Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Using Administrative Data to Count Local Populations

Using Administrative Data to Count Local Populations There is growing evidence that official population statistics based on the decennial census are inaccurate at the local authority level—the fundamental administrative unit of the UK. This paper investigates the use of locally available administrative data sets for counting populations. The method uses truth tables for combining different data sources with different population coverage according to a defined and therefore replicable set of rules. The result is timelier and geographically more flexible data which is more cost-effective to produce than a survey-based census. Associated techniques for linking diverse data sources at individual and household level are briefly discussed. The methodology is then applied to administrative data from a London borough with about 170,000 people. The results are evaluated and compared with other population sources. The paper concludes by discussing potential improvements including scaling up the work to cover multiple local authorities. The practicalities of using alternative central government data sets are briefly considered. A sequel paper in this journal provides examples of key applications of this approach at local level. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Applied Spatial Analysis and Policy Springer Journals

Using Administrative Data to Count Local Populations

Download PDF
26 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/springer-journals/using-administrative-data-to-count-local-populations-ACggofgMDo

References (37)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © 2011 by The Author(s)
Subject
Social Sciences; Human Geography; Landscape/Regional and Urban Planning; Regional/Spatial Science
ISSN
1874-463X
eISSN
1874-4621
DOI
10.1007/s12061-011-9063-y
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

There is growing evidence that official population statistics based on the decennial census are inaccurate at the local authority level—the fundamental administrative unit of the UK. This paper investigates the use of locally available administrative data sets for counting populations. The method uses truth tables for combining different data sources with different population coverage according to a defined and therefore replicable set of rules. The result is timelier and geographically more flexible data which is more cost-effective to produce than a survey-based census. Associated techniques for linking diverse data sources at individual and household level are briefly discussed. The methodology is then applied to administrative data from a London borough with about 170,000 people. The results are evaluated and compared with other population sources. The paper concludes by discussing potential improvements including scaling up the work to cover multiple local authorities. The practicalities of using alternative central government data sets are briefly considered. A sequel paper in this journal provides examples of key applications of this approach at local level.

Journal

Applied Spatial Analysis and Policy – Springer Journals

Published: Apr 2, 2011

There are no references for this article.