Census 2011 Microdata Teaching File for England and Wales

The <I>Census 2011 Microdata Teaching File for England and Wales </I> data collection forms part of the statistical outputs from the 2011 UK Census. The Teaching File is an open access dataset constructed from the safeguarded microdata sample of individuals (see SNs 7605 and 7682, and below for background information). Converted by the UK Data Service Census Support Service, it is an SPSS/Stata version of the spreadsheet Microdata Teaching File for England and Wales produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), drawn from data collected in the 2011 Census. The file was produced by ONS with a variables list and a user guide – all of which are considered the essential and definitive companions to the data. The original spreadsheet format Microdata Teaching File is an open government file is available from the ONS Census 2011 <a href="http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/census/2011/census-data/census-microdata/microdata-teaching-file/index.html" title="Microdata Teaching File">Microdata Teaching File</a> webpage. More information about the teaching file and Census 2011, including forms and links to other Census data, are available both on the ONS site or via the UK Data Service <a href="http://census.ukdataservice.ac.uk" title="Census Support">Census Support</a> webpages. <br> <br> <br> <b>Background to Census 2011 microdata products</b><br> The safeguarded sample was identified as a key Census user requirement, highlighted as part of a report specifying microdata products from the 2011 Census written by an expert user, Dr. Jo Wathan from the University of Manchester. The purpose of a safeguarded sample of individuals is to be able to disseminate a detailed microdata file without onerous licensing conditions, by reducing the overall amount of detail compared to the secure samples. Whilst supplying sufficient detail on core variables to fulfil the intended aim of the microdata products, the safeguarded sample is a valuable multi-purpose research file that will be used on a wide range of projects. (For Censuses prior to 2011, these data may have been referred to as 'Samples of Anonymised Records', or SARSs.)<br> <br> In total, five microdata samples are proposed from the 2011 Census:<ul><li>one public, a Teaching File of individuals (this study, SN 7613);</li><li>two safeguarded, one file of individuals at regional level (see SN 7605) and one at local authority level (see SN 7682);</li><li>and two secure, one file of households and one of individuals.</li></ul>