2006 Population By-census
| Bureau / Department | Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) |
|---|---|
| Objective | To conduct a population by-census in 2006. |
| Content | The 2006 Population By-census (06BC) was a detailed enquiry on one-tenth of the households in Hong Kong. About 5 000 temporary field workers visited the 220 000 sampled households during the 18-day operation period from 15 July to 1 August 2006 to collect data from all households and members living therein. |
| Groups / Persons Affected | Respondents, chief enumerators, temporary field workers and census and survey officers of C&SD. |
| Impact | The Gender Mainstreaming Checklist was applied in four areas, namely questionnaire, recruitment, training and publicity. Questionnaire In determining the questionnaire content and designing the question flow, extensive consultation were conducted with various parties. Through applying gender mainstreaming in the questionnaire design process, adjustment were made to tackle those gender-sensitive questions, thus ensuring the quality and gender neutrality of the data collected. For example, to avoid misunderstanding or misinterpretation that "household head" was gender specific, C&SD explained its definition to the respondents clearly during the interviewing process and highlighted that the household head could be any member, whether male or female, in the household and multiple household heads were allowed. Besides, the order of related questions was re-arranged to make them more gender-neutral, and the question on which member was the household head had been moved backward. Recruitment A total of 5 000 temporary field workers (TFW) were required in the 06BC to conduct the data collection work. The target manpower supplies of these TFW were teachers of primary and secondary schools and post-secondary students. In the past censuses / by-censuses and the 06BC, objective criteria have been used in the selection of suitable candidates, such as working experience in past censuses/by-censuses, and gender of the applicants is not a selection criterion. The results of selection showed that the number of male and female appointees was about the same for both teachers and post-secondary students. Training A dedicated programme was designed and implemented to train up the TFW to carry out the data collection work. In the training materials, such as training films and manuals, gender specific points for attention were included. For example, the training film conveyed the message that it was inappropriate for female enumerator to wear high-heeled shoes during field visit. Furthermore, C&SD invited the Police Force to conduct a crime prevention briefing to the Census and Survey Officers. The briefing covered different points to note for male and female enumerators such as fieldwork dressing code of female TFW and the style of conversation of male enumerators etc. Applying gender mainstreaming in the training programme helped deliver the concepts of 06BC to both the female and male TFW more effectively and hence in conducting their work more efficiently. Moreover, the training programme could serve to instill the concept of gender mainstreaming to teachers and post-secondary students. Publicity In the design and implementation of the publicity activities, including posters, pamphlets, television and radio's announcement in the public interest, press releases, advertisements and press conferences etc., different genders’ points of view were taken into account, and gender bias as well as inequality had been precluded. Furthermore, relevant messages were conveyed to different community groups effectively, including both women and men. |
| Success Factor / Lessons Learned | A Working Group on Gender Mainstreaming, chaired by a Directorate Officer and comprised middle management representatives from various statistical divisions and administrative branch in C&SD, was formed in C&SD in June 2005 with the following terms of reference –
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