IPUMS Latin América II Workshop
The Future, 2008-2013: Challenges

  • Formal:
  • Incorporate suggestions by National Statistical Offices and others
  • Acquire copy of National Statistics Law of each participating country so that users strictly respect national laws on statistical confidentiality
  • Make explicit employees of the University of Minnesotaare considered users and must strictly respect the Memoranda of Understanding as well as National Statistical Laws
  • Extend the IPUMS Memorandum of Understanding, for those partners who so wish:
  • 2010 round of censuses/micro-censuses
  • digital boundary files
  • tabulations from microdata: password protected
  • secure microdata laboratory
  • Administrative:
  • Encrypt microdata before transmission by National Statistical Offices (WinZip, WinRar, REDATAM)
  • Promote widespread use by researchers in Latin America (ALAP, ABEP, AEPA, APDP, CELA, PAA, IUSSP, SOMEDE, ACADEMOS, etc.)
  • Pay license fee for microdata and metadata entrusted to the project.
  • Technical
  • Entrust microdata: directly by National Statistical Offices or, upon Letter of Authorization, by CELADE.
  • Transmission of documentation (please see Tables 1, 2, and 3+, below):
  • Table 1, Shipping record: forms, instructions/manuals, dictionaries, codebooks, statistics law, electronic boundary files, volume of published figures for national census, etc.
  • Table 2, Description of census and microdata characteristics:
  • Table 3+, Official figures to certify samples before integration
  • Translation of census documentation from the Spanish, Portuguese and French to English will be performed by MPC translators
  • Confidentiality controls on microdata
  • All current IPUMS standards: suppress sensitive codes, group, blur, swap geo- and other codes, etc.
  • Any techniques requested by National Statistical Office
  • Additional standards for on-line tabulations
  • Use only confidentialized microdata
  • Emphasize counts are unofficial
  • Emphasize sample error and error due to confidentializing
  • Apply additional controls as needed
  • Integration protocols on microdata and metadata
  • All current IPUMS standards, modified by new UNSD Principles and Recommendations
  • Innovations suggested by National Statistical Offices, researchers, etc.
  • Financial
  • Funding is no longer a challenge: funding by National Institutes of Health is assured.
  • Payment of US$5,000 license fee per census to National Statistical Office (or other official agency), upon receipt of microdata, documentation and invoice.
  • 3 Tables to organize the shipment of census documentation and microdata

Table 1. Shipping record of documentation and microdata entrusted to
MinnesotaPopulationCenter for the IPUMS-Latin America project

Please assemble as complete a set of documentation as possible in the national language and in English translation (where available). Send documentation and microdata along with Tables 1, 2 and 3+by courier mail (FEDEX Acct. #2221-6454-0 or DHL #964630417) to Robert McCaa, University of Minnesota Population Center, 50 Willey Hall, 225 19th Ave. S., Mpls, MN 55455 USA tel. 1+612.624.5818

If your institution is charging for the microdata/documentation/license (US$5,000 per census of 1 million records or more), please include a signed invoice.

Electronic documents may be submitted as spreadsheets (.xls), wordprocessing documents (.doc), text files (.txt), or image files (PDF). When providing image files, please provide the document in one of the other versions listed above. This will reduce the amount of text re-keying required and provide clarification for any illegible images.

Email completed copy to:

Table 1. Shipping Record of Microdata and Documentation entrusted to MinnesotaPopulationCenter(Use a separate table for each census provided)
Country and Census:
Record prepared by:
Date:
Email address:
Reference date for census:
Microdata (briefly describe: 100% private households, 100% long form, x% systematic sample, x% cluster sample of census tracts, etc):
Documentation. Indicate file name of electronic documents; if paper copy is provided, state brief title. If document does not exist, note “none”.
Type of document / File name(s) or brief title
Statistics Law
Enumeration forms
Instructions to Enumerators
Dictionary for microdata (IMPS, CSPro, etc.)
Administrative Geography codes
Occupation codes
Industry codes
Other codes/codebooks
Official Publication of National Census Figures
Technical and analytical reports
Electronic Geographical Boundary Files (ARC, etc.)
Data Processing/editing documentation
Post-enumeration Surveys
Other, if any (please specify)
Table 2. Census Characteristics and Microdata Availability
Country and Census year:
Contact Person (name & email):
The purpose of this form is to document essential information about each census and its corresponding microdata for inclusion in the IPUMS-International microdata integration project.
Please enter the information in each cell in English or the official language
Please do not format cells in this table. Simply type (or cut-and-paste) the information into the cell. Where information is not readily known for an item, simply write "don't know" or an explanation in the corresponding cell. For additional information, please visit (click samples, sample designs, then a specific country.)
Questions? Please email me at any time: Thank you!
Date of census
Census Characteristics
Title of census
Census Agency
Population
Universe
De jure or de facto
Enumeration unit
Census day
Field work period
Enumeration forms used
Type of field work
Respondent
Coverage
Microdata characteristics
Microdata source
Sample design (100%?)
Sample unit (none if 100%)
Sample fraction (%; 100%, if complete dataset is available
Dataset size (person records)
Sample weights (if any)
Units Identified in Microdata
Dwellings
Vacant units
Households
Individuals
Group quarters
Settled/Unsettled Population
Special populations
Unit Definitions (Census)
Dwellings
Households
Group quarters
Unsettled/other populations
Sources (cite publications used in preparing this table, if any)

Table 3 Certification of microdata. This table is used to certify the microdata against the official national figures.

  • What is preferred is a single table for each variable in the census, listing the variable name, and for each category, the corresponding code, label and count to be compared with the microdata entrusted to the project.
  • Note, if the microdata entrusted to the MPC are for private households only (collective households are excluded), then the frequency counts should be restricted to private households.
  • The order of variables in the table is unimportant. Include all variables for persons, households, and dwellings to facilitate our certification that the microdata correspond to the official figures.
  • These tables are needed so that the entrusted microdata can be quickly and easily certified and any errors resolved without delay. When 100% microdata are provided we construct the table and perform the certification. Nevertheless the official published figures for the database are needed to be certain that any discrepancies are resolved.

Example of certification frequency table.

Country & Census Year / Panama 2000
Variable Name / Type / Category / Count
Sexo / Persona / 1. HOMBRE / 1,432,566
2. MUJER / 1,406,611
Estado Conyugal / Persona / 1. UNIDO(A) / 569,630
2. SEPARADO(A) DE MATRIMONIO / 43,453
Etc.

Another example:

Tipo de Vivienda / Vivienda / 11. IND. PERMANENTE / 584,899
12. IND. SEMIPERMANENTE / 77,978
13. IMPROVISADA / 9,929
21. APARTAMIENTO / 80,507
31. CUARTO CASA VECINDAD / 37,545
41. ASILOS / 36
42. BARCOS / 108
43. CARCELES, CUARTELES Y COLONIA PENAL / 225
44. CONVENTOS Y OTRAS VIVIENDAS RELIGIOSAS / 99
45. GALERAS, BARRACAS PARA TRABAJADORES / 1,790
46. HOSPITALES, CLINICAS, SANATORIOS / 155
47. HOTELES, PENSIONES Y CASAS DE HOSPEDAJE / 386
48. INTERNADOS / 54
49. REFORMATORIOS / 19
51. OTRAS / 167
52. 4 PERSONAS Y MAS NO EMPARENTADAS / 135
61. LOCAL NO DESTINADO / 1,525
71. INDIGENTE / 39
81. DAMNIFICADO / 126
91. RETENES / 225
Total / 795,947
Etc.

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