Background Information

Timing

To tie in with the multi-modal data collection approach in the 2011 Population Census, the census period has been extended to 34 days lasting from 30 June to 2 August 2011. The adoption of a longer data collection period coupled with the new multi-modal data collection approach increases the chance of contacting the households successfully during the holiday season in the summer. Postal return and self-enumeration on the Internet were promoted in the first part of the census period, whereas the more costly face-to face enumeration method was arranged at the latter part of the census period for the remaining households. This staggered arrangement over a longer data collection period is considered more flexible and cost-effective.