IBGE opens public consultation aiming at a more democratic Census in 2020
February 27, 2018 09h00 AM | Last Updated: February 27, 2018 02h34 PM
Persons and institutions are invited to make suggestions of themes and questions for the 2020 Population Census on theo IBGE website. That is the first time the Institute promotes a public consultation of that kind, as it intends to conduct a more democratic and transparent process. From February 19 so far, 494 contributions, which can be submitted in Portuguese or English, have been received.
After the consultation, the information will be summarized and made available on the 2020 Census hotsite, which is expected to be released this year. Each demand will be evaluated according to a series of criteria, such as user’s needs, absence of other statistical sources and aspects related to time of response and complexity of the questionnaire. in addition to that, the content will guide the discussions in forums, and be used in other products.
Claudio Crespo, Director of Surveys of the IBGE, says that is a necessary initiative to fulfill the population’s expectations: “The idea is to have a cooperative project for the 2020 Census, as it has always been. The objective is to conduct that major operation of our Institute with the participation of users and of the population in general.”
Internet was used for the first time in the 2010 Census consultation
During the preparation for the 2010 Census, the Internet was used for the first time to facilitate the contribution from society. On the occasion the IBGE sent more than 9 thousand letters with a log in and password to registered institutions. “Users would access a virtual page to assess questionnaire items and make suggestions based on justification. A total 270 were received”, says Sofia Monti, a servant from the population Census technical staff.
An instance of society’s contribution to the Census is the inclusion of a question about the existence and type of birth certificate of a person up to 10 years of age in households. According to Claudio Crespo, the institutions that deal with that theme presented proper arguments to justify the inclusion of that item in the 2010 Census: “from then on, we managed to have a spatialized view of the underreport (group of births not registered in the year of birth of in the first quarter of the subsequent year) throughout the decade. It was an important innovation”, he adds.
