Welcome
Welcome to the Geodemographics Knowledge Base, a comprehensive directory of hand-selected websites for people interested in the application of geodemographics and geo-spatial analysis. The site has been produced by the Census and Geodemographics Group of MRS, the world’s largest association representing providers and users of market, social, and opinion research, and business intelligence.
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What's new?
Geodemographics in action: seminar, 15 September
21 July - This half day Output Areas Classification User Group (OACUG) seminar presents actual uses of geodemographics in analysis of health, crime, migration, and surveys, including the OAC coding of ONS social surveys.The seminar will be held at the Royal Statistical Society in London. There is no charge for participation, but pre-registration is required.
Census Microdata: findings and futures
21 July - A three day conference at the University of Manchester, between 01 and 03 September, will provide an opportunity to hear about and discuss research undertaken with census microdata internationally, and to consider the future role of census microdata.
UK Statistics Authority - Code of Practice Consultation
08 July - The UK Statistics Authority has launched a consultation on a new Code of Practice for Official Statistics alongside a draft Statement of Principles and Procedures for Assessment. The consultation phase will last for 12 weeks, ending on 30 September.
CommuterView - interactive maps of commuter flows
18 June - The ONS Data
Visualisation Centre and the ONS Neighbourhood Statistics Service have
recently launched CommuterView on DVD.
CommuterView takes Census data and enables users to create interactive maps showing flows of commuters within Super Output Areas in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and Data Zones or Intermediate Zones in Scotland. Copies of the DVD are available by emailing better.info@ons.gov.uk
UK travel flows now available from Nomis
18 June - New ward travel flows dataset from the 2001 Census can now be viewed and downloaded free of charge. Tables show daily flows of workers from residence to place of work for all local authorities and wards in Great Britain, and parliamentary constituencies and wards in Northern Ireland. They also include breakdowns of the characteristics of the people in the flows.
Scotland moves 2011 census online
17 June - The Public are to be given an internet option when filling in the country's next population survey in 2011. Residents in West Edinburgh, Lewis and Harris will be the first in the UK to test the new option when they take part in the 2009 census rehearsal.
Intellectual property rows over public-sector data stand in the way of an accurate population count
06 June - The Guardian reports on the Treasury Select Committee report, Counting the Population, and its recommendation that the next census, in March 2011, "be the last census in the UK where the population is counted through the collection of census forms.": It also warns of the shortcoming in national address databases, apparently caused by rivalry over the ownership of intellectual property within government.
www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jun/05/freeourdata.whitehall
Census Test Analysis: the methodology behind the decisions - 29 April 2008
22 April - This meeting, hosted by the Royal Statistical Society (RSS), will concentrate on the methodology used for, and the analysis of, the Census Tests under-taken in preparation for the Censuses in 2011. For more details about the event, and to register for the event online, visit:
www.rss.org.uk/main.asp?group=&page=1321&event=565&month=&year=&d
The Future of Geodemographics - conference presentations now available
2 April - This one-day conference brought together experts from all sides of the information industry to talk from their various perspectives about the future of Geodemographics, the impact of new data sources and the implications for society. Copies of the presentations are now available on the MRS website:
Date for 2011 UK Census announced
28 March - 27 March 2011 has been chosen as the planned date of the next Census in England and Wales. A rehearsal for the 2011 Census will be carried out in 2009, and three rehearsal areas have also been announced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
2011 UK Census outputs consultation
26 February - The UK Census offices (ONS, GROS, and NISRA) invite you to participate in a 2011 Census output consultation through response to an online survey. The consultation is open from 25 February 2008 for 12 weeks. It aims to find out what users of the 2011 Census want from the data they gather.
Joint reporting on demographic statistics
26 February - New measures to improve the way in which existing population and migration statistics are reported across government are introduced today, with the simultaneous publication of a range of demographic data by the ONS and the Home Office. The new initiative aims to ensure that related demographic data from different government departments are presented in a coordinated manner on a limited number of dates throughout the year.
ONS announces public consultation on reporting of population and migration statistics
26 February - Help to shape the way that these statistics are reported in the future by responding to the public consultation on improved coherence in the way that population and migration statistics are reported. Responses are invited until 27 May 2008.
www.statistics.gov.uk/about/consultations/Migration_and_Population_Consultation.asp
Counting the population - written evidence
18 January - Volume II of Written evidence of House of Commons Treasury Committee investigation into Counting the population published. The report includes comments from the Census & Geodemographics Group of the Market Research Society. Click on the link below to download the pdf.
www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200708/cmselect/cmtreasy/183/183ii.pdf
Census drops plan to demand income details
15 January - The Telegraph reports on how following trial runs, a question about earnings has been dropped from the next census after officials concluded that people find the question too intrusive and would not answer it truthfully.
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/01/14/ncensus114.xml
UK travel flows (Local Authorities)
18 December - Travel to work data from the 2001 Census which was previously only available on DVD and required specialist software to use, can now be viewed and downloaded free of charge from the Nomis website. The data is provided in tables that show daily flows of workers from residence to place of work/study for all local authorities in Great Britain and Parliamentary Constituencies in Northern Ireland.
Funding opportunity - UPTAP User Fellowship Call
7 December - The 3rd UPTAP User Fellowship Call has been announced. This is an exciting opportunity for non-academic researchers. There is up to £50K worth of funding available for each project. Proposals should be submitted by Tuesday 22nd January 2008. Please see the following link for more information:
www.esrc.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/opportunities/current_funding_opportunities
Treasury Sub-Committee inquiry into counting the population - Evidence from MRS
5 December - Evidence from the Census and Geodemographics Group of The Market Research Society in response to the Treasury sub-committee inquiry into counting the population.
Address Register evaluation
13 November - In the absence of a single authoritative source of national address information, ONS is preparing an address register by matching, where possible, addresses listed in the National Land and Property Gazetteer to those identified in the Ordnance Survey’s address product MasterMap Address Layer 2. The resulting register would contain a list of addresses linked to higher level geographic areas for management, reporting and output purposes. ONS have carried out an early assessment of fitness of the two respective sources for the purpose of the census and a copy of the report can be downloaded at:
www.statistics.gov.uk/census/2011census/CollectingtheInfo/inputgeography.asp
Migrants from Eastern Europe
13 November - ONS's Population Trends investigates the developments of information from the Worker Registration Scheme over the period May 2004-December 2006 in order to better understand geographical patterns of labour migration.
Consultation report on ethnicity, national identity, language and religion for the 2011 Census
31 October - The findings from the consultation on user needs for ethnicity, national identity, language and religion information from the 2011 Census in England and Wales, which took place between December 2006 and March 2007 have been published in five reports.
www.statistics.gov.uk/census/2011Census/Consultations/ethnicldentconsultation.asp
UK Data Archive commissioned outputs service
22 October - The UK Data Archive has recently launched a new commissioned outputs service for customers who require ready-made figures/tables rather than the underlying survey micro data. Customers may request outputs from surveys that they have already identified or the UKDA will help customers identify the most appropriate survey and variables.
Location, Location, Location: The best & worst place to live in the UK
19 October - This site includes details of the methodology & sources used to compile the results for the programme Location, Location, Location: Best & Worst LIVE! 2007. All 434 UK local authorities were judged on exactly the same criteria - crime, education, employment, environment, lifestyle and health, using the latest official statistics available across all 434 authorities at the time of research and production.
www.channel4.com/4homes/ontv/best&worst/2007/Best-Worst-2007-Methodology.html
Census News - Geography consultation results and plans
17 October - A report with the results of the National Statistics Consultation on Small Area Geographies (for England and Wales) has been published. The consultation ran 15 November 2006 to 21 February 2007 and the report includes results and analysis of the consultation including a clear statement on the approach to geography to be used for the 2011 Census.
The report can be viewed or downloaded at: www.statistics.gov.uk/about/consultations/Small_Area_Geography_Policy.asp
UK Household Longitudinal Study Consultative Conference
17 October - The UKHLS Consultative Conference is a one day conference hosted by the Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of Essex on 10 January 2008.
The conference has three main aims: to provide an update on progress with the UKHLS and the design decisions made for the survey; to provide details of the content for wave 1 of the study arising from the consultation process to date, and most importantly, to provide an opportunity to discuss plans for the content of the study over waves 2 and beyond.
www.iser.essex.ac.uk/ukhls/conference/
Internet-based neighbourhood information systems and their consequences
17 October - This study from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation looks at the emergence of internet-based information systems (IBNIS), examining a range of sites in detail. Based on interviews with those involved in the development of such sites in the UK and USA, it looks at how technology can be used to classify and sort people and places.
www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings/housing/0405.asp
See our "What's New?" Archive
Visit the What's New? Archive for websites added previously to the site.