Monday, April 25, 2016

2016 Census and #BigData #251

I did my bit for the 2016 Census last evening and completed our household form. No problems with any of the questions - it was very similar to the 2011 census. In my Statistics classes I regularly use census data - students are interested in this source of data and it is relatively easy to understand. For me it is an ideal source of non-normal data for nonparametric data analysis. I'm sure that we'll switch to the 2016 census once the data are released later this year.

The Central Statistics Office makes its data available online and it can be quite fun to go through. Looking at my own Electoral Division Blackrock-Newpark (CSO Area Code ED 05013) where I live, the population is 2,164 (1,001 males and 1,163 females). Of this, 1,608 respondents said they were Catholic. Just 8 males were reported as single (27 females), while 1,069 were reported as not being able to speak Irish. Only 8 out of 776 households had no central heating - the vast majority of houses (564) were heated by natural gas. As for education, there are 32 people in my local area with PhDs (24 males/8 females), Social sciences, Business and Law was the field of study with the highest number (369). 269 people gave their occupation as Professional Occupations. 641 houses (out of 776) have a computer, while 10 households have four or more cars.

Census data is truly a treasure trove of information. The release of the 1901 and 1911 census data a few years ago was hugely popular, and no doubt in a 100 years time the 2016 census data will be poured over by our descendents (and used in Statistics classes!).

2 comments:

  1. I was disappointed with the "Personal Computer" question. Surely in 2016, the question should have been "how many devices"?

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