Yes, you read that right. 2006 census. Ok, I missed the word ‘Test’ out. But it’s a census of sorts.
We recently received a form here in Scotland titled “2006 Census Test” (more about it here). We’re in one of the ‘lucky’ areas to be selected to fill out a census form for the 23rd April, which is to be used to help plan for and conduct the next formal census in 2011.
Hopefully the results from the form will ensure that the next census is much smoother than the 2001 one, which was criticised for many reasons, not least that it was slow, but also that it was frequently completed by the ‘head’ of the household, and masked over various responses.
One of the big differences in the 2001 census’ in Scotland, from the rest of the country, was how questions about religion were asked. In England, it simply asked “What is your religion?”, which resulted (as explained here by the NSS, in confused responses). Here in Scotland, there were two questions: Religion during up-bringing, and current religion. This enables a better picture of religious views, and changes therein, to be more accurately charted and understood - The statistics make for fascinating reading.
They’re experimenting with some different questions up here too. A couple of schools in Glasgow were given the opportunity to phrase questions on feeling safe at night (Which Frances felt would be better phrased, at least from her perspective, as ‘do you feel relatively safe’, as she - and I suspect most women - rarely feels entirely safe going out at night), and on family eating habits.
Whilst the census is an excellent opportunity to explore the changing shape and behaviour of our country, hopefully they won’t go overboard with too many ‘trivial’ questions and undermine the completion rates of the census. But here’s hoping the census test will better ensure that the 2011 census is considered a success across the country.
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