Population Census 2000
Mauritius, 2000
Identification
MUS_2000_PHC_v01_M
Population Census 2000
| Name | Country code |
|---|---|
| Mauritius | MUS |
Population and Housing Census [hh/popcen]
Census taking in Mauritius dates back to the 18th Century. The first complete census for the Island of Mauritius, then known as Isle de France, was taken in 1735 under the governorship of Mahé de Labourdonnais. Since then, numerous complete censuses or partial counts of the population have been made. However, the first census report to be printed was probably that of 1846. The 1846 census was followed by another one in 1851. Since then, and up to 1931, censuses have been taken every ten years. With the outbreak of the Second World War, the one due in 1941 had to be postponed to 1944. The first census after the War was taken in 1952, and the ten-yearly programme was subsequently resumed with a census taken in 1962 and another one in 1972. The one scheduled for 1982 was postponed to 1983 because of the 1982 parliamentary elections. The following census which was due in 1993 was advanced to 1990 to satisfy an urgent need for up-to-date data, particularly on the economic characteristics of the population. Census 2000 was the seventeenth for the Island of Mauritius and the seventh for the Island of Rodrigues.
A census gives a complete and comprehensive picture of the nation as well as groups of people living in specific areas. In what type of buildings and housing units are we living? What are the amenities and facilities that are available therein? How many rooms are there and what is the extent of overcrowding? How many people live in a given town or locality? How many children are there? How many women are there? How many are old enough to vote? What kind of jobs are we doing? What is our level of education? Do we have the required qualifications or skills to satisfy the needs of the labour market? The census helps to answer these questions and many others.
It provides up-to-date and disaggregated data on the housing conditions, the spatial distribution, and the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of the population. These data are essential for assessing the country's demographic, social and economic performance and for developing sound policies and programmes aimed at fostering the welfare of the country and its population.
Census data are also useful to business, industrial and commercial organisations to estimate and forecast demand for their products and services, and to assess the supply of manpower with the relevant skills to run their activities.
Furthermore, census data are used in the derivation of many important and meaningful social indicators that are needed by local and international organizations. Thus, many social indicators, as defined in the set of indicators recommended by the United Nations Statistics Division, can only be worked out from census data.
Legal framework
Census 2000 was conducted according to provisions of the Statistics Act of 7 April 1951. The underlying procedures are given in Sections 5, 6 and 13 of the Act.
In March 1998, the Cabinet agreed to the conduct of a housing and population census in year 2000. In June 1999, it gave its approval to the census dates and to the topics to be investigated.
The regulations for the Housing Census, prescribing the particulars and information to be collected, were subsequently prepared and approved by the President in November 1999. The regulations were published as Government Notice 170 of 1999.
In December 1999, the President made an order to the effect that a census of the population be taken between 19 June and 16 July 2000 in respect of all persons alive at midnight on 2 July 2000. The Order was gazetted in December 1999.
The regulations for the Population Census, prescribing the particulars and information to be collected were approved by the President in April 2000 and published as Government Notice 57 of 2000.
Census/enumeration data [cen]
- Household
- Individual
- Housing unit
Version
v0.2: Final anonymised dataset for public use
2001-08-31
Scope
The scope of 2000 Mauritius Population Census included:
HOUSING
- Location
- Type of Building
- Characteristics of buildings
- Characteristics of housing units
- Characteristics of households
- Commercial and industrial establishments, hotels and boarding houses
- Fruit-trees on premises
POPULATION
- Location
- Names of persons
- Demographic and social characteristics
- Whether disabled or not
- Migration characteristics
- Fertility
- Education characteristics
- Current economic characteristics
- Income
| Topic | Vocabulary |
|---|---|
| Disability | World Bank |
| Education | World Bank |
| Primary Education | World Bank |
| Secondary Education | World Bank |
| Tertiary Education | World Bank |
| Vocational Education | World Bank |
Coverage
Housing and population enumerations were conducted on the Islands of Mauritius, Rodrigues and Agalega. As regards St Brandon islands, only a count of persons spending census night on the islands was made, these islands being fishing stations with no resident population.
The Housing Census enumerated all buildings, housing units, households, commercial and industrial establishments, hotels and boarding houses as well as fruit trees of bearing age on residential premises.
The Population Census enumerated all persons present on census night in all households and communal establishments, as well as usual residents who were away on census night.
Producers and sponsors
| Name | Affiliation |
|---|---|
| Statistics Mauritius | Ministry of Finance and Economic Development |
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Govenment of Mauritius | Funding the census |
Survey instrument
Questionnaire Design
Consultation with stakeholders from Government Ministries and Departments started in 1998. Heads of Government Ministries and Departments were invited via a circular letter to submit a list of demographic, social and economic data they considered essential for administration, planning and policy-making and which could be collected at the census. The proposals received were discussed at various levels. In the light of these discussions and taking into account recommendations of the United Nations Statistics Division on subject matters that can be investigated at a census, final selection of topics was made at a meeting with subject matter specialists from our parent Ministry.
The main considerations in the final selection of topics were:
- the importance of the topics to the country
- the cost for collecting and processing data on a given item
- where it was possible by other means to obtain satisfactory information more cheaply, the topic was not selected
- the suitability of topics
- sensitive and controversial issues as well as questions that were too complicated or difficult for the average respondent to answer were avoided
- whether the census was the appropriate method for data collection
- topics that required detailed investigation or highly qualified staff were not included since they would be best canvassed by sample surveys.
Housing Census Questionnaire
All topics investigated at the 1990 Census were included in the 2000 Housing Census questionnaire. Three new items were however added. These were: “Availability of domestic water tank/reservoir”, “Principal fuel used in bathroom” and “Fruit trees on premises”.
The housing census questionnaire was divided into seven parts. A list of topics and items included in the questionnaire is given below:
Part I - Location
Part II - Type of Building
Part III - Characteristics of buildings
- Storeys above ground floor
- Year of completion
- Principal material of construction used for roof and walls
Part IV - Characteristics of housing units - Ownership
- Occupancy
- Water supply
- Domestic water tank/reservoir
- Availability of electricity
- Toilet facilities
- Bathing facilities
- Availability of kitchen
- Refuse disposal
Part V - Characteristics of households - Household type
- Name and address of head of household
- Number of persons by sex
- Tenure
- Number of rooms for living purposes
- Number of rooms for business or profession
- Monthly rent
- Principal fuel used for cooking
- Principal fuel used in bathroom
Part VI - Commercial and industrial establishments, hotels and boarding houses - Name and address of establishment or working proprietor/manager
- Main activity in which the establishment is engaged
- Number of persons engaged at the time of enumeration
Part VII - Fruit-trees on premises - Number of fruit trees of bearing age by type
Population Census Questionnaire
The 2000 Population Census questionnaire covered most of the topics investigated at the 1990 Population Census. A question on income was added while the questions on education were reviewed to include qualifications, other than those of the primary and secondary levels, of the respondent. The topic, main activity status of person during the year, which was investigated at the previous census was not included.
Topics and items included in the population census questionnaire are given below:
(i) Location
(ii) Names of persons
These information were asked only to ensure that all members of the household were enumerated. Also, the listing of names of each person facilitated the checking for accuracy and completeness of each entry at the time of enumeration and later, if errors or missing information still persisted on the form. It should be pointed out that names were not captured at the data entry stage, so that data collected could not be identified with any individual person, in line with the requirements of the Statistics Act.
(iii) Demographic and social characteristics
- Relationship to head (only one head is allowed for each household)
- Sex
- Age
- Date of birth (This question served as a verification to the age reported earlier)
- Citizenship
- Marital Status
- Religion
- Linguistic group
- Language usually spoken
(iv) Whether disabled or not - Type of disability, if disabled
(v) Migration characteristics - Whereabouts on Census night
- Usual address
- Usual address five years ago
(vi) Fertility - For persons not single:
- Age at first marriage
- Whether married more than once
- Number of children ever born (for women only)
(vii) Education characteristics - For persons 2 years and above:
- Languages read and written
- School attendance
- Primary and secondary education
(viii) Current economic characteristics
(ix) Income
Census Guide and Instructions
A census guide and instructions booklet was prepared and distributed to all heads of households. The booklet contained extensive explanations on how to fill in the census form and answered questions that people usually asked about censuses. Thus the objectives of the census, what happened to the census forms once the enumeration was over, the confidential aspect of collected information as well as the usefulness of each item were explained.
Printing of Census Questionnaires and Guides
The census questionnaires, and the census guide and instructions booklets were printed by the Government Printer. The numbers printed were as follows:
(i) Housing Census questionnaires - 16,000 booklets of 25 questionnaires
(ii) Population Census questionnaires - 375,000
(iii) Census guide and instructions booklets - 312,000
Data collection
| Start | End | Cycle |
|---|---|---|
| 2000-02-07 | 2000-06-18 | Housing Census |
| 2000-06-19 | 2000-07-16 | Population Census |
| Start date | End date | Cycle |
|---|---|---|
| 2000-07-02 | 2000-07-03 | midnight - Population Census |
| Name | Affiliation |
|---|---|
| Statistics Mauritius | Ministry of Finance and Economic Development |
The Chief Supervisor was responsible for the whole field operation in the country. He was supported by two Assistant Chief Supervisors. Seventeen Senior Supervisors worked under the direct supervision of the Chief Supervisors and each Senior Supervisor had the charge of about eight Supervisors and 60 Chief Enumerators for the Housing Census, and an additional 300 Enumerators for the Population Census. A Supervisor had about seven Chief Enumerators and 36 Enumerators working under his supervision.
The Housing Census enumeration was carried out by the 1,029 Chief Enumerators, each of whom had to control the work of about 5 Enumerators at the Population Census.
Supervisors, Chief Enumerators and Enumerators working on the Island of Rodrigues worked under the supervision of the Senior Statistician responsible of statistics for the Island of Rodrigues.
Housing Census
The enumeration work was organized by EA. Enumeration within each EA was done in a systematic way to ensure that all buildings, housing units and households within the limits of the area were canvassed. This necessitated a good planning of the enumeration work involving the sub-division of each EA into well-demarcated blocks and the canvassing of one block after the other until the whole EA was covered.
One or two weeks before the housing census, Chief Enumerators made field reconnaissance and ensured that they were well-acquainted with the boundaries and ground features of the enumeration areas allocated to them. With the assistance of the Supervisors, Chief Enumerators identified blocks with well-defined boundaries such as roads, lanes, rivers, mountain sides or cane fields within each EA. EAs were then sub-divided accordingly and blocks within each EA were assigned a two-digit code starting with 01. Chief Enumerators then proceeded with the enumeration of buildings within each block in an orderly and systematic manner starting with block number 01 until the whole EA was covered. Each enumerated building was assigned a unique identification number consisting of the two-digit block number and a three-digit building number. Thus the first building in block 01 was given the identification number 01/001, the second 01/002 etc. These identifiers, besides being recorded on the census forms were written on the enumerated buildings on a conspicuous place so that they could be easily spotted by the supervisors during control and later by the enumerators during the population census enumeration.
Chief Enumerators also had to indicate on their EA census maps their starting point as well as their route of travel for each block. This was to facilitate the control work of the Supervisors and later to help enumerators to easily locate the households they had to visit at the Population Census.
Information was collected in booklets of 25 housing census forms. Since the movement of census forms was organized by EA, booklets used for a given EA were tagged together and were kept separate from booklets used for other EAs. Furthermore, to avoid bottlenecks at the processing stage, tagged booklets were verified and returned to the office as soon as the canvassing of an EA was completed.
For each EA covered, the Chief Enumerator had to prepare a list of heads of households, vacant housing units and housing units under construction together with the addresses. The number of persons in occupied households was also recorded on the list. The list was later used for the preparation of workloads of Enumerators.
Population Census
A population census form, with the name and address of the head of household as well as other geographical information, was prepared for each private household enumerated at the Housing Census. Addressed population census forms were also prepared for hotels, institutions, collective quarters, vacant housing units and housing units that were under construction.
Each Enumerator was given a list of addresses to be visited and an addressed population census form for each of these addresses. He was also provided with some unaddressed forms for newly-formed households and for households that could have been missed at the Housing Census as well as a specially designed sheet to record the names and addresses of any newly formed or missed households.
Distribution of the census forms and guides to heads of households was done during the week preceding the Census night of 2 July 2000. The Enumerator was given specific instructions on how to proceed with the list of households provided to him. By inserting appropriate remarks for each entry on the list at the distribution and later at the collection stage, he was able to keep control of his work on the field. He was able to tell whether all the forms had been delivered and subsequently collected, whether a household had moved to a new address or whether a housing unit reported as vacant at the Housing Census, was now occupied.
Heads of households were requested to fill in the census forms according to instructions given in the “Census guide and instructions” booklet delivered to them along with the census form. However, if a household was unable to fill in the form, in part or in full, it was the duty of the enumerator to complete or fill in the form according to statements provided by the head.
After delivery of the census forms, meetings at various levels of field staff were held to assess the situation on the field and to solve unexpected problems.
Special arrangements were made with managers or responsible officers of hotels, institutions and collective quarters for the enumeration of guests or inmates. Since it was difficult to obtain information from persons staying in hospitals, infirmaries, asylums and prisons, information from administration records were used to answer as many questions as possible. Enumeration of foreign workers living in collective quarters was done with the assistance of responsible officers of factories where the foreigners were working.
Collection of completed census forms started on the 3rd July 2000 and lasted until the third week of same month. When collecting the forms, enumerators had to ensure that information collected were legible, consistent and complete. Enumerators were asked to compare the resulting person count for each household with that obtained at the Housing Census and provided to them. Any difference had to be explained.
Quality assurance of field operation
The quality of information collected depends not only on the training of field workers, but also on the day-to-day control and supervision of the fieldwork.
Supervisors had to accompany each of their Enumerators in the first visits to ensure that interviews were done according to instructions given and that all concepts were clearly understood. Surprise and pre-arranged field checks as well as re-interviews also helped to increase the reliability of the information collected. Furthermore, Supervisors had to check all completed questionnaires at the early stage of enumeration and later a sample of the completed questionnaires to ensure that the quality of work was satisfactory. Meetings were held regularly to take stock of the field situation and to solve problems met on the field.
All supervisory staff had to record their field activities in provided diaries. The day-to-day record outlined the activities carried out, the dates on and the places at which the activities were carried out, problems encountered and remedial actions taken. The day-to-day recording of activities allowed supervisory staff to follow the progress of work and to assess the performance of each and every staff working under their supervision. Furthermore, it ensured that supervisory control prevailed all along the fieldwork.
Movement of census forms
Movements of census forms were organized by EA. Booklets or forms used for given EAs were tagged together in batches and returned to the census storeroom at the Office after verification. Special control forms were used to record the EA number of the batch, the date of reception, the name of the officer returning the batch as well as the relevant counts for the EA covered.
Similarly, movements of the EA batches from the storeroom to the editing and coding sub-unit, from the editing and coding sub-unit to the Central Information Systems Division (CISD) for data entry and finally from the CISD to the storeroom for final storage were recorded on specially designed control sheets.
The control sheets helped to assess the progress of work and ensured that batches of all EAs had been through the various processing stages.
Calendar of activities
A timetable indicating the sequence of each component operation of the census was prepared as an overall framework for the census. It served as a guide for measuring the progress of work at each stage of the census operation. It was thus possible to detect delays and errors in time estimates by comparing the calendar target dates and the actual dates of implementation.
For the details please refer to Calendar of activities - Census 2000 in External Resources section.
Project budget and expenditure incurred
Estimates of the budget in the planning phase were based on expenditure incurred at the previous census brought up to the actual value by adjusting for price and population increases during the period 1990-2000. The project value of the Housing and Population Census was thus estimated at around Rs 75 Million. However, because of existing infrastructure and services, including personnel, the actual project budget was reduced to Rs 70 Million.
The breakdown of project budget and the expenditure incurred are given in Budget & Expenditure - Census 2000 in External Resources section.
It is to be noted that around Rs 52 Mn, i.e. 82 % of the Rs 64 Mn spent to date, were used for payment of fees and travelling to field staff. Further, a bulk of Rs 42 Mn was incurred during the financial year 2000/2001.
Publicity
The success of the census operation depends to a large extent on the co-operation and understanding of the public. It was therefore necessary to have a publicity campaign to convince the population of the usefulness of the census and to appeal for their contribution.
The publicity materials included a census caption, video and audio spots, and communiqués in the media. The census caption and spots were prepared by a private agency. Spots were transmitted on radio and television by the national broadcasting station.
The publicity campaign started in February 2000 with the transmission of spots on radio and television during hours of wide audience. The spots were in three different languages, namely, Bhojpuri, Creole and French. These were transmitted more frequently during the first weeks of February 2000 when the housing census enumeration started and around the census night of 2 July 2000. The Director of Statistics also made brief interventions on radio and television; the objectives of the census and the confidential aspect of the information collected were covered and an appeal was made for the co-operation of the public.
Further, wide coverage of the event by the media contributed to public awareness.
Data processing
Recruitment and Training of Editors and Coders
About 15 clerical officers who were previously engaged in the various units of the Office and 10 newly recruited statistical officers were called on to the editing and coding of the census forms while a request for the services of 50 additional clerical officers was made to the Ministry for Civil Service Affairs and Administrative Reform. Between March 2000 and May 2001, small groups of clerical officers from the ministry joined the team. Staff turnover was high; many left for better jobs so that finally the number of editors and coders in the team attained a maximum of 50 around May 2001.
Editors and coders were trained by the statistician in charge of the exercise, in small groups and as and when they joined the team. Training was essentially an on-going process and supervisory staff had to ensure that instructions were understood and followed. To achieve uniformity and consistency, problems that arose and which were not covered in the manuals or during training sessions were discussed with the senior statistician. Instructions were then transmitted to the team of editors and coders during short briefing sessions that were conducted as and when needed.
The main duties of the officers consisted in the editing and coding of the census forms. However, they were also involved in various administrative works such as the preparation of appointment letters to field staff, preparation of addressed population census forms, preparation of census materials for field staff, preparation of lists of field staff for payment, reception of completed census forms and other documents from the field, etc. They also worked on the correction of invalid records at the validation stage of the Housing and Population data files.
Editing and Coding of Housing Census Questionnaires
Editing and coding of the Housing Census questionnaires started during the second week of March 2000 and was completed during the first week of May of the same year. Around 15,000 booklets of 25 housing census forms were handled in the process. However, since not all the 25 forms making a booklet were used, it is estimated that about 310,000 Housing Census forms were edited and coded. A team of 30 editors and coders and three supervisors was involved in the exercise. On the average, an officer edited and coded about 300 Housing Census forms per day.
Editors and coders first verified that geographical identifiers on the cover of booklets making the EA batch were the same. Consistency checks of block numbers, building numbers within blocks as well as the housing units within buildings were then performed. Editors finally proceeded to consistency checking, and editing and coding of the information collected according to instructions given.
The Housing Census form being largely pre-coded, only the locality codes had to be inserted. The coding of Section VI - Commercial, industrial establishments, hotels and boarding houses and Section VII - Fruit-trees on premises was treated as a separate exercise and was carried out around June and July 2000 when the editing and coding of Sections I to V was completed. The reason was that the capture and processing of information needed for the production of address labels had to be completed early enough so that addressed census forms could be prepared on time for the Population Census enumeration.
Editing and Coding of Population Census Questionnaires
Editing and coding of Population Census forms started in August 2000 and ended in June 2001. About 300,000 Population Census forms containing around 1,200,000 entries were handled. The team of coders which was composed of about 30 officers in August 2000 grew to a maximum of about 50 around May 2001. It should be noted that a request for 70 officers was made for this exercise; based on the number of officers requested, the editing and coding of the Population Census forms was scheduled to be completed around April 2001. The team therefore had recourse to extensive after-office work so that the exercise could be completed within a reasonable time frame. On the average, about 35 forms were edited and coded per day by an officer.
The editing and coding of the Population Census forms consisted of three different stages: the overall verification of the EA batch, consistency checking and editing of the information collected followed by coding.
Verification of the EA batches consisted of checking that all census forms in a given batch had the same EA codes; appropriate geographical codes were inserted on unaddressed forms that were used to enumerate newly formed households. Officers then proceeded with consistency checking and editing of the individual forms according to instructions given. Some of the checks performed were the verification of the presence of only one “head” per household and the sequential numbering of entries on the forms, consistency between age and date of birth, consistency between age and marital status, and consistency between age and educational attainment.
The coding of the Population Census forms was more complex and time-consuming than that of the Housing Census forms where only locality codes were inserted. Apart from the geographical codes that were printed on the address labels, all information on the population census forms had to be coded.
Various code lists were used. Because of difficulties encountered by editors and coders in understanding the different codes, a system was devised such that a form was handled by two officers. The first officer performed the overall verification of the EA batch and edited and coded the part of the form prior to economic activity. The second officer edited and coded the part on economic activity. The group working on the second part of the form was chosen according to its ability to understand the different codes involved. The implementation of the system had, as result, a reduction in the number of coding errors and an increase in the number of forms handled daily by the team.
Software and Equipment
The software used for the processing of the census data was IMPS 4.1 (Integrated Microcomputer Processing System) of the International Programs Center of the US Bureau of the Census, which is specifically designed for census and survey data processing.
The software, which operates in a Windows environment, has separate modules for data entry (CENTRY), data edit and imputation (CONCOR), publication tabulation (CENTS), quick tabulation (QUICKTAB), table retrieval (TRS), variance calculation (CENVAR) and data entry control (CENTRACK). The modules that were used in the processing of the census data were CENTRY, CONCOR, QUICKTAB and CENTS.
The following equipment was available for data capture and processing:
(i) 30 PCs for data capture,
(ii) 3 PCs with zip disk drives for validation and tabulation,
(iii) 2 line printers for printing of address labels and
(iv) 2 laser printers for printing of publication tables.
Processing Operations
The processing of the Housing Census data and the Population Census data were done along the same lines, although the various operations involved in the processing were somewhat more complex for the Population Census than for the Housing Census. On the other hand, the production of address labels concerned only the Housing Census. The processing of the census data involved the following main operations:
(i) Writing programmes for
(a) data entry applications with range checks,
(b) validation of data files,
(c) checking consistency of EA data file names with Island, Geographical District, Municipal Ward/Village Council Area and EA codes in the data files,
(d) creation of address label files,
(e) tabulation of census data;
(ii) Data capture;
(iii) Data validation and updating of data files;
(iv) Checking for inconsistent EA data file names;
(v) Checking for duplicate and missing EAs;
(vi) Production of address labels from Housing Census files and printing of labels;
(vii) Consolidation of EA data files;
(viii) Tabulation.
The aim of checking the consistency of EA data file names with the EA geographical codes that appeared in the data files was to ensure that the correct geographical codes of EA batches had been entered, and also to safeguard against creation of EA data files with similar names. Any error at this stage would have caused serious problems in the control of captured EAs: missing EA files and EA data files with similar names would then have had to be handled.
Data Capture
Data entry with 100% verification (rekeying) of the Housing and Population Census forms was done by operators of the Central Information Systems Division of the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunications. The data entry staff was composed of a maximum of 28 operators and 5 supervisors working normally on a one-shift and five working-day system. Other applications were run concurrently with that of the census so that, whenever the need arose, data entry officers shifted to applications with higher priority. The Division had recourse to extensive after-office work to complete the data entry exercise within reasonable time limits.
The data entry exercise for the Housing Census started in March 2000 and was completed in May of the same year when data for about 310,000 forms were keyed in. The number of keystrokes involved in the data entry and verification exercise was estimated to be around 70 million while the average number of keystrokes per operator per hour was estimated to be around 7,500 with a range extending from 5,000 to 9,000.
Data of Section VI - Commercial, industrial establishments, hotels and boarding houses and Section VII - Fruit-trees on premises of the Housing Census questionnaires were captured during the months of July and August 2000.
Data capture for the Population Census started in September 2000 and was completed in July 2001. Data for around 300,000 Population Census forms containing about 1,200,000 records were keyed in during that period. The total number of keystrokes was estimated to be around 185 million and the average speed of an operator was around 12,000 keystrokes per hour, the range varying from 8,000 to 16,000.
Production of Address Labels
As mentioned earlier, names and addresses of heads of households obtained at the Housing Census were used as frame for the Population Census. Names and addresses as well as the geographical identification codes needed to identify households were extracted from the data files and printed on labels which were then stuck on Population Census forms.
A programme was run regularly to assess the completeness of the work before proceeding to the extraction of the required information. The programme in fact flagged all validated EA files on a master list of EAs by Supervisor. As and when all data files for a given Supervisor had been validated, these were consolidated. Information required was retrieved and address label files created. Printing of address labels was done in order of EA by Supervisor.
A total of about 310,000 address labels were printed during the month of May 2000; two line printers with a speed of 200 lines per minute were used for the task.
Data Validation
A validation programme that verified field consistencies was run to identify records with errors. Listings of these records were produced; relevant census forms were retrieved and corrections made accordingly and data files updated. The validation of Housing Census files was done, in parallel with the editing and coding exercise, by a team of five officers during the months of April and May 2000. Because of shortage of staff, the validation of the Population Census data files was carried out on completion of the editing and coding exercise, i.e. during the months of July and August 2001.
Once validation of data files was completed, the data files were concatenated to the country level. The size of the concatenated data file for the Housing Census was about 56 MB while that for the Population Census was about 134 MB.
A preliminary set of publication tables was produced using the country data file. Analysis of these tables showed that no additional editing was needed for the Housing Census data. As regards the Population Census data, while the tabulated counts of households and population were found to be consistent with the Housing Census tabulated figures, there were inconsistencies in some tables. A list of relevant edit specifications was drawn and incorporated in a CONCOR programme to remove the inconsistencies from the tabulated data. It should be mentioned that the edits included in the CONCOR correction programmes were not exhaustive so that tables still contained slight inaccuracies that would be too costly and time-consuming to identify and correct.
Data Access
| Name | Affiliation | URL | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Statistics Mauritius | http://statsmauritius.gov.mu | census_cso@mail.gov.mu |
| Is signing of a confidentiality declaration required? | Confidentiality declaration text |
|---|---|
| yes | The census was conducted under the provisions of the Statistics Act. The Act invests the Director of Statistics Mauritius with the power to obtain particulars relating to a large number of topics, but at the same time it lays down strict rules to ensure that all information collected are kept strictly confidential. It forbids the publication of particulars in a way that enables identification of any individual person, undertaking or business. The Act also requires that every person employed in connection with the census to make an oath of secrecy to that effect before a magistrate. Penalties are provided for any breach of confidentiality. Furthermore, census field officers were provided with an authorization card duly signed by the Director. To safeguard the public against unauthorized persons, field officers had to produce their authorization card during interviews in connection with the census. Also, any person who refused or neglected to fill in the prescribed forms or to supply the particulars required, or knowingly made false statements, was liable to prosecution. |
Public use files: anonymised data to be made available upon request. Fees to be determined.
Use of the dataset must be acknowledged using a citation which would include:
- the Identification of the Primary Investigator
- the title of the survey (including country, acronym and year of implementation)
- the survey reference number
- the source and date of download
Example:
Statistics Mauritius, Housing and Population Census 2000. Ref. MUS_2000_PHC_v01_M. Dataset downloaded from http://statsmauritius.gov.mu on [date].
Disclaimer and copyrights
The user of the data acknowledges that Statistics Mauritius bears no responsibility for use of the data or for interpretations or inferences based upon such uses.
Contacts
| Name | Affiliation | URL | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Statistician, Census Unit | Statistics Mauritius | cso@mail.gov.mu | http://statsmauritius.gov.mu |
Metadata production
DDI_MUS_2000_PHC_v01_M
| Name | Affiliation | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Abdool Sariff Mungralee | Statistics Mauritius | Documentation of the Metadata |
| Accelerated Data Program | International Household Survey Network | Editing for the IHSN Survey Catalog |
2011-09-20
Metadata version
Version 01: Adopted from "DDI_MUS_2000_HPC_v01_M" DDI that was done by metadata producers mentioned in "Metadata Production" section.