Hagey Hall 334
University of Waterloo
Thursday April 3, 2008
1:00 pm - 4:30 pm
ABSTRACTS
2006 Aboriginal Children’s Survey
The 2006 Aboriginal Children's Survey (ACS) is a national survey which collects information on the development and well-being of First Nations, Inuit and Métis children under the age of 6 years living off reserve. The survey was developed by Statistics Canada and Aboriginal advisors from across the country and is being conducted in partnership with Human Resources and Social Development Canada.
There is currently little data available about the health and development of Aboriginal children under 6 years of age. The ACS is designed to address this data gap and provide information on the motor, social and cognitive development of young Aboriginal children. A unique process was used to develop the survey involving direct participation of parents, front-line workers, early childhood educators, researchers, various Aboriginal organizations and others. The survey is holistic in nature and collects information on a wide range of topics, including child's health, sleep, nutrition, development, nurturing, child care, school, language, behaviour, and activities. Since the child's environment is important to their development and well-being, some information is collected on the child's parent(s) or guardian(s) and their neighbourhood or community.
The ACS is a post-censal survey and was conducted for the first time in 2006. The plan is to repeat it every five years to monitor changes over time and to measure issues of emerging interest. Data will be released in fall of 2008 and a file will be available in the Research Data Centres in early 2009.
2006 Aboriginal Peoples Survey
The 2006 Aboriginal Peoples Survey (APS) provides data on the social and economic conditions of Aboriginal people in Canada. Its specific purpose was to identify the needs of Aboriginal people focusing on issues such as health, language, employment, income, schooling, housing, and mobility.
The survey was designed and implemented in partnership with national Aboriginal organizations. The target population in 2006 was the Inuit, Métis and First Nations living off reserve aged 6 and over. Separate questionnaires were used for children aged 6 to 14 and adults aged 15 and over. As well, there were two sets of supplementary questions: one for Inuit adults and one for Métis adults.
The APS is a post-censal survey and was conducted previously in 1991 and 2001, allowing for comparisons over time. Data will be released in the fall of 2008 and a file will be available in the Research Data Centres in early 2009.
General Social Survey Overview
The General Social Survey (GSS) offers a wide range of statistical information on the social conditions and well-being of Canadians. For two decades, the GSS has collected detailed information from Canadians on topics such as time use, family, victimization, social support and social capital. In this presentation we will provide an overview of the GSS with a focus on new content in the most recent survey cycles. The presentation will be geared towards current and future data users, and will include an overview of content and examples of the kinds of research questions the data can answer. We will also present information on specific features of each data file. Finally, we will summarize the key differences between the Public Use Microdata files and the Analytic files found in the Research Data Centres.
20 Years of General Social Survey Data
Statistics Canada’s General Social Survey (GSS) is an annual cross-sectional household survey that has been conducted since 1985. Its two main objectives are: to monitor changes in the living conditions and well-being of Canadians over time by gathering data on social trends and to provide information on current or emerging issues in Canadian society. In addition to collecting data on general social conditions in Canada, several special topics have also been explored in depth: health, time use, personal risk and victimization, education and work, social networks, family, social support, aging, and retirement, and technology use. There are now 20 complete cycles of data available. Using this rich source of data, it is now possible to observe the changing nature of many characteristics of Canadians over the past twenty years. To mark this key milestone, the GSS 20th Anniversary Project was set up to aid researchers in analyzing these data by constructing a coherent, easily used historical database consisting of all the cycles and containing much of the data in a harmonized form. As well, we are developing tools and supporting documents and preparing a series of Fact Sheets highlighting important findings from the 20 years of data. We plan to release the GSS Historical Database in the Research Data Centres in April 2008.
Participation and Activity Limitation Survey
The Participation and Activity Limitation Survey (PALS) is Canada’s principal national survey focusing on persons with disabilities. PALS is a national survey designed to collect information on adults and children who have a disability, that is, whose everyday activities are limited because of a condition or health problem. Funded by Human Resources and Social Development Canada and conducted by Statistics Canada, PALS provides essential information on the prevalence of various disabilities, support for persons with disabilities, their employment profile, their income and their participation in society.
The 2006 PALS provides a measure of the change in the numbers and situations of persons with disabilities since 2001. As well, some new content has been introduced into the survey to reflect changing technology and emerging policy and program needs.
For the purpose of PALS, persons with disabilities are those who reported difficulties with daily living activities, or who indicated that a physical or mental condition or a health problem reduced the kind or amount of activities that they could do. PALS 2006 is being released in stages beginning in December 2007 and finishing in September 2008. A preliminary RDC file will be available in June 2008 with a complete file after the September release.
Statistics Canada Publication Opportunities
From peer-reviewed journals to working paper series to newsletter synopses, Statistics Canada provides a range of publishing options for RDC research. We encourage submissions on topics of relevance to citizens and policy-makers. Our advantages include thousands of daily visitors to our web site, a large subscriber base for many publications, widely covered news releases in The Daily and editorial services for many of our publications. If your work has relevance for the policy community, our publications are a great way to reach that audience.
Analytical Potential of the Survey on the Vitality of Official-Language Minorities
The Survey on the Vitality of Official-Language Minorities (SVOLM) is the first survey conducted by Statistics Canada that pertains specifically to Canada’s official-language minorities, namely French speaking adults outside Quebec and English speaking adults in Quebec. It contains information on the demographic, social, economic and cultural capital of these groups, but also gives us a better understanding of their linguistic practices and experiences. The survey provides detailed information on such important topics as the language of schooling for children and adults, the use of languages in the public sphere as well as in the home and the perceived presence of the minority language in the municipality of residence. Other important topics include the linguistic trajectory of the members of these communities from early childhood to adulthood, the linguistic dynamic within families in which the parents have different mother tongues and reasons for choosing the school system attended by their children. The SVOLM also contains statistics on different fields pertaining to the language of use in the public sphere such as the workplace, health care and government services, businesses or professional associations. These statistics help determine the likelihood that members of the official-language minority communities can develop in their own language.
