Regional Interaction of Environmental, Social and Economic

Statistics: An Outline of the Issues

Wendy Thomaswlt@umn.edu

Minnesota Population Center, University of MinnesotaIAOS 2010

Santiago, Chile20 October 2010

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Basic Issues

• Local level variability of the pattern of population and economic growth, population profiles and density change

• Data availability and access• Data comparbility• Consistent indicators• Intellectual and techical cooperation

Data Availability and Access• Confidentiality protection: As the area gets

smaller the level and availability of detail in the data decreases

• The use of suppression rather than imputation for small area data

• Reliance on aggregate data for small areas• Published only for nation or large areas– Motor vehicle ownership: "Data are only available for

OED countries at the national scale (supplied by OED), while on the global scale only major urban areas for each country are available”

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Example of Limiting Availability

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http://www.bls.gov/eag/abouteag.htm[9/27/2010 12:08:59 PM]

Data Comparability• Living below poverty: “Comparisons between

countries can be difficult because of different definitions and standards….”

• Arable land: “Definitions used by reporting countries vary considerably and items classified under the same category often relate to greatly differing kinds of land.”

• Urban Population: "Each country sets it own definitions of an "urban agglomeration“, there is therefore a wide range of definitions making data comparability difficult….”

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TEMS / Terrestrial Ecosystem Monitoring Sites (http://www.fao.org/gtos/tems/socioeco_list.jsp#)

Consistent Indicators

• Forest total area: "..., FAO estimates sometimes are not based on temporal series but are calculated by using different methods, such as the so-called "convergence of evidence". however, this leads to decreased reliability of the data.”

• Population Density: "Conceptually, population density alone is not fully representative of population pressure, as the environmental impact of population always depends on the type and level of development, the type of habitat, and so on."

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TEMS / Terrestrial Ecosystem Monitoring Sites (http://www.fao.org/gtos/tems/socioeco_list.jsp#)

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Code LabelAR AR AR AR AM BY BO BO BO70 80 91 01 01 99 76 92 01

000 NIU (not in universe) X X X X X X X X X100 LESS THAN PRIMARY COMPLETED · · · · X X · · ·110 No schooling X X X X · · X X X120 Some primary X X X X · · X X X130 Primary (4 years) · · · · X · · · ·200 PRIMARY COMPLETED, LESS THAN SECONDARY · · · · · · · · ·210 Primary completed · · · · · · · · ·211 Primary (5 years) · · · · · X X X X212 Primary (6 years) X X X X · · X X X220 Lower secondary completed · · · · · · · · ·221 General and unspecified track X X X X X · X X X222 Technical track X X · · · · X X X300 SECONDARY COMPLETED · · · · · · · · ·310 General or unspecified track · · · · · · · · ·311 General track completed X X X X X X X X X312 Some college/university X X X X X · X X X320 Technical track · · · · · X · · ·321 Secondary technical degree X X · · X · X X X322 Post-secondary technical education · X X X X · · · X400 UNIVERSITY COMPLETED X X X X X X X X X999 UNKNOWN/MISSING X · X · · X X X X

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Code LabelAR AR AR AR AM BY BO BO BO

70 80 91 01 01 99 76 92 01

300 SECONDARY COMPLETED · · · · · · · · ·

310 General or unspecified track · · · · · · · · ·

311 General track completed X X X X X X X X X

312 Some college/university X X X X X · X X X

320 Technical track · · · · · X · · ·

321 Secondary technical degree X X · · X · X X X

322 Post-secondary technical education · X X X X · · · X

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Code LabelAR AR AR AR AM BY BO BO BO

70 80 91 01 01 99 76 92 01

300 SECONDARY COMPLETED · · · · · · · · ·

310 General or unspecified track · · · · · · · · ·

311 General track completed X X X X X X X X X

312 Some college/university X X X X X · X X X

320 Technical track · · · · · X · · ·

321 Secondary technical degree X X · · X · X X X

322 Post-secondary technical education · X X X X · · · X

Cooperation

• Metadata standards for micro and statistical data (DDI, SDMX, ISO/IEC 11179, ISO 19115)

• Global Terrestrial Observing System (GTOS)• Center for International Earth Science

Information Network (CIESIN)• Paris Microdata Access Workshop• IPUMS International• IHSN• Community Indicators Consortium

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Goals for small area data

• Develop model based, informative, reliable and flexible indicators using data available at the local level

• Continue to expand use of standards for interoperable metadata and data

• Support multiple means of access to data• Publish consistent small area data that

supports local and cross-national research

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Session Presentations

• Visualization tools – Exploring the interaction of data within a spatial

perspective– Empowering actors and agents from all sectors of

urban development– Using indicators with spatial dimension (distance

from services, etc.) to inform redistribution of population profiles

– Measuring the impact of changing population profiles on different area types

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