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

I. THE COMPREHENSIVE REWIEV OF THE DATA COLLECTION AND PROCESSING - 11. The control of the reliability of the census

11. The control of the reliability of the census a/ OBJECT AND METHOD OF THE RELIABILITY CONTROL The oo-called "post-enumeration control survey", i.e. the control of the completeness of the census and the reliability of the declared data has become a general supplementary operation of modern censuses. Its most frequent method is a subsequent second census of a suitably chosen - representative - smaller portion of the entire population. Its object is to provide information on the degree of reliability of the data of the census. Thus it can contribute to the proper judgement and use of the data and at the same time to the more perfect drawing up of the survey project of the next census (questionnaires, instructions). The operation of the post-enumeration con+rol is not designed to correct the errors found in the census materiell. A representative secondary census based on a small sample would not be suitable for this purpose. There are methods for the monitoring of the errors occurring in the course of the complete census, from the survey of data through supervision, coding, processing to the publication itself. For that matter there are also other methods for the examination of the accuracy of the census returns. Such methods are among others: - cross-checks on the census returns with macrostatistical data from other sources, - control individually of the census taken of the population under the age of 1 through the data sheets of birth of the vital statistics, - similar cross-checks on the census material with the data sheets of mortality of next year's vital statistics, etc. In case of sampling censuses and processing (e. g. the 1 and 25 per cent samples of the present census) also errors owing to the dispersion of the sample are added to the survey errors just treated. This sampling error is outside the present subject area; there are separate methods for its estimation. b/ OPERATIONS OF THE POST-ENUMERATION CONTROL OF THE FORMER CENSUS AND MICROCENSUS IN HUNGARY Examination of this kind was made in Hungary for the first time in connection with the census of 1960. This involved the accuracy of the declaration of age sind was carried out by a subsequent second representative census. The sample comprised 58 608 households of workers and employees 94