census

census

1. an official periodic count of a population including such information as sex, age, occupation, etc.

2. (in ancient Rome) a registration of the population and a property evaluation for purposes of taxation
www.census.gov/ipc/www/idbnew.html

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

census

a government-sponsored, universal and obligatory survey of all individuals in a geographical area. The British Census is a major source of SECONDARY DATA because:

1. it offers data on a comprehensive range of topics, many of which are not included in other surveys;
2. its large size permits the analysis of some topics in greater detail;
3. its size and scope permit the analysis of numerous interrelationships.

With the introduction of punched-card processing in 1911, and the use of computers in 1961, the amount of information that can be collected and processed has been dramatically increased.

The Census Act, 1920, requires that a census be taken in Britain at intervals of not less than five years. With the exception of the 1966 Census (so far the only quinquennial census), censuses have been taken in Britain since 1801 (except in 1941 when there was no census).

The earliest censuses (1801-31) took the form of simple head counts. Self-completion forms were introduced in 1841. Since 1961 the census has involved most households completing a simple questionnaire and every tenth household completing a more detailed questionnaire.

The census has a number of important applications for the sociologist, including:

1. studies of SOCIAL STRATIFICATION;
2. analysis of changing trends reflected in housing, education, work, etc;
3. studies of particular groups. Following demand from local authorities, academic researchers, market-research organizations, central government, and other organizations, Small Area Statistics have been introduced, based on the enumeration districts which comprise 500 people on average, which may also be aggregated to gain a picture of a particular area such as a parliamentary constituency, a school catchment area or a health authority district.

The census has also become a fruitful area for historical research and there is a growing interest in time-series research, or cliometrics in which modern statistical techniques are applied to historical data. See also SOCIAL SURVEY, FAMILY EXPENDITURE SURVEY, GENERAL HOUSEHOLD SURVEY, OFFICIAL STATISTICS, STATISTICS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS.

Collins Dictionary of Sociology, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2000

census

[′sen·səs]

(statistics)

A complete counting of a population, as opposed to a partial counting or sampling.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Census

 

(1) In ancient Rome, the registration of citizens, with indication of their possessions, for the purpose of determining the citizens’ sociopolitical, military, and tax status. According to classical tradition, the introduction of the census is ascribed to Servius Tullius (sixth century B.C.), who divided the citizenry into five classes, or orders, determined on the basis of property qualifications. A citizen’s status was evidently originally dependent on his land or movable property; later it came to depend on his money. A census was taken once every five years. The census taking was supervised at first by the king and later by the consul; in 443 B.C. the office of censor was created for this purpose, but in the imperial age the emperor assumed the functions of the censor.

(2) In medieval Western and Central Europe, a quitrent or tax paid by the peasants. The census was the same as the czynsz, or Zins.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.