Census 2021....

[timothyedoran]

I found the question regarding whether you are now the same sex as at birth rather amusing, you will always be even if you try to fool yourself but I did check with the misus and yes I am! Imagine having a bandsaw but the next day it became a food mixer. I will agree that Google definately knows more, are they not just a data collection service for the American intelligence agencies. Once you take a deeper look into a so called smart phone you soon see the darker side, I never realised that an awful lot of the system is hidden from the user/owner because Google owns the OS, so you cannot easily discover unwanted attachments and the like so your phone is potentially spying on you.

I couldn't agree less with you. You are assuming that sex is binary, which it is not. Sex is judged at birth by a doctor or midwife by looking at the genitals. For most people this is obvious but this is not always the case. Intersex people can present with a mix of different biological characteristics some not visible on the outside. Therefore it is possible to be judged one sex at birth and then subsequently later find evidence of being more of the other sex.

As much as I love my penis, it is not my single defining attribute.

I have used the word sex and not gender as they are different. The WHO have good information on this:
Gender interacts with but is different from sex, which refers to the different biological and physiological characteristics of females, males and intersex persons, such as chromosomes, hormones and reproductive organs. Gender and sex are related to but different from gender identity. Gender identity refers to a person’s deeply felt, internal and individual experience of gender, which may or may not correspond to the person’s physiology or designated sex at birth.

The WHO states that gender is a social construct that affects the characteristics, roles, responsibility and norms or men and women. As it is a social construct it can change over time. I would rather live in a world where people are free to choose how they live and challenge those constructs that are unfair, biased and based on ignorant.

Then finally gender identity is different again from sex and gender. "Gender identity refers to a person’s deeply felt, internal and individual experience of gender, which may or may not correspond to the person’s physiology or designated sex at birth." Who am I to think I can know or control what other people can feel?

I hope you would consider taking 10 minutes to read this and see if it changes your opinion:
https://www.who.int/health-topics/gender#tab=tab_1
But as data scientist I am with you on the data stuff.

 

[Robbo60]

Did mine day I got the letter otherwise it would never have happened! (letter filed, lost) Assuming the vast majority done on line and the results aggregated "automatically". Imagine when that was all done manually? How many people and how long would it take to do 30,000,000 forms??

 

[francovendee]

Here in France the census is done by a visit to your house and you get asked questions by the interviewer.
All very efficient but when the person called, on finding out we we British, decided she'd practise her English. We had her for nearly an hour.

 

[Tris]

Back in the 90's my parents ran an hotel, living 'over the shop'. One of the census questions was 'how do you travel to work?'.
That box was filled in as 'elevator' and the form sent off. Fast forward 3 months and a very terse letter arrived threatening a fine for lying on the census. My stepfather took great pleasure in sending back a photo of the lift and the hotel as proof.