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Jump to navigationJump to searchCreated page with 'File:lighterstill.jpg ==Etymology== Latin, from censēre - to rate, assess, estimate. *Date: [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/17th_Centur 1634] ==Definitions== *1 : a count of...'
[[File:lighterstill.jpg]]
==Etymology==
Latin, from censēre - to rate, assess, estimate.
*Date: [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/17th_Centur 1634]
==Definitions==
*1 : a count of the [[population]] and a property evaluation in early [[Rome]]
*2 : a usually complete enumeration of a population; specifically : a periodic [[governmental]] enumeration of population
*3 : count, tally
==Description==
A '''census''' is the [[procedure]] of [[systematically]] acquiring and recording [[information]] about the members of a given [[population]]. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in [[connection]] with national population and door-to-door censuses (to be taken every 10 years according to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations United Nations] recommendations), [[agriculture]], and [[business]] censuses. The term itself comes from [[Latin]]: during the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Republic Roman Republic] the census was a list that kept track of all adult [[males]] fit for military service.
The census can be [[contrasted]] with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sampling_(statistics) sampling] in which [[information]] is obtained only from a subset of a [[population]], sometimes as an [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intercensal_estimate Intercensal estimate]. Census [[data]] is commonly used for [[research]], [[business]] marketing, and planning as well as a base for sampling surveys. In some countries, census data is used to apportion electoral representation (sometimes controversially - e.g. see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah_v._Evans Utah v. Evans]).
==Census and privacy==
While the census provides a useful way of obtaining [[statistical]] [[information]] about a [[population]], such information can sometimes lead to [[abuses]], [[political]] or otherwise, made possible by the linking of [[individuals]]' [[identities]] to [[anonymous]] census data. This consideration is particularly important when [[individuals]]' census [[responses]] are made available in microdata form, but even aggregate-level data can result in [[privacy]] breaches when dealing with small areas and/or rare subpopulations.
For instance, when reporting [[data]] from a large city, it might be appropriate to give the average income for black males aged between 50 and 60. However, doing this for a town that only has two black males in this age [[group]] would be a breach of [[privacy]]: either of those people, knowing their own income and the reported average, could determine the other person's income.
Typically, census data is processed to obscure [[individual]] [[information]]. Some agencies do this by [[intentionally]] introducing small [[statistical]] errors to prevent the identification of individuals in marginal populations; others swap variables for similar respondents. Whatever [[measures]] have been taken to reduce the privacy [[risk]] in census data, new [[technology]] in the form of better electronic [[analysis]] of data poses increasing [[challenges]] to the [[Security|protection]] of [[sensitive]] individual information.
[[Category: Political Science]]
==Etymology==
Latin, from censēre - to rate, assess, estimate.
*Date: [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/17th_Centur 1634]
==Definitions==
*1 : a count of the [[population]] and a property evaluation in early [[Rome]]
*2 : a usually complete enumeration of a population; specifically : a periodic [[governmental]] enumeration of population
*3 : count, tally
==Description==
A '''census''' is the [[procedure]] of [[systematically]] acquiring and recording [[information]] about the members of a given [[population]]. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in [[connection]] with national population and door-to-door censuses (to be taken every 10 years according to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations United Nations] recommendations), [[agriculture]], and [[business]] censuses. The term itself comes from [[Latin]]: during the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Republic Roman Republic] the census was a list that kept track of all adult [[males]] fit for military service.
The census can be [[contrasted]] with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sampling_(statistics) sampling] in which [[information]] is obtained only from a subset of a [[population]], sometimes as an [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intercensal_estimate Intercensal estimate]. Census [[data]] is commonly used for [[research]], [[business]] marketing, and planning as well as a base for sampling surveys. In some countries, census data is used to apportion electoral representation (sometimes controversially - e.g. see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah_v._Evans Utah v. Evans]).
==Census and privacy==
While the census provides a useful way of obtaining [[statistical]] [[information]] about a [[population]], such information can sometimes lead to [[abuses]], [[political]] or otherwise, made possible by the linking of [[individuals]]' [[identities]] to [[anonymous]] census data. This consideration is particularly important when [[individuals]]' census [[responses]] are made available in microdata form, but even aggregate-level data can result in [[privacy]] breaches when dealing with small areas and/or rare subpopulations.
For instance, when reporting [[data]] from a large city, it might be appropriate to give the average income for black males aged between 50 and 60. However, doing this for a town that only has two black males in this age [[group]] would be a breach of [[privacy]]: either of those people, knowing their own income and the reported average, could determine the other person's income.
Typically, census data is processed to obscure [[individual]] [[information]]. Some agencies do this by [[intentionally]] introducing small [[statistical]] errors to prevent the identification of individuals in marginal populations; others swap variables for similar respondents. Whatever [[measures]] have been taken to reduce the privacy [[risk]] in census data, new [[technology]] in the form of better electronic [[analysis]] of data poses increasing [[challenges]] to the [[Security|protection]] of [[sensitive]] individual information.
[[Category: Political Science]]
