Towards 2011 output geographies: adapting and evaluating automated zone design methods for maintaining the 2001 output geographies
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Southampton
Department Name: School of Geography
Abstract
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Organisations
Publications
Andy Tait (author)
(2009)
Geographic referencing for national statistics and 2011 Census
Cockings S
(2013)
Getting the Foundations Right: Spatial Building Blocks for Official Population Statistics
in Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space
Cockings S
(2011)
Maintaining Existing Zoning Systems Using Automated Zone-Design Techniques: Methods for Creating the 2011 Census Output Geographies for England and Wales
in Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space
Cockings S
(2009)
Towards 2011 output geographies: exploring the need for, and challenges involved in, maintenance of the 2001 output geographies.
in Population trends
Martin D
(2013)
Development of a Geographical Framework for Census Workplace Data
in Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A: Statistics in Society
Office For National Statistics
(2009)
Population Trends: No. 138: Winter 2009
Samantha Cockings
(2010)
Evaluation of automated maintenance procedures
Samantha Cockings (Author)
(2011)
Census 2011 and beyond : output geographies and related geographic issues
Samantha Cockings (Author)
(2011)
Maintenance of the 2001 output geographies and the creation of workplace zones
Samantha Cockings (author)
(2009)
Towards 2011 output geographies : adapting and evaluating automated zone design method for maintaining the 2001 output geographies
| Description | The geographical areas which were used to publish aggregate data from the 2001 Census in England and Wales were designed to be optimal for the spatial distribution and socio-economic characteristics of the population at that time. In a minority of areas, these distributions and characteristics will have changed significantly between the 2001 and 2011 Censuses, making the existing geographies unfit for the release of 2011 data. In such cases, these small geographical areas (termed "output areas" (OAs) and "super output areas" (SOAs)) need to be split, merged or redesigned. The Census2011Geog project conceptualised the problem and carried out detailed investigations of confidential 2001 and contemporary population data in order to ascertain the number and types of areas likely to be unfit for purpose in 2011. It developed software to create a tool which automatically splits, merges or redesigns areas found to be over- or under-threshold (i.e. containing too many or too few people and/or households) at the time of the 2011 Census. The project proposed an iterative process of maintenance, starting with OAs and then moving on to the higher levels of output geography (SOAs), sequentially relaxing specified design criteria as required. It recommended the use of postcodes as the building blocks for the maintenance process as they allow more over-threshold areas to be split and tend to result in more homogeneity of population and household size between areas. The evidence base provided by the project has informed policy and process decisions taken by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the software and methods produced by the project were used by ONS to create the 2011 output geographies, which were released publicly on 23 November 2012. The project's methods, software and findings are generalisable and relevant to applications in other domains and in other countries, as evidenced by their uptake by the Australian Bureau of Statistics for the design of their 2011 Area Sampling Frame. They were also adapted for use by ONS in creating Workplace Zones - the first ever set of output geographies specifically created for the release of workplace data, which were released in 2013/14. |
| Exploitation Route | The methods, findings and software from this project have been implemented by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to create the areas used to release data from the 2011 Census for England and Wales. Further, the methods have been adapted in order to create the first ever set of areas specifically designed for the publication of workplace statistics from the census. These "Workplace Zones" were released by ONS in 2013, and data for these zones were released in 2014. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has also employed the software developed by the project to generate their 2011 Area Sampling Frame, a system of geographical areas to be used for the next five years as the basis for their Monthly Population Surveys and Special Social Surveys. Fundamentally, any mapping, analysis or decision-making based on small area Census data for the next 10 years in England and Wales will be benefiting from and dependent on the outputs from this project. Similarly, a number of surveys in Australia over the next five years will be based on small areas designed using the software developed by the project. Any researchers or organisations who wish to explore the impact of alternative zone designs or who wish to design or maintain their own areas for specific studies can use the AZTool software developed by the project for these purposes. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Education,Environment,Healthcare,Government, Democracy and Justice,Retail,Transport |
| URL | http://census2011geog.census.ac.uk/ |
| Description | The methods and software from this project were used by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to create both the 2011 output areas and a new set of workplace zones for publishing data from the 2011 Census for England and Wales. The development of a bespoke set of geographical units for reporting workplace statistics enabled ONS to publish 21 tables of workplace-related data from the 2011 Census, rather than just four in 2001. Fundamentally, any individuals or organisations using 2011 Census data in England and Wales will be using outputs which were created using the methods developed in this project. Subsequently, National Records of Scotland (NRS), Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) and Central Statistics Office Ireland (CSO) have created workplace zones for Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland, thus providing UK and Ireland-wide coverage and giving users access to previously unpublished workplace data. A classification of workplace zones (COWZ) has also been produced by University of Southampton, in collaboration with ONS, NRS and NISRA, initially for England and Wales, and then subsequently for the UK. This provides users with new insights and new data on how the characteristics of workers and workplaces are similar and different between areas. The sustained and ongoing impact of this research is evidenced by ONS' continued use of the methods and AZTool software: these are now firmly embedded within ONS' practices and will once more be employed to maintain the core statistical geographies (output areas, super output areas and workplace zones) for the 2021 Census in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The value of these zones has been clearly demonstrated by their use to to inform policy and decision-making across a range of sectors including national and local government and business. Most recently, mapping of COVID-19 rates, sharing of data, and analysis to aid delivery of interventions by various organisations (including ONS, PHE, JBC) has been based on these core geographies. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2010 |
| Sector | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Education,Environment,Healthcare,Retail,Transport |
| Impact Types | Societal,Economic |
| Description | Member of Census and Statistical Geographies Advisory Group (previously Output Area Maintenance Project Advisory Group) |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Impact | Advice and guidance to Office for National Statistics on the design and maintenance of geographical products and outputs from the census and other geographies. More efficient process for creating output geographies for the census. Quality assurance of methods, processes and outputs. |
| Title | AZTool |
| Description | AZTool is an automated zone design software tool. It takes a set of zones (building blocks) and reiteratively aggregates them into a set of larger zones to meet a set of pre-defined design criteria. This produces a set of zones which are optimised according to the design criteria. Typical design criteria include minimum and maximum thresholds, a target, compactness of shape and homogeneity. AZTool is based on an automated zoning procedure first proposed by Openshaw (1977), and subsequently enhanced by the team at University of Southampton: Prof David Martin, Dr Samantha Cockings and Andrew Harfoot. It is written in .NET and freely available for download from http://www.geodata.soton.ac.uk/software/AZTool/. |
| Type Of Technology | Software |
| Year Produced | 2011 |
| Impact | AZTool was used by the Office for National Statistics to create the 2011 Output Areas and Workplace Zones which were employed to release census data in England and Wales. It has since been used by them to create Workplace Zones for Scotland and Northern Ireland, giving full Uk coverage of Workplace Zones. The Australian Bureau of Statistics also used it to create a sampling frame for surveys. And numerous other academics and non-academic organisations have employed it in order to design zones for various analytical and planning purposes (at least 20 different groups in 9 different countries in 2014). |
| URL | http://www.geodata.soton.ac.uk/software/AZTool/ |
| Description | Census 2011 Geog : developing automated maintenance methods for creating the 2011 Census output geographies in England and Wales |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | Contribution to workshop organised by ESRC Census Portal. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | |
| Description | Output geography |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | Cockings S, Harfoot A and Hornby D provided material for a series of Office for National Statistics 2011 Census Roadshows, held in London, Cardiff, Gateshead, Manchester and Leicester, October 2009 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | |
| URL | http://www.ons.gov.uk/census/2011-census/news-and-events/events-archive/index.html |