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National reference metadata

Finland

Reference metadata describe statistical concepts and methodologies used for the collection and generation of data. They provide information on data quality and, since they are strongly content-oriented, assist users in interpreting the data. Reference metadata, unlike structural metadata, can be decoupled from the data.

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Census 2011 round (cens_11r)

National Reference Metadata in Euro SDMX Metadata Structure (ESMS)

Compiling agency: Statistics Finland

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Population and housing census 2010/2011 in Finland is conducted totally on the basis of register sources, without sending out questionnaires to the whole population. The first register-based census was completed in 1990. Since 1990 Statistics Finland has conducted censuses using only registers, administrative sources and other statistical databases.

The register-based population census system is built around a set of basic registers which contain comprehensive data on the units that are to be described in the population census. These registers include the data maintained by the Population Register Centre under the population information system and the Register of Buildings and Dwellings, as well as the data from the Business Register that is maintained by Statistics Finland. These registers cover all people resident in Finland, the buildings and dwellings in the country as well as all business companies and their establishments.

The key to the system lies in the identification systems of the different registers, which allow for accurate cross-linking of data. All statistical units can be linked to one another by means of the identification systems: persons can be linked to the dwelling and building where they live to form household-dwelling units and families, and to the employer for whom they are working. Similarly, all units can be located on the map using map coordinates.

In addition to the unit and attribute data contained in basic registers, the register-based population census system makes use of some 30 administrative registers which cover either the whole population or certain sub-populations. The most important among these sources are taxation register data (e.g. data on income, type of income, data on employer); register data from employment pension systems (e.g. data describing employment and employers); data from the Register of Job Applicants (e.g. data on unemployment); data from student registers; and register data from the Social Insurance Institution.

The population census data are produced using the method of register estimation, in which several register sources are used simultaneously to define for each statistical unit the value of the relevant variable. The decision rules are defined in such a way that the data they produce come as close as possible to the data collected by means of questionnaires. Data from earlier population censuses and register data from the same point of time are also consulted in constructing these rules. These include rules on prioritisation between different sources in the event of contradictory data.

31 March 2014

The EU programme for the 2011 population and housing censuses include data on persons, private households, family nuclei, conventional dwellings and living quarters

Persons enumerated in the 2011 census are those who were usually resident in the territory of the reporting country at the census reference date. Usual residence means the place where a person normally spends the daily period of rest, regardless of temporary absences for purposes of recreation, holidays, visits to friends and relatives, business, medical treatment or religious pilgrimage

Data are available at different levels of geographical detail: national, NUTS2, NUTS3 and local administrative units (LAU2)

31 December 2010

Counts of statistical units

Capturing: All data collected in electronic format.
Coding. Only a few variables have to be coded. Occupation titles are coded mostly automatically using a database with contains the education, industry, status in employment, sector and former occupation of the person to conclude a proper occupation code.
Identifying variables. PersonID -code is a ubiquitious for uniquely identify persons in Finland. The Population Register Center has a register of population as well as buildings and dwellings. In the Population Information system (POIS) all permanently or temporarily resident as well as Finnish citizens has a unique person id. The information on the place of the usual residence is also updated in the POIS. Domicile code is used to identify of the place of usual residence of a person. Domicile code has the information on the building and co-ordinates are used to identify the geographical  area of residence and the place of work. Business ID ( Y-tunnus) and Establisment ID are used to idetify the place of work and to obtain information on the local unit from the Business register.
Record editing. Most of the data were edited, mainly using deterministic methods to prevent inconsistencies or using auxiliary data sources to provide the most likely value. Current activity status was estimated using so called register estimation method (http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/stats/documents/ece/ces/ge.41/2010/wp.12.e.pdf)
Record imputation. No records relating to persons, families, dwellings or households were imputed. Data was collected from POIS using the usual residence concept.
Record deletion. Records were deleted from the dwelling data collected from POIS when the building where the dwellings were located has been uninhabited for several years as well as considered not to be suitable for habitation any more.
Estimation. All statistics in the Finnish Census are counts of records.
Record linkage including identifying variable(s) used for the record linkage. All data relating to persons are linked trough the Person ID code (PIN). Data relating to dwellings were linked through the domicile code (Kotipaikkatunnus). Persons, dwellings and households were linked to location using the Building code, which is a part of the domicile code.
Generation of households and families: Linking persons to a household the domicile codes of "POIS" were used. Families were identified using the domicile code and the information on their relations (parent, child, spouse) collected from the POIS.

Annexes:
Register estimation - Current activity status

Data on population and housing censuses are disseminated every decade

Population structure has been released three months after the reference date on the 18th of March 2011. The last information (occupation) of the population census is released 23 months after the reference date on the 23th of November 2012. Census Hub hypercubes are available on the 31st of March 2014.

All census data is available on the coordinate level and can be aggregated using all regions (administrative or geographical) e.g. NUTS valid at 1st of Janyary 2011. One kilometer grids or 250m grids can be used. Also new areas can be generated using map data on EU (euref) coordinate system.
Data from previous censuses (1970 -2000) can be aggregated using the same  Euref coordinate system (from 1970 census).

Detailed describtion of Geospatial coding and referencing statistics in Finland is found at website: http://ggim.un.org/docs/meetings/UNSG_EG/ESA_STAT_AC.279_P7_UN-GGIM-Expertgroup_SF_MTL_.pdf

Annexes:
Some practices of Geospatial coding and referencing statistics in Finland

The most important variables are comparable over time. To ensure the comparability over time Statistics Finland has compiled a data warehouse on census data from which data can be aggregated using the latest versions of the classifications such as geography and education. Also industry and occupation are comparable between certain years at least at the highest level of classification.