Quality Assuring

1
Quality Assuring Adding Value to the 2001
Census Output Area Classification

• Dan Vickers Phil Rees
• Centre for Spatial Analysis and Policy
• School of Geography
• University of Leeds

Paper presented at the Third International
Population Geography Conference Liverpool
19th-21st June 2006
2
What is the Area Classification?

• Puts the 223,060 Output Areas from the 2001 UK
  Census into groups of similarity based on their
  attributes for 41 census variables.
• Output Areas are the smallest geography available
  from the 2001 Census, comprising from an average
  of 264 people and 110 households.

3
Where is it available?

• The classification is available from multiple
  sources
• From the ONS at http//www.statistics.gov.uk/abou
  t/methodology_by_theme/area_classification/default
  .asp
• Can also be ordered on CD by emailing
  info_at_statistics.gov.uk
• From my homepage http//www.geog.leeds.ac.uk/peop
  le/d.vickers/OAclassinfo.html

4
Where is it available?

• The classification is available from multiple
  sources
• Casweb http//census.ac.uk/casweb/
• Can be added to any downloaded dataset as a
  zone attribute.
• UK Borders http//edina.ac.uk/ukborders/
• Available to download with GIS boundary files
  for mapping.

5
What is being done with OAC?

• GeoView Incorporation of OAC with Google Earth
  system, Paul Longley, Mike Batty and Richard
  Milton UCL.
• Uncertainty, Peter Fisher City University.
• Expansion to a further three levels, Martin
  Callingham Birkbeck College.
• Access to Education Classification, Alex
  Singleton UCL.
• Changing patterns over time, Dan Vickers
  University of Leeds/Sheffield.

6
Who else is using OAC?

• Camden LB, Tower Hamlets LB, Barking Dagenham
  LB, Kensington Chelsea LB,GLA, Bristol City
  Council, Derby City Council, Bradford Council,
  Suffolk CC, West of England local intelligence
  network, London Strategy Executive.
• London Health Observatory, Thames Valley
  Strategic Health Authority, Manchester joint
  Health Unit, North West Health Observatory,
  Diocese of Coventry.
• Woolworths, E-on (Powergen), Yell.com, Bell
  Hanson ltd, Pfizer, Abbey, Wegener DM, SAGA,
  Boots, Hospital Plan Insurance ltd, BusinessKen
  ltd, The Housing Vision, TNS.
• University of Surrey, UCL, City, UWE, Cornwall
  College, University of Nottingham.

7
The Problem

• How do we know its right, or at least a
  reasonable representation of reality.
• Little none census data at OA scale to compare
  classification with.
• Can check against areas which I know well through
  local knowledge and groundtruthing, however this
  far from a comprehensive at the UK scale.

8
Groundtruthing

• Groundtruthing exercises were conducted in
  locations across the UK.
• Visited specific locations taking photos to
  record the nature of each area
• Photos available via my homepage
• http//www.geog.leeds.ac.uk/people/d.vickers/OAcla
  ssinfo.html
• Groundtruthing exercise also conducted using
  undergraduate students on fieldtrip to Bangor
  North Wales.

9
User Consultation

• A consultation exercise was devised to fill in
  the blanks left by the goundtruthing.
• Academics, local government officers and other
  professionals with a demographic background were
  invited to take part.
• Participants were asked to give postcode(s) of
  area(s) they know well e.g. home address, work
  address, previous home.

10
User Consultation

• Shaded colours represent each of the 7
  super-group types
• Overlaid on OS 150,000 mapping
• Red triangle represents specified location

11
User Consultation

• Colours on the map to be linked to names.
• E.g. A4, B7, C1 etc.

12
Consultation Results

• 61 people specified 89 locations across the UK.
• Ranging between 4 and 12 locations in each
  region/country of the UK.

13
Consultation Results

• The results

• Where the respondents live

14
Teaching Resource

• Theres probably a lecture example on
  geodemographics and lifestyle classifiers in
  there somewhere... (Respondent qa38).
• I wonder if it would be possible to use this
  technique as a teaching tool, once the
  classifications are finalised? I am sure it
  would make a great teaching resource for CHCC
  Collection of Historical and Contemporary Census
  Data and Related Materials if you could automate
  the map production once a postcode is entered?
  (Respondent qa1).

15
Life course and change over time

• An interesting exercise, which tells my own
  life history - I grew up in 'typical traits'
  went off to be a student as a postgrad I rented
  a room also in 'typical traits' before as a young
  academic buying a small terraced house in 'city
  centre melting pot'. After a few years I moved
  on to a house in 'typical traits' and a few years
  ago finally arrived in 'comfortable suburban
  estates'. You could probably classify
  life-histories according to transition through
  these profiles! (Respondent qa38).
• Can you create the same for 1991 and show us
  change?! (Respondent qa13).

16
Preconceptions and Idealisation of Home

• Both areas on my piece of map should be group E
  as they are both Idyllic Countryside
  (Respondent qa36)
• OA withheld is classified as A and should
  really be E, this OA is just over the Bristol
  Suspension Bridge and is definitely not average!
  (Respondent qa39).

17
Distinguishing the Function of an Area from its
residential Pattern

• While at such a level no mapping is going to be
  perfect, the map provided put very different land
  covers together into single clusters. For
  example, on the map provided, large industrial
  areas were clustered together with comfortable
  suburban developments. (respondent qa54).
• Im surprised that Headingley an area of Leeds
  heavily populated by students appears to be in
  the same category as the city centre (Respondent
  qa44).

18
The Value of the Consultation

• The consultation had two functions, quality
  assurance of the product and solicitation of
  suggestions for improvement.
• The results of the quality assurance, we suggest,
  show the National Statistics Classification is
  fit for purpose.
• We have implemented a number of the suggestions
  of respondents in the final product and
  incorporated others in our research agenda. We
  believe that incorporating consultation into the
  research process has considerable value and
  should ensure a longer shelf life for the
  research product.

19
Thank you

• d.w.vickers_at_leeds.ac.uk
• p.h.rees_at_leeds.ac.uk