  Introducing NZGSS  CURF Workshop What we’re looking at today…

3. Official Statistics System (OSS)  Statistics that measure NZ’s economic, social & environment status for purposes of policy & decision- making Provide base national information Most, but not all, produced by Statistics NZ Often an international obligation to produce  Tier 1 statistics – the most important official statistics Produced by other agencies (such as MSD, MED, MAF, Justice) as well as Stats NZ

4. Agreement – purpose  NZ Vice Chancellors Committee asked CONZUL to consult with Statistics NZ on an agreement for products / services  Benefits – (i) to help build statistical capability and (ii) facilitate the research of academics  Improve our relationship with universities, academics researchers and librarians

5. Products / services available  Data Packages include:  Business Demography – data on Stats web page now  Population Census data – 2006 available / 2001 due late Nov ‘09  Births & Deaths – due mid Dec ‘09  Migration – due late Dec ’09  Disability data – due late Jan ‘10  Customised data – to an agreed sum per annum / covers all datasets produced by Stats NZ  Publications – Key Stats, NZ in Profile, Bi-annual Yearbook  Quarterly Seminars  CURFS (Confidentialised Unit Records Files)

6. Components of agreement – cont’d  Confidentialised Unit Record Files (CURFS), include –  CURFS from Statistics NZ, and  Australian Bureau of Statistics  A CURF comprises data at unit record level  Every row in the dataset = a person who answered the survey with columns being the values for each question or variable.  CURF - to be used for research/statistical purposes  SURFs suitable for “teaching purposes” are available on Stats NZ website

7. Why use a CURF for research? Benefits include –  The user can perform complex analysis of the dataset  This type of analysis cannot be done with aggregate level data such as tables  The user can take the data offsite and use own software preference.  Free under this agreement  Available to researcher in a week following application

8. Available CURFS Statistics NZABS  General Social Survey of New Zealand, 2008  Census 1981; 1991; 2001 - Household Sample File  Time Use Survey (1997)  Survey of Dynamics and Motivations for Migration in New Zealand, 2007  National Health Survey 1995, 2001, 2004-05  Child Care Survey (1999; 2002  Household Labour Force Survey / New Zealand Income Survey, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007  General Social Survey 2002; 2006;  Disability, Ageing and Carers (1993)  New Zealand Income Survey, 2002, 2003,  Income and Housing Costs Survey 1999-00; 2000-01; 2002-03;  Education and Work (2007)  New Zealand Census of Population and Dwellings, 2001  Census of Population and Housing, 2006  Family Characteristics Survey (2003)  Household Savings Survey, 2001  Household Expenditure Survey and Survey of Income and Housing (2003-04)  Forms of Employment (1998)  Disability, Ageing and Carers (2003)  Labour Mobility 1994; 1994  Labour Force Survey & Employee Earnings, Benefits and Union Membership  Mental Health and Wellbeing of Adults, Australia (1997) Second Revised  National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Survey (1994)  National Crime and Safety Survey (2005)

9. Household Labour Force Survey / New Zealand Income Survey CURFs NZIS is a supplement to HLFS run in June quarter  HLFS collects information on  labour force status,  Industry and occupation, and  hours worked  NZIS collects information on  income from wages and salaries,  self-employment,  ACC,  benefits and Superannuation

10. HLFS/NZIS CURFs – cont’d  6 basic CURFs now exist June quarters 2002 – 2007  29,000 individual records in each CURF  NZIS only for 2002 and 2003  HLFS added from 2004  45 income (mainly wage and salary) derived variables  35 labour force variables

11. Survey of Dynamics and Motivations for migration in NZ: March 2007 quarter  Basic CURF contains 23,465 individual records  90 variables including -  region of residence before and after the last move,  reasons for moving, number of homes in last ten years, d  demographic characteristics,  living arrangements and employment status at time of move,  income,  perceptions on outcome of move,  intentions about moving

12. Household Savings Survey (HSS)  One off wealth survey conducted in 2001  5,374 individual records (2,392 non-partnered individuals and 2,982 couples)  Collects asset and liability information from individuals and couples 18 years and over,  plus some demographic, income and life experience detail (e.g. inheritance received)

13. Household Savings Survey (HSS) cont’d  111 variables (mostly value of different asset and liability variables including -  property values,  private superannuation values,  mortgage debt,  hire purchase debt, and  credit card debt  Summarised income source variables including –  total wages,  total NZ Superannuation, and  total other government transfers

14. 2001 Census CURF What is it?  2% sample of individual records  Highest level of classification or aggregated further  Possible to manipulate the data, produce tabulations and undertake statistical analyses to individual specifications  Ideal for learning to use census data  Statistics NZ is investigating the possibility of producing more census CURFs in the future. Products and services for the 2011 Census have not been finalised.  We would be interested on your input on the need and use of a Census CURF

15. Accessing a CURF  Statistics NZ CURF  Visit - www.stats.govt.nz/unistatswww.stats.govt.nz/unistats  Complete “application to access microdata” form, and send to Stats NZ;  Need to demonstrate the intended usage of the data  A CURF licence must be signed by a person authorised to sign on behalf of the researcher's organisation.  Each researcher who will have access to the CURF must sign the appropriate researcher undertaking.  CURF data provided on CD-ROM

16. Accessing a CURF  Australian (ABS) CURF  Visit - www.stats.govt.nz/unistats and look for link to “Managing ABS Confidentialised Unit Record Files (CURFs): a step by step guide”www.stats.govt.nz/unistats“Managing ABS Confidentialised Unit Record Files (CURFs): a step by step guide  Speak to microdata team at Statistics NZ  Application is made to ABS – via system "MiCRO" where you complete the Individual User Undertaking  When approval is granted, the CURF will be available via the ABS Remote Access Data Laboratory (RADL).

17. Microdata Contacts  Application forms for Data Lab and CURFs available on Statistics NZ website  For more information contact :  Jackie Dixon  (Jackie.Dixon@stats.govt.nz)Jackie.Dixon@stats.govt.nz  or  John Upfold  (John.Upfold@stats.govt.nz)John.Upfold@stats.govt.nz

18. Stats for Universities Web page  Details of the agreement and data sets are on the “Statistics for Universities” webpage  Note the address - www.stats.govt.nz/unistatswww.stats.govt.nz/unistats  Data extracted specifically for universities is stored on these pages – includes customised / additional data set  Web address available from University Contact Officers / Librarians

19. Auckland:Gillian Ralph AUT:Amanda Cole Waikato:Kathryn Parsons Massey:Noeline White Victoria:Emma Shepheard-Walwyn Canterbury:Heather Jenks Lincoln:Craig Murray / Caroline Henderson Otago:Thelma Fisher If this option is not working, Stats NZ has a free information service to assist you. Phone 0508 525 525 or email info@stats.govt.nz University Contact Officers

20. 2008 New Zealand General Social Survey

21. Background  The NZGSS provides data on important social and economic outcomes of New Zealanders that is not available from other sources  The NZGSS will be used to:  Monitor progress over time and track the impact of events such as the current recession  Identify the factors associated with multiple poor outcomes  Provides new information about how people think they themselves are faring, which complements objective information  Allow international comparisons with other OECD nations  Investigate new topics in a timely manner

22. Scope and Content Sex Age Ethnic Group Maori Descent Country of Birth Generation in NZ Family Type Social Marital Status Human Rights Culture & Identity Leisure & Recreation Social Connectedness Safety & Security Knowledge & Skills Physical Environment Overall Life Satisfaction Paid Work Economic Standard of Living HousingHealth Support Across Households

23.  First results from the NZGSS were released on: 29 October 2009 at 10.45 am  First major new survey funded under the Programme of Official Social Statistics (POSS) New Zealand General Social Survey

24. Key Messages: what is the NZGSS?  The NZGSS is one of three regular household surveys run by Statistics New Zealand (the others being the HES and the HLFS)  Nationally representative sample of 8721 households  Biannual (survey runs April – March)  Face to face computer assisted interviews  Respondent is one household member aged 15 years or over

25. Dissemination and Data Access  NZGSS is funded as part of the Programme of Official Social Statistics (POSS)  POSS represents a major investment by government in the evidence base for policy  POSS depends entirely on use of the data collected to inform policy and promote greater transparency in monitoring outcomes

26. Dissemination and Data Access  Statistics New Zealand:  Provides the dataset  Publishes tables containing the most important aggregate statistics  Undertakes a limited amount of analysis  Supports users without strong analytical capability themselves  But to get full value from the NZGSS it needs to be used more widely…

27. Dissemination and Data Access  We are keen to facilitate access to the NZGSS via:  Secondments to Statistics New Zealand for joint work  Datalab  The NZGSS CURF