Census quality checks over, data entry work nears completion

Data entry/recording work of the 2019 Population and Housing Census is reaching completion after all data Quality Check (QC) and Coding job has completed lately.

This was after all the census filled forms from all the provinces were collected and registered by the census office over the past months.

The census office has recruited Quality Checkers and Coders on short-term contract basis and now they have completed the work with only data entry work is being progressed and nears completion.

The Solomon Islands National Statistics Office, despite, the Covid-19 challenges continue with official duties to guarantee preliminary count of the 2019 National Population census is ready for releasing.

Government Statistician and Census Commissioner Douglas Kimi said these are crucial aspects in any census major operation to make sure information that will be provided in the final report is of eminence.

“No matter how well a census or a survey is organized, it is challenging to assure that quality data is collected. Therefore, it is very important to arrange various data checks before data are prepared for final report analysis and disseminated to the public. 

“There is no perfect census in this world but we have committed our time and efforts to produce data/information that is of quality and trustworthy so that government can aligned with its policies,” Mr. Kimi said.

He said that preliminary result will come out in due course after all data entry and cleaning processes is done.

Mr. Kimi then thanked those who have been part of the Census project since its initial stage in 2019 and those who involved in the data cleaning processes.

The Solomon Islands 2019 National Population and Housing Census was conducted from 4^th November to 8^th December last year.

It was the biggest ever census operation with about 3,000 field officers (enumerators and supervisors) being recruited by the Census Office and carried out the data collection across the country compared to previous censuses, and in a short period of time.

Also, it is the biggest-ever census attempted in our development history in terms of the scope and nature of questions being asked from the current population. These include questions about the socio-economic and demographic characteristics of individuals within private households and non-private dwellings such as age, gender, religion, occupation, education, disability, economic activity financial inclusion, natural disaster and even a question on the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) was asked. 

Solomon Islands have its first census count in 1970, the second was in 1976, and again in 1986, 1999, 2009 and the latest and the sixth one in the series was in 2019.

Census is the official count of how many people and dwellings there are in the country (SI). It gives a unique snapshot of our communities. Information from the census helps determine how government funding is spent in the community.

The government uses the data collected during the exercise for planning of development programmes. It is also important for the budget allocation process for the national government, and will be used in future planning, as well as monitor the progress of government development programs.

The data is also used by National and International agencies to inform critical decisions on diverse issues. 

A preliminary count of the 2019 National Population census is anticipated to be released by third quarter this year 2020 while the comprehensive national analysis report is planned for release mid next year, 2021 to be followed by specialised policy-demanded topical analysis such as gender, fertility etc.