ONS: Case Study 2

The 2011 UK Census

Objectives of the 2011 Census

• To provide accurate census population

estimates• National population estimate has 95% CI of +/-

0.2%

• All LA level population estimate has 95% CI of +/- 3.0%

• National response rate of at least 94%

• All LAs have a response rate of at least 80%

• To provide accurate population

characteristics

Background to the UK Census

Background to the Census in the UK

A UK Census occurs every ten years since 1801

A count of all people and households.

Latest Census : Sunday 27 March 2011.

Online Completion

Twitter, Facebook and online gaming used in publicity.

Three Stages of Engagement

• Consultation: (2007/8)

On statistical geography for ONS

On outputs from the 2011 Census • Publicity (2011):

supporting recruitment,

raising awareness of the census,

delivering key messages

informing and engaging the public• Publication:(2012/13)

broadcasting census data releases

promoting third party use and re-use of published data, planned in phases from summer 2012

Consultation

• Engage a wide range of census data users

• Identify requirements for 2011 Census products

Online survey.

Blog

Forum

Wiki

Publicity

• A comprehensive multi-platform marketing and communication campaign

• All census information and support was provided online

• A central Census website was the first point of contact for the public.

• The 2011 Census was the first UK census to allow people to complete their forms online.

• With 46.7 million internet users in the UK• A digital strategy for a digital population.

Publicity

• A Flickr stream• live events and competitions.

• The Census Facebook• family history, key groups such as students

• Online viral game (Census Man): • Younger audience - hard-to-reach youth market of 18 to 24yrs.

Developed by a viral games company, Koko.

• To date, the game has notched up more than 700,000 plays.

• A Census YouTube channel• Enhanced information and historical context

Publicity

• Twitter feeds:

• Media, the public, and the Welsh language audience.

• Informal voice promoting events

• Steering to other online media.

• Update the public on progress

• Publicising key milestones

• Promoting local and national media coverage.

Publication

• First 2011 Census Results: July 2012

• ONS Web Strategy based on Data Feeds• Encouraging machine to machine transfer of data from ONS

website• New websites built by organisations and individuals outside ONS• Data from a single ONS source• Re-usability of data in open formats. • 2011 Census working with the developer community

Social Media for Census Outputs

• Social Media will be used to:

• Broadcast and promote ONS and 3rd party releases• Distribute data (information) to users• Provide analysis • Mash up census data with data from other sources• Present new visualizations (Hans Rosling & Gap

Minder). • RSS feeds for updates• Social book-marking• Spread the word…………………………………..

Lessons Learned (Consultation)

• Moved us (a little) beyond typical stakeholders• Foundations of a broader community of practice• Response to the online survey was very good • A high level of continued and returning traffic to the

blog and wiki

• BUT • It attracted the usual suspects.• The majority maintained only passive participation

Lessons Learned (Publicity)

• A considered review of activities will soon be conducted

• Current evidence is very promising.

• Anecdotal success at meeting the primary objectives

• Twitter was successful at publicising events and key dates.

• Re-tweeting by local government and other stakeholders•

Conclusion

• The use of Social Media by government statistical organisations cannot be a pass time (no dabbling!)

• It requires proper resources and constant engagement.

• The organisation must have something to say

• Be prepared to listen to outsiders and act on their feedback

• The most cost effective use of social channels in the future for ONS will be as a broadcast platform to:• announce releases• promote the best uses and 3rd party releases of data, • encourage such reciprocal promotion from stakeholders and partners.