H Geography - Human - Population - Problems of Data Collection

What are problems with data collection?

Problems with data collection are;

• Access

• Cost

• Homelessness

• International migration

• Language

• Literacy rates

• Nomadic people

• Reliability

• Rural-Urban migration

• Wars

How can access be a problem with data collection?

• Countries with difficult terrain to traverse, such as mountains, deserts, or rainforests will find it very difficult to access people living there in order to distribute and collect the forms.

• For example, Indonesia has many islands spread over a large area

How can cost be an issue for data collection?

• Undertaking a census is a very expensive process. In developing countries there are higher priorities for spending, such as housing.

How can homelessness be an issue for data collection?

• There are millions of people who live in informal housing with no address, this means forms cannot be sent to their homes.

• For example, in Dharavi many people cannot be sent censuses

How can international migration be a problem for data collection?

• Illegal immigrants will not fill out forms for fear of deportation, leading to innaccurate data

• For example, immigrants from Myanmar in Thailand are unlikely to fill out forms.

How can language be a problem for data collection?

• Some countries have many official languages, this means countries must translate census forms and employ enumerators who can speak multiple languages. This makes the process even more expensive.

• For example, India has 22 official languages.

• People trying to complete a census form in their second or even third language may make mistakes which affects the accuracy of the census.

How can literacy rates be a problem for data collection?

• If people cannot write or read it makes filling out forms less reliable or more costly if officials have to be hired to help.

• For example, in Niger only 1 in 4 people are literate.

How can nomadic people be a problem for data collection?

• Nomadic people make censuses more difficult or less reliable as they might be counted twice or not at all.

• For example, the Tuareg people of Niger are nomadic.

How can reliability be a problem for data collection?

• Ethnic tensions and internal political rivalries may lead to inaccuracies

• Northern Nigeria was reported to have inflated its population figures to secure increased political representation.

How can rural-urban migration be a problem for data collection?

• Rapid rural to urban migration can make it difficult to gather population data. This also lead to data becoming quickly dated.

• For example, it is difficult to collect data in India due to rapid migration into Mumbai

How can wars be a problem with data collection?

• Conflict can make it too dangerous for enumerators to enter parts of a country. Due to a high number of casualties, data can become dated quickly.

• For example, it is difficult to collect data in Syria due to conflict