The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) presents this Tuesday, September 1^st, the innovations in the XII Population Census, whose data collection will begin on August 1^st, 2010, in all households of Brazil. The Census will offer an updated portray of the Brazilian population, its social and economic characteristics, and at the same time will be the base for public and private planning for the next decade. Responding to social demands for information and following international recommendations, the 2010 Census questionnaire will bring new questions. It will also be the first totally computerized survey of this magnitude, with interviews conducted in handheld computers equipped with GPS receptors and digital maps. The 2010 Census will employ around 230 thousand Census agents and enumerators. They will visit approximately 58 million households in 5,565 municipalities to learn about the more than 190 million Brazilians, in the most vivid picture of the Brazilian population. The expected budget is of the order of R$ 1.4 billion. On this same day, in Rio Claro (SP), the Rehearsal Census – the last test for Census 2010 – begins. The city, which has 191,886 inhabitants, will have all its households surveyed until November of this year.

The Basic questionnaire of the 2010 Census, with 16 questions, will be applied to all Brazilian households. The Sample questionnaire, with 81 questions, will be answered by part of the population. The Basic questionnaire comprises questions about characteristics of residents (sex, age, color or race, schooling, income) and of households (water supply, sewage, existence of electricity, waste disposal). For the 2010 Census 2010, the basic questionnaire brings questions about international emigration, ownership of birth certificate, ethnic group, and Indigenous language.

The Sample questionnaire, which will be answered by just part of the population, has wide-ranging questions about characteristics of households (predominant material on external walls and floor, existence of a PC with Internet access, existence of cars for private usage) and of residents (religion, permanent physical or mental/intellectual disability, migration, attendance at graduation courses, marital status, commute time, and fertility, among others).

The definition of Census 2010 questionnaires resulted from more than 9 thousand consultations with users of IBGE information – government agencies, researchers, and private initiative organizations – besides several discussion forums. The Institute has also created a page on the Internet to receive suggestions about the content of both questionnaires.

The Base Map (Cartographic Base of Census), now digitized, will have an updated Address List for Statistical Purposes

The Base Map for the 2010 Census will integrate urban and rural maps, and will divide the country in around 280 thousand census tracts. For each tract, an enumerator will be designated, and will visit the households and interview the dwellers. Within the improvements for the next Census, IBGE will migrate the Base Map and the Address List to a graphic environment structured in geospatial databanks.

Elaborated from registers of enumerated units in the 2000 Demographic Census and in the 2007 Population Count, the National Address List for Statistical Purposes – CNEFE – is being associated to digital maps and will further be included in the handheld computers of the enumerators to guide them during field work.

From March 2010 on, maps of urban areas will be checked during the so-called “Pre-Census”, conducted by the approximately 24 thousand supervisors hired for the Census. Those maps will help the enumerator guide himself along the streets of his census tract: he will observe in his handheld computer, equipped with GPS, the whole path he shall cover. The incorporation of the Address List will allow IBGE to conduct new surveys through the Internet.

Besides PDAs, teams will work with netbooks

Besides Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) already used in the Population Count and in the Agriculture Census of 2007, the teams of the 2010 Census will use netbooks (small notebooks). There will be around 70 thousand PDAs, equipped with GPS receivers, and 150 thousand netbooks, integrated in a broadband communication net for data transmission. After the conduction of Census, IBGE intends to donate 140 thousand of those devices to the Ministry of Education, to be used by teachers of public primary and secondary schools. For the 2010 Census, part of the population will have the option to answer the questionnaire on the Internet. For such, the household must receive, from the IBGE enumerator, the required instructions and the respective access code.

The acquisition of equipment, as well as the hiring of personnel, is expected in the Budget of the 2010 Census. For the accomplishment of this work, what permits production of the most complete data about the Brazilian population, and during which the more than 8 million km² of the national territory are covered, expenses of R$ 1.4 billion are estimated. Such figure comprises the activities related to the operation between 2008 and 2011.

One million people are estimated to apply for a post in the 2010 Census

The conduction of the 2010 Census requires a complex process of staff selection that will happen in several stages: there are professionals for planning, logistics, and data collection. In total, approximately 230 thousand professionals will be hired by IBGE, on a temporary basis, for the 2010 Census.

There will be two simplified selection processes: the first will begin on September 21, 2009, and it will select 33,012 Municipal Census Agents (ACM), Supervising Census Agents (ACS), Computer Census Agents (ACI), Regional Census Agents (ACR), and Administrative Census Agents (ACA). The second process will select roughly 190 thousand enumerators, and will take place in 2010 in all municipalities of the country; IBGE expects 1 million people to stand as candidates for those vacancies. Enrollment will begin in early March. The exam is set for May, the enumerators’ training is planned for July 2010, and the work begins on August 1^st.

Below, the staff that will be selected in the two Simplified Selective Processes:

IBGE talks with each municipality of the country 

Representatives of Executive, Legislature, and Judiciary powers of states and municipalities, besides civil society institutions, will be able to follow and assist in the activities of the 2010 Census by means of the State Census Commissions (CCE), and of the Municipal Commissions of Geography and Statistics (CMGE), set up from May to August of this year in all the 27 federative units and in all Brazilian cities. The commissions function as a channel of communication between IBGE and society, and they will participate in the whole conduction process of the 2010 Census.

The Municipal Commissions (CMGEs) will allow society to follow the activities of the 2010 Census, broadening social participation in planning, conduction, and dissemination of IBGE studies, surveys, mapping, and researches. During the Census planning stage, CMGE members will learn about the maps used by IBGE to locate all districts and localities of each municipality, according to the municipal legislation in effect. Besides that, they will be able to assess the enumerators’ quality of work, and make the correct territory coverage of each locality transparent. At last, CMGEs will know the provisory results even before their release. IBGE will keep those commissions after the conduction of the Census, to be in permanent contact with the Brazilian municipalities.

Rehearsal Census of Rio Claro will test novelties of the 2010 Census

Reproducing the real conditions of the Census data collection, 219 census agents and enumerators will cover all households of Rio Claro (SP) to interview the municipality population. Those professionals, who went through a selective process and were trained by IBGE, will be supported by IBGE Agency of Rio Claro – the city was chosen for its diversified economy (agriculture, industry, trade, and services) and the existence of higher education units, factors that allow IBGE to test questionnaires in themes related to work, income, and education. According to the 2000 Census, the population of Rio Claro consisted of 168,218 inhabitants (82,232 men and 85,986 women) that lived in 48,293 households (47,005 in urban areas, and 1,288 in rural areas), in 498,7 km² territory.

The final rehearsal for the 2010 Census will be followed by a group of international observers, besides IBGE representatives of the 27 federation units, who may watch the enumerators’ work and identify possible problems and difficulties. IBGE hopes to count on the population for collaboration in welcoming the enumerators, who may be identified by means of vests and badges. The number 0800 721 8181 will be available to citizens for elucidation, including the confirmation of name and identity of enumerators. More information about the Census may be accessed on the internet address https://www.ibge.gov.br/censo2010.