Harmonazing the integrated European Census Microdata

The aim of Harmonizing the Integrated European Census Microdata (HIECM) is to contribute to the creation of the Integrated European Census Microdata research infrastructure by requesting specific support for:

• Database Study to develop and implement harmonized coding systems to permit intra-European comparaisons across countries and time periods based on multiple rounds of population and housing censuses in at least 17 European countries, altering the existing coding system as necessary to accommodate the new samples.
• Exploratory Workshop on geographic variables to discuss, agree and cooperate an harmonization strategy that will make consistent definitions of geographical units. This may lead, eventually, to the elaboration of a common proposal to create a geographic information system that will bring together census microdata, aggregate census data, electronic boundary files, and web-based dissemination tools to enable analysis of economic and social characteristics of the European population across time and space.
• Exploratory Workshop to ensure that the intra-European integration of Census Microdata is being performed according to the highest standards, to assess the progress being made by the harmonization teams, and to discuss harmonization strategies for some of the most cumbersome variables such as educational attaiment or activity status.