The tale of census microdata and the UK Data Service
Posted: Thu Feb 06, 2025 10:05 am
Rihab DahabAs part of our blog series on the 2021/2021 UK censuses, Rihab Dahab introduces us to census microdata, explores how it is useful to researchers and the expertise the UK Data Service has in this area.
When the first UK census took place in 1801, it was an iran rcs data exercise for counting the population. Therefore, it only measured how many people were living in the country and their location at that time.
However, officials over time realised that the census could serve a purpose greater than just counting people. So, more information about the population was gradually included in the census such as demographic characteristics, socioeconomic and health-related data.
Nowadays, in addition to the original purpose of the census ‘counting the population’, the UK censuses are employed to obtain characteristics of the population that help the government in decision making and planning.
For example, if you want to provide more services such as new schools or hospitals, it is important to know where these facilities should be built and who will benefit from these services. Census data can provide these answers. Because census data is collected from everybody in the country, census outputs can be produced at a very small geography level, which is very useful if we want to identify where we need to provide more services.
When the first UK census took place in 1801, it was an iran rcs data exercise for counting the population. Therefore, it only measured how many people were living in the country and their location at that time.
However, officials over time realised that the census could serve a purpose greater than just counting people. So, more information about the population was gradually included in the census such as demographic characteristics, socioeconomic and health-related data.
Nowadays, in addition to the original purpose of the census ‘counting the population’, the UK censuses are employed to obtain characteristics of the population that help the government in decision making and planning.
For example, if you want to provide more services such as new schools or hospitals, it is important to know where these facilities should be built and who will benefit from these services. Census data can provide these answers. Because census data is collected from everybody in the country, census outputs can be produced at a very small geography level, which is very useful if we want to identify where we need to provide more services.