1970 HUNGARIAN CENSUS OF POPULATION Information on the data collection and processing (1977)

I. THE COMPREHENSIVE REWIEV OF THE DATA COLLECTION AND PROCESSING - 8. The electronic data processing of the census of 1970

The studies worked out by the experts' groups have been utilized by the preparatory workteam which has taken into consideration the opportunities of correcting the errors by electronic techniques. The system and connections of a correcting programme as well as the order of the several topics have been fixed by means of a flow-chart, then the descriptions prepared in different forms by different persons or teams have been included to a uniform system according to the structure complying with the recent programme. As far as the problems occured during the adaptation are concerned, they have been cleared up by two (technical and preparatory) work-teams. Meanwhile it came to smaller modifications of the correction system. The corrections were needful anyway, since several criteria may be only corrected by means of highly sophisticated techniques. In such cases sometimes compromises became necessary between the reliability of the correction and the complexity of the method applied. The general aim remained the search for the most probable opportunity of correction, but in certain cases - if the programme became essentially less sophisticated - eventually the smaller security of correction could be the alternative chosen, provided that the frequency of the given type of error is small. Correction of personal items The correcting programme had to be worked out in several steps, relying upon a draftpattern as its starting point, on account of the great number of the instructions, the complexity of the system and the data processing. In the first step, only the main segments of the programme had to be fixed, breaking down the work to sub-programmes. As to the automatic correction of the personal data, the following topics were fixed: a/ checking of the completeness and the correction of the serial numbers; b/ mechanical correction of the "absurd" code numbers; c/ correction of the family and household-status and their respective serial numbers, and the correction of the basis criteria; V d/ final correction of the demographic criteria; e/ final correction of the occupational criteria. The items a/, b/, d/ and e/ ensured the checking and the correction of the information within its own records; as far as item c/ is concerned, all information concerning the flat in which the household lived, were available for checking and correcting purposes. The checking of the completeness and the correction of the serial numbers As far as its structure and functions are concerned, it is the simplest segment, its role being, however, extraordinarily important. On the basis of the preliminary information content of the main data originating from several census districts, this segment is checking the completeness of the stock, and - if necessary - may substitute for the missing (lost, intermingled or damaged) items based on the list printed out by means of the programme. The replacing was not needful in the prac68