Our objectives are to identify the issues that researchers encounter when measuring internal migration in different countries and to propose key indicators that analysts can use to compare internal migration at the 'national' level. We establish the benefits to be gained by a rigorous approach to cross-national comparisons of internal migration and discuss issues that affect such comparisons. We then distinguish four dimensions of internal migration on which countries can be compared and, for each dimension, identify a series of summary measures. We illustrate the issues and measures proposed by comparing migration in Australia and Great Britain.

https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:62132/Bell_2002_Crossnational_comparisons.pdf

Cross-national comparison of internal migration: issues and measures

BEATTY C. and FOTHERGILL S. (1996) Labour market adjustment in areas of chronic industrial decline: the case of the UK coalfields, Reg. Studies 30, 627–640. The paper explores the labour market consequences of the near-terminal decline of employment in the UK coal industry. Despite the job loss, registered unemployment has not risen. Using labour market accounts derived mainly from Census of Population data, the paper examines the roles of migration, commuting, job creation and changes in labour force participation as mediating influences. Substantial ‘hidden’ male unemployment is exposed, and rates of ‘real’ unemployment are also calculated. BEATTY C. et FOTHERGILL S. (1996) L'ajustement du marche du travail dans les zones serieusement touchees par le declin industriel: cas d'etude des bassins houillers au Royaume-Uni, Reg. Studies 30, 627–640. Cet article cherche a examiner l'impact sur le marche du travail du declin quasi-terminal de l'emploi dans l'industrie houillere au Royaume-Uni. En depit des supp...

Labour Market Adjustment in Areas of Chronic Industrial Decline: The Case of the UK Coalfields

This paper considers the use of secondary data analysis in educational research. It addresses some of the promises and potential pitfalls that influence its use and explores a possible role for the secondary analysis of numeric data in the ‘new’ political arithmetic tradition of social research. Secondary data analysis is a relatively under-used technique in Education and in the social sciences more widely, and it is an approach that is not without its critics. Here we consider two main objections to the use of secondary data: that it is full of errors and that because of the socially constructed nature of social data, simply reducing it to a numeric form cannot fully encapsulate its complexity. However, secondary data also offers numerous methodological, theoretical and pedagogical benefits. Indeed by treating secondary data analysis with appropriate scepticism and respect for its limitations, by demanding that tacit assumptions about the unreliability of secondary data are applied equally to ...

Pitfalls and Promises: The Use of Secondary Data Analysis in Educational Research.

The advantages of handling population data in GIS as a raster surface rather than as zonal attributes are discussed, and a technique for creating such surfaces briefly reviewed. Existing models created by this method using the 1991 UK Census are then compared with equivalent zonal data and some weaknesses identified, in particular the poor association between enumeration districts and 200 m grid cells. A refined version of the surface generation technique is presented in which population totals are constrained within zone boundaries, while residential geography is retained with considerable success.

An assessment of surface and zonal models of population

Study objective: To test hypotheses about associations between area level exposures and the prevalence of the most common mental disorders (CMD) in Britain. A statistically significant urban-rural gradient was predicted, but not a socioeconomic gradient, in the prevalence of CMD after adjusting for characteristics of individual respondents. The study tested the hypothesis that the effects of area level exposures would be greatest among those not in paid employment. 

Design: Cross sectional survey, analysed using multilevel logistic and linear regression. CMD were assessed using the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). Electoral wards were characterised using the Carstairs index, the Office of National Statistics (ONS) Classification of Wards, and population density. 

Setting: England, Wales, and Scotland. 

Participants: Nearly 9000 adults aged 16–74 living in 4904 private households, nested in 642 electoral wards. 

Main results: Little evidence was found of statistically significant variance in the prevalence of CMD between wards, which ranged from 18.8% to 29.5% (variance 0.035, SE 0.026) (p=0.11). Associations between CMD and characteristics of wards, such as the Carstairs index, only reached statistical significance among those who were economically inactive (adjusted odds ratio for top v bottom Carstairs score quintile 1.58, 95% CI 1.08 to 2.31) (p<0.05). 

Conclusions: There may be multiple pathways linking socioeconomic inequalities and ill health. The effects of place of residence on mental health are greatest among those who are economically inactive and hence more likely to spend the time at home.

https://jech.bmj.com/content/jech/57/8/616.full.pdf

Contextual risk factors for the common mental disorders in Britain: a multilevel investigation of the effects of place

This article highlights some of the issues raised by incomplete coverage of the 1991 census in Britain, illustrating how far-reaching are its implications across the spectrum of social statistics. The origins and the current state-of-play of the debate over the distribution of the non-response are summarised and the implications then assessed. For many census variables, non-response reduces the observed variation between areas, with consequences for the distribution of resources for local services. The implications for the reliability of the most basic of health statistics are raised through mortality rates. A rough estimate is made, and supporting evidence presented, of the possible numbers of households which were missed by the census. Some implications for housing needs assessments are illustrated along with the effect of the sudden upwards revision of official estimates of the dwelling stock and the resulting overall great uncertainty over the number of vacant dwellings in the country. Finally, recent research on the electoral implications of people's choice not to be registered is discussed as this may well help to understand census non-response. Such a pervasive degree of uncertainty across almost all figures concerning people has not been experienced in Britain since the last century. There is little reason to expect this uncertainty and the importance of its social policy implications to diminish in the future, without significant changes to census procedures and to the relationship between government and governed.

/pdf/those-missing-millions-implications-for-social-statistics-of-19clgu01lu.pdf

Those Missing Millions: Implications for Social Statistics of Non-response to the 1991 Census

Dans cet article, l'A. fait part de ses reflexions concernant l'utilisation de la statistique par les sciences politiques. En confrontant les statistiques dans un contexte politique aux politiques administratives, a la gouvernance et a l'identite des individus, l'A. rapelle que cet outil d'analyse est avant tout un instrument de comprehension sociale, et souligne l'importance de l'enseignement de cette discipline

Stephen Simpson

Papers

Those Missing Millions: Implications for Social Statistics of Non-response to the 1991 Census

The politics of statistics: Variations on a theme