provide information Challenges in the transition from traditional to register- based census in Austria Conference of European Statisticians 60 th Plenary Session, Paris Manuela Lenk Statistics Austria Registers, Classifications and Methods Division 6 th – 8 th June 2012

2 | 6 June 2012 Evolution of the Austrian census 2001 Last traditional census High burden for respondents, considerable financial effort (72 million Euros) Register-based Census The Movie - YouTube Register-based Census The Movie - YouTube 2006 Register-based test census Methods, data procedures and use of registers were successfully tested 2009 Start of annual register-based labor market statistics Possibility for application and improvement of methods 2011 First complete register-based census No burden for respondents, costs reduced to 10 million Euros – Data from 7 base and 7 comparison registers (35 data holders)

3 | 6 June 2012 Register Based Census – Base Registers

4 | 6 June 2012 Data Privacy Protection – Unique keys

5 | 6 June 2012 Data Privacy Protection – Target swapping Educational attainment Target-swapping  Detect risky records that could be identified because of their specific combination of attributes  Exchange single attributes of those records with the characteristics of another individual.

6 | 6 June 2012 The principle of redundancy  Same attribute in more than one register  Comparison registers are used to confirm the values in the base registers due to quality improvement bPIN OSSEX_CPRSEX_CSSRSEX_TRSEX_URSEX_VALIDRULE …………… …… ID ID ID ID …………… …… CPR=Central Population Register, CSSR=Central Social Security Register, TR=Tax Register, UR=Unemployment Register

7 | 6 June 2012 Residence Analysis bPIN OSCPRCSSRTRURSWRCAR ………………… ID3457  ID3458   ID3459  ID3460   ………………… CPR=Central Population Register, CSSR=Central Social Security Register, TR=Tax Register, UR=Unemployment Register, SWR=Register of Social Welfare Recipients, CAR=Child Allowance Register Persons who are only recorded in the CPR receive a letter containing the question: “Did you have your main residence in Austria at the reference date? – Yes or No?”

8 | 6 June 2012 From Raw Data to the Final Data Pool Raw data  The single registers provided by the data holders  Every register authority delivers the bPINs Census Database  The combined information from the registers  The key for data merging is the bPIN_OS Final Data Pool  The final data after imputations by the NSI

9 | 6 June 2012 Quality framework

10 | 6 June 2012 Quality assessment  Independence of the quality framework The framework is closely tied to the data flow, but independent from the processing to evaluate the process without influencing it.  Calculation of quality indicators Quality indicators are derived for each attribute in each register. Further these measures are calculated for the raw data level, CDB and FDP.  Hyperdimensions The hyperdimensions cover a) the quality of data generation and documentation b) the detection of formal errors, missing primary keys and non- response c) a comparison of census data with an external source

11 | 6 June 2012 Potentials and perspectives  Quality indicators on register level - each attribute in each register is associated with a quality indicator - indicators can also be used for other projects and deliver essential information about the quality  Quality indicators for the Final Data Pool of register-based statistics - indicator for each attribute which covers all quality-related aspects quality of the register quality of imputations - The experience gained with the new census type can be of use for other population and household surveys - The quality framework can be used for other register-based statistics

12 | 6 June 2012 Further Information  Austrian Journal of Statistics, Volume 39 (2010), Number 4  Statistica Neerlandica, Volume 66 (2012), Issue 1  ESSnet on Data Integration 2011, Madrid  ISI World Statistics Congress STS50 - Methods and quality of administrative data used in a census 2011, Dublin  NTTS Conference 2011, Brussels  UNECE/Eurostat Expert Group Meeting on Register-Based Censuses 2010, The Hague  European Conference on Quality in Official Statistics 2010, Helsinki  European Conference on Quality in Official Statistics, June 2012 (forthcoming)

13 | 6 June 2012 Please address queries to: Manuela Lenk Register based census Contact information: Guglgasse 13, 1110 Vienna phone: +43 (1) fax: +43 (1) Challenges in the transition from traditional to register- based census in Austria Conference of European Statisticians 60 th Plenary Session, Paris