In this cross-Scotland event, the RSS Scottish Local Groups will welcome speakers from the Scottish census team to talk about their work with the Scottish census data.

Scotland’s Census 2022 is a unique data source that provides a wealth of data, over a billion statistics, which can be used for service planning, resource allocation and wider research.

Join us and hear about the innovative methods used to produce the data, the latest results and how you can access the data

 

1. Using administrative data to assist estimation for Scotland's Census 2022    - David Rowley and Ralph McDevitt      

 
In Spring 2022 National Records of Scotland (NRS) collected information for Scotland’s Census, the official count of people and households in Scotland. Census collection is complemented by the Census Coverage Survey (CCS), data from third parties (administrative data), and other statistical methodological work, to ensure high quality census outputs. Following appropriate governance processes, a number of administrative datasets were collected, processed and linked in the National Safe Haven. The datasets included information on health, electoral register, vital events registrations and education. The methodology used several linking variables so data could be linked, even without exact agreement between records. Records from across the data sources were resolved into individuals using these links. Strength of evidence calculations then indicated which individuals we were most sure were captured at the correct address on census day in the administrative data to produce a population spine.  Following analysis of this spine, the census and the CCS, it was decided to use the population spine records to supplement the CCS.  The links between supplemented CCS and the census were then used to estimate the total population, making sure census outputs reflect the whole Scottish population at a national and local level. The census is of national strategic importance, being fundamental to resource allocation between UK countries, and across Scotland. Government, councils, the NHS, and public, private and third-sector users rely on census outputs.
 

2. Scotland’s Census 2022 – highlights from the topic results so far – Chris McCrum

 
We published the first census outputs on 14 September 2023 and we are currently publishing our topic data over the summer. Topic data is being released in tables with one topic variable broken down by age and sex.
Topic data is being published at all geographies down to output area where possible. Output areas are made up of approximately 50 households.
We will present some of the unique insights from the census releases so far.
 

3. That all sounds lovely, but how do I get the data? – Liam Cavin

 
If you are considering using Scotland’s census data in your work, there are a range of options for you. We will describe:
 

• Some of the potential uses of the rich socio-economic information in Scotland’s Census
• Data sources available to everyone via the Scotland’s Census website
• Microdata products available for use via the ONS and UK Data Service websites
• Custom projects linking census microdata extracts to administrative data sources – how to plan your project and who to speak to

 

Contact Chris Oldnall - Edinburgh Local Group Secretary