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Description: The public use microdata file from the 2010 Canada Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating is now available. This file contains information collected from nearly 15,000 respondents aged 15 and over residing in private households in the provinces.The public use microdata file provides provincial-level information about the ways in which Canadians donate money and in-kind gifts to charitable and nonprofit organizations; volunteer their time to these organizations; provide help directly to others. Socio-demographic, income and labour force data are also included on the file.

Description: From 2010 to 2019, the Labour Force Survey (LFS) response rate – or the proportion of selected households who complete an LFS interview – had been on a slow downward trend, due to a range of social and technological changes which have made it more challenging to contact selected households and to persuade Canadians to participate when they are contacted. These factors were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in the suspension of face-to-face interviewing between April 2020 and fall 2022. Statistics Canada is committed to restoring LFS response rates to the greatest extent possible. This technical paper discusses two initiatives that are underway to ensure that the LFS estimates continue to provide an accurate and representative portrait of the Canadian labour market.

Description: Census of Agriculture data provide statistical information on farms and farm operators at fine geographic levels and for small subpopulations. Quality evaluation activities are essential to ensure that census data are reliable and that they meet user needs.

This report provides data quality information pertaining to the Census of Agriculture, such as sources of error, error detection, disclosure control methods, data quality indicators, response rates and collection rates.

Description: This document provides information on the evolution of response rates for the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and a discussion of the evaluation of two aspects of data quality that ensure the LFS estimates continue providing an accurate portrait of the Canadian labour market.

Description:

This document brings together guidelines and checklists on many issues that need to be considered in the pursuit of quality objectives in the execution of statistical activities. Its focus is on how to assure quality through effective and appropriate design or redesign of a statistical project or program from inception through to data evaluation, dissemination and documentation. These guidelines draw on the collective knowledge and experience of many Statistics Canada employees. It is expected that Quality Guidelines will be useful to staff engaged in the planning and design of surveys and other statistical projects, as well as to those who evaluate and analyze the outputs of these projects.

Description:

This document provides a comprehensive reference to the information available from the General Social Survey (GSS). It provides a description of the content of each of the 18 GSS cycles (e.g. time use, social support, education, the family), as well as background information, target population and collection methodology. A list of the products and services available from each cycle is also included.

Description: The Canadian Tobacco, Alcohol and Drugs Survey (CTADS) is a biennial general population survey of tobacco, alcohol and drug use among Canadians aged 15 years and older, with the primary focus on 15- to 24-year-olds. The CTADS is a telephone survey conducted by Statistics Canada on behalf of Health Canada.

Description:

The 2016 Census Program Content Test was conducted from May 2 to June 30, 2014. The Test was designed to assess the impact of any proposed content changes to the 2016 Census Program and to measure the impact of including a social insurance number (SIN) question on the data quality.

This quantitative test used a split-panel design involving 55,000 dwellings, divided into 11 panels of 5,000 dwellings each: five panels were dedicated to the Content Test while the remaining six panels were for the SIN Test. Two models of test questionnaires were developed to meet the objectives, namely a model with all the proposed changes EXCEPT the SIN question and a model with all the proposed changes INCLUDING the SIN question. A third model of 'control' questionnaire with the 2011 content was also developed. The population living in a private dwelling in mail-out areas in one of the ten provinces was targeted for the test. Paper and electronic response channels were part of the Test as well.

This report presents the Test objectives, the design and a summary of the analysis in order to determine potential content for the 2016 Census Program. Results from the data analysis of the Test were not the only elements used to determine the content for 2016. Other elements were also considered, such as response burden, comparison over time and users’ needs.

Description:

The operationalization of the Population and Housing Census in Portugal is managed by a hierarchical structure in which Statistics Portugal is at the top and local government institutions at the bottom. When the Census takes place every ten years, local governments are asked to collaborate with Statistics Portugal in the execution and monitoring of the fieldwork operations at the local level. During the Pilot Test stage of the 2011 Census, local governments were asked for additional collaboration: to answer the Perception of Risk survey, whose aim was to gather information to design a quality assurance instrument that could be used to monitor the Census operations. The response rate of the survey was desired to be 100%, however, by the deadline of data collection nearly a quarter of local governments had not responded to the survey and thus a decision was made to make a follow up mailing. In this paper, we examine whether the same conclusions could have been reached from survey without follow ups as with them and evaluate the influence of follow ups on the conception of the quality assurance instrument. Comparison of responses on a set of perception variables revealed that local governments answering previous or after the follow up did not differ. However the configuration of the quality assurance instrument changed when including follow up responses.

Description:

Nonresponse is present in almost all surveys and can severely bias estimates. It is usually distinguished between unit and item nonresponse. By noting that for a particular survey variable, we just have observed and unobserved values, in this work we exploit the connection between unit and item nonresponse. In particular, we assume that the factors that drive unit response are the same as those that drive item response on selected variables of interest. Response probabilities are then estimated using a latent covariate that measures the will to respond to the survey and that can explain a part of the unknown behavior of a unit to participate in the survey. This latent covariate is estimated using latent trait models. This approach is particularly relevant for sensitive items and, therefore, can handle non-ignorable nonresponse. Auxiliary information known for both respondents and nonrespondents can be included either in the latent variable model or in the response probability estimation process. The approach can also be used when auxiliary information is not available, and we focus here on this case. We propose an estimator using a reweighting system based on the previous latent covariate when no other observed auxiliary information is available. Results on its performance are encouraging from simulation studies on both real and simulated data.

Description: The public use microdata file from the 2010 Canada Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating is now available. This file contains information collected from nearly 15,000 respondents aged 15 and over residing in private households in the provinces.The public use microdata file provides provincial-level information about the ways in which Canadians donate money and in-kind gifts to charitable and nonprofit organizations; volunteer their time to these organizations; provide help directly to others. Socio-demographic, income and labour force data are also included on the file.

Description: The Canadian Tobacco, Alcohol and Drugs Survey (CTADS) is a biennial general population survey of tobacco, alcohol and drug use among Canadians aged 15 years and older, with the primary focus on 15- to 24-year-olds. The CTADS is a telephone survey conducted by Statistics Canada on behalf of Health Canada.

Description:

Statistics Canada was approached by Stentor Resource Centre Incorporated to conduct a survey to monitor the telephone penetration rates across Canada. The survey determines if the respondents have a telephone line in their residence. If they do not have a telephone line, information is collected as to the reasons why. Information is also collected on the income characteristics of the selected households.

The management of the survey was transferred from Stentor to Bell Canada in the Fall of 1998.

The Labour Force Survey (LFS) supplementary capacity is used to conduct this biannual survey. A sample of approximately 44,000 respondents is used for this survey (five out of six rotation groups). The survey data are collected using Computer Assisted Interviewing (CAI). The first data collection procedure took place during November's LFS week in 1996.

This microdata file is prepared biannually and contains the variables from the survey, plus geographical variables from the LFS (province, census metropolitan area, urban/rural breakdown). No other variables from the LFS are added to the file.

Description:

The Public Service Employee Survey was designed to solicit the views of Public Service employees on their work environment and overall job satisfaction. Employees expressed their opinions on their work units, their communications with their supervisors, skills and career aspirations, client services and labour management relations. General information such as age, gender, years of service and province of work were collected and questions were asked on specific themes such as staffing fairness, official languages, health and safety, harassment and discrimination and retention issues. The results were aggregated at the department and Public Service-wide levels. The survey ensures a measurement capacity between the 1999, 2002 and 2005 questionnaires.

In 2008, the 2005 questionnaire was used as the basis for the survey. New questions were added to construct an employee engagement model that will be used to evaluate each organization. As well, the scale of the response category was increased from 4 to 5 to include a neutral category.

Description:

This report presents the results of a pilot survey conducted by Statistics Canada to measure the fuel consumption of on-road motor vehicles registered in Canada. This study was carried out in connection with the Canadian Vehicle Survey (CVS) which collects information on road activity such as distance traveled, number of passengers and trip purpose.

Description:

This microdata file provides data from the Compensation Sector Survey. The purpose of the survey is to obtain a profile of members of the compensation community in the Human Resources community of the federal public service. The results will allow the Human Resources Community Secretariat to renew recruiting, training and development programs for this community in such a manner that these programs would take into account current data.

Description:

The National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY), developed jointly by Human Resources Development Canada and Statistics Canada, is a comprehensive survey which follows the development of children in Canada and paints a picture of their lives. The survey monitors children's development and measures the incidence of various factors that influence their development, both positively and negatively.

Description:

The National Population Health Survey (NPHS) used the Labour Force Survey sampling frame to draw the initial sample of approximately 20,000 households starting in 1994 and for the sample top-up this third cycle. The survey is conducted every two years. The sample collection is distributed over four quarterly periods followed by a follow-up period and the whole process takes a year. In each household, some limited health information is collected from all household members and one person in each household is randomly selected for a more in-depth interview.

The survey is designed to collect information on the health of the Canadian population and related socio-demographic information. The first cycle of data collection began in 1994, and continues every second year thereafter. The survey is designed to produce both cross-sectional and longitudinal estimates. The questionnaires includes content related to health status, use of health services, determinants of health, a health index, chronic conditions and activity restrictions. The use of health services is probed through visits to health care providers, both traditional and non-traditional, and the use of drugs and other mediciations. Health determinants include smoking, alcohol use and physical activity. A special focus content for this cycle includes family medical history with questions about certain chronic conditions among immediate family members and when they were acquired. As well, a section on self care has also been included this cycle. The socio-demographic information includes age, sex, education, ethnicity, household income and labour force status.

Description:

This is a CD-ROM product from the Ontario Adult Literacy Survey (OALS), conducted in the spring of 1998 with the goal of providing information on: the ability of Ontario immigrants to use either English or French in their daily activities; and on their self-perceived literacy skills, training needs and barriers to training.

In order to cover the majority of Ontario immigrants, the Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs) of Toronto, Hamilton, Ottawa, Kitchener, London and St. Catharines were included in the sample. With these 6 CMAs, about 83% of Ontario immigrants were included in the sample frame. This sample of 7,107 dwellings covered the population of Ontario immigrants in general as well as specifically targetting immigrants with a mother tongue of Italian, Chinese, Portuguese, Polish, and Spanish and immigrants born in the Caribbean Islands with a mother tongue of English.

Each interview was approximately 1.5 hours in duration and consisted of a half-hour questionnaire, asking demographic and literacy-related questions as well as a one-hour literacy test. This literacy test was derived from that used in the 1994 International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) and covered the domains of document and quantitative literacy. An overall response rate to the survey of 76% was achieved, resulting in 4,648 respondents.

Description:

Environmental protection expenditures in the business sector, preliminary data presents operating and capital expenditures made by primary and manufacturing industries in response to, or in anticipation of, environmental regulations and conventions. The results are from the Environmental Protection Expenditure Survey. The data contained in Environmental protection expenditures in the business sector help to fill important gaps in existing information on the demand side of the 'environment industry.' More specifically, it provides a measure of the cost to the industry of adopting pollution prevention and abatement technologies and other environmental protection practices. Data included in Environmental protection expenditures in the business sector are components of a national statistical database on the environment industry.

Description:

The use of discrete variables having known statistical distributions in the masking of data on discrete variables has been under study for some time. This paper presents a few results from our research on this topic. The consequences of sampling with and without replacement from finite populations are one principal interest. Estimates of first and second order moments which attenuate or adjust for the additional variation due to masking of known type are developed. The impact of masking of the original data on the correlation structure of concomitantly measured discrete variables is considered and the need for the further development of results for analyses of multivariate data is discussed.

Description:

Household response rates have steadily declined across many large scale social surveys. The Health Survey for England has observed a 9 percentage points decline in response across an eleven year period. Evidence from other studies has suggested that unconditional gifts or incentives, with small monetary value, can improve rates of co-operation. An incentive experiment conducted on the Health Survey for England aimed to replicate findings of a previous experiment carried out on the Family Resources Study, which showed significant increases in household response among those who had received a book of first class stamps with the advance letter. The HSE incentive experiment, however, did not show any significant differences in household response rates, response to other stages of the survey or in respondent profile between two experimental conditions (stamps included with the advance letter, bookmark sent with the advance letter) and the control group (the advance letter alone).

Description:

As SLID is a longitudinal survey, it is desirable to retain respondents in the sample for as long as possible. However, sample attrition and changes in the popu lation result in the sample becoming less representative of the population as time passes. To balance these factors, the sample for a longitudinal survey may be comprised of panels, with each panel being representative of the target population. Starting with a fixed sample size, the paper examines feasible options for the number of panels in the sample and the length of time which each panel remains in the survey. The rationale for the selected option is reviewed.

Description:

Multiple Frame Surveys were originally proposed to foster cost savings on the basis of an optimality approach. As surveys on special, rare and difficult-to-sample populations are becoming more prominent, a single list of population units to be used as a sampling frame is often unavailable in sampling practice. In recent literature multiple frame designs have been put forward in order to increase population coverage, to improve response rates and to capture differences and subgroups. Alternative approaches to multiple frame estimation have appeared, all of them relying upon the virtual partition of the set of the available overlapping frames into disjointed domains. Hence the correct classification of sampled units into the domains is required for practical applications. In this paper a multiple frame estimator is proposed using a multiplicity approach. Multiplicity estimators require less information about unit domain membership hence they are insensitive to misclassification. Moreover the proposed estimator is analytically simple so that it is easy to implement and its exact variance is given. Empirical results from an extensive simulation study comparing the multiplicity estimator with major competitors are also provided.

Description:

This article summarizes the design, methods and results emerging from the Canadian Health Measures Survey pre-test, which took place from October through December 2004 in Calgary, Alberta.

Description:

The Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) is a longitudinal survey initiated in 1993. The survey was designed to measure changes in the economic well-being of Canadians as well as the factors affecting these changes.

Sample surveys are subject to errors. As with all surveys conducted at Statistics Canada, considerable time and effort is taken to control such errors at every stage of the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics. Nonetheless errors do occur. It is the policy at Statistics Canada to furnish users with measures of data quality so that the user is able to interpret the data properly. This report summarizes a set of quality measures that has been produced in an attempt to describe the overall quality of SLID data. Among the measures included in the report are sample composition and attrition rates, sampling errors, coverage errors in the form of slippage rates, response rates, tax permission and tax linkage rates, and imputation rates.

Description:

For a number of years, Statistics Canada has been taking incremental steps to improve its survey programs through the use of tax data substitution, content fine tuning and earlier data releases. The approach is to focus survey collection and analysis on the large, complex enterprises where tax data is insufficient to meet the needs of the Canadian statistical system.

Description:

Active management involves planning an approach to maximize 'success' of the collection process. One objective of active management is to identify collection problems as quickly as possible and implement an appropriate action plan to deal with the situation.

Description:

The Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) is a longitudinal survey initiated in 1993. The survey was designed to measure changes in the economic well-being of Canadians as well as the factors affecting these changes.

Sample surveys are subject to errors. As with all surveys conducted at Statistics Canada, considerable time and effort is taken to control such errors at every stage of the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics. Nonetheless errors do occur. It is the policy at Statistics Canada to furnish users with measures of data quality so that the user is able to interpret the data properly. This report summarizes a set of quality measures that has been produced in an attempt to describe the overall quality of SLID data. Among the measures included in the report are sample composition and attrition rates, sampling errors, coverage errors in the form of slippage rates, response rates, tax permission and tax linkage rates, and imputation rates.

Description:

ISQ's Grandir en qualité survey involved the on-site observation of child care providers. The success of the survey is due to an information-based collection strategy.

Description: Census of Agriculture data provide statistical information on farms and farm operators at fine geographic levels and for small subpopulations. Quality evaluation activities are essential to ensure that census data are reliable and that they meet user needs.

This report provides data quality information pertaining to the Census of Agriculture, such as sources of error, error detection, disclosure control methods, data quality indicators, response rates and collection rates.

Description: This document provides information on the evolution of response rates for the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and a discussion of the evaluation of two aspects of data quality that ensure the LFS estimates continue providing an accurate portrait of the Canadian labour market.

Description:

This document brings together guidelines and checklists on many issues that need to be considered in the pursuit of quality objectives in the execution of statistical activities. Its focus is on how to assure quality through effective and appropriate design or redesign of a statistical project or program from inception through to data evaluation, dissemination and documentation. These guidelines draw on the collective knowledge and experience of many Statistics Canada employees. It is expected that Quality Guidelines will be useful to staff engaged in the planning and design of surveys and other statistical projects, as well as to those who evaluate and analyze the outputs of these projects.

Description:

This document provides a comprehensive reference to the information available from the General Social Survey (GSS). It provides a description of the content of each of the 18 GSS cycles (e.g. time use, social support, education, the family), as well as background information, target population and collection methodology. A list of the products and services available from each cycle is also included.

Description:

The 2016 Census Program Content Test was conducted from May 2 to June 30, 2014. The Test was designed to assess the impact of any proposed content changes to the 2016 Census Program and to measure the impact of including a social insurance number (SIN) question on the data quality.

This quantitative test used a split-panel design involving 55,000 dwellings, divided into 11 panels of 5,000 dwellings each: five panels were dedicated to the Content Test while the remaining six panels were for the SIN Test. Two models of test questionnaires were developed to meet the objectives, namely a model with all the proposed changes EXCEPT the SIN question and a model with all the proposed changes INCLUDING the SIN question. A third model of 'control' questionnaire with the 2011 content was also developed. The population living in a private dwelling in mail-out areas in one of the ten provinces was targeted for the test. Paper and electronic response channels were part of the Test as well.

This report presents the Test objectives, the design and a summary of the analysis in order to determine potential content for the 2016 Census Program. Results from the data analysis of the Test were not the only elements used to determine the content for 2016. Other elements were also considered, such as response burden, comparison over time and users’ needs.

Description:

The Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) is a longitudinal survey initiated in 1993. The survey was designed to measure changes in the economic well-being of Canadians as well as the factors affecting these changes. Sample surveys are subject to sampling errors. In order to consider these errors, each estimates presented in the "Income Trends in Canada" series comes with a quality indicator based on the coefficient of variation. However, other factors must also be considered to make sure data are properly used. Statistics Canada puts considerable time and effort to control errors at every stage of the survey and to maximise the fitness for use. Nevertheless, the survey design and the data processing could restrict the fitness for use. It is the policy at Statistics Canada to furnish users with measures of data quality so that the user is able to interpret the data properly. This report summarizes the set of quality measures of SLID data. Among the measures included in the report are sample composition and attrition rates, sampling errors, coverage errors in the form of slippage rates, response rates, tax permission and tax linkage rates, and imputation rates.

Description:

The Workplace and Employee Survey Guide contains a dictionary of concepts and covers topics such as survey methodology, data collection, data processing and data quality. It also contains helpful information for researchers wishing to use the microdata.

Description:

This report describes the quality indicators produced for the 2003 Survey of Household Spending. These quality indicators, such as coefficients of variation, nonresponse rates, slippage rates and imputation rates, help users interpret the survey data.

Description:

The Food Expenditure Survey (FES) is a periodic survey collecting data from households on food spending habits. Data are collected mainly using weekly diaries of purchases that the respondents must fill in daily during two consecutive weeks.

This paper presents a detailed description of the methodology of this survey. First, we briefly described the sample design which is mainly based on the plan of the Labour Force Survey. Then we present the methods of collection, data processing, weighting, and variance estimation, as well as the suppression of unreliable data in the tables of estimates.

Description:

This report describes the quality indicators produced for the 2002 Survey of Household Spending. These quality indicators, such as coefficients of variation, nonresponse rates, slippage rates and imputation rates, help users interpret the survey data.