Update on the Database Work

[Sir C. M. Siervicül]

Mar 7, 2016 9:44:34 GMT -6 Marti-Pair Furxheir S.H. said:

And when was the last census? What were the questions? 

It was in 2009. Here is a link to the results, so you can see what information was requested.

Mar 7, 2016 9:44:34 GMT -6 Marti-Pair Furxheir S.H. said:

Plus, it's the starting point... nothing prevents us from adding more questions, right?

Absolutely! The Ziu has to approve changes to the questions, but either the Chancery or the Seneschal can propose changes.

[Marti-Pair Furxheir S.H.]

Mar 7, 2016 9:48:28 GMT -6 Sir C. M. Siervicül said:

Mar 7, 2016 9:44:34 GMT -6 Marti-Pair Furxheir S.H. said:

And when was the last census? What were the questions? 

It was in 2009. Here is a link to the results, so you can see what information was requested.

Wow, thanks! I didn't know about that census... I'll add those questions tomorrow!

Mar 7, 2016 9:44:34 GMT -6 Marti-Pair Furxheir S.H. said:

Plus, it's the starting point... nothing prevents us from adding more questions, right?

Absolutely! The Ziu has to approve changes to the questions, but either the Chancery or the Seneschal can propose changes.

Even for the questions that are not technically part of the census, like updating their name, their email, etc...?

[Sir Alexandreu Davinescu]

Any questions that the census sent out to citizens asks them need to be approved by the Ziu. I do not anticipate difficulty getting the Ziu to approve a question asking people if they want to update their email address.

[Marti-Pair Furxheir S.H.]

Mar 7, 2016 13:06:25 GMT -6 Sir Alexandreu Davinescu said:

Any questions that the census sent out to citizens asks them need to be approved by the Ziu. I do not anticipate difficulty getting the Ziu to approve a question asking people if they want to update their email address.

So should I prepare a bill listing all of the questions I will have tomorrow, after I will have added the old questions?

[Sir Alexandreu Davinescu]

If you want my advice, then get the census questions all worked out that you think should be asked (starting with the ones asked in 2009), post them on Witt, and ask for comments and suggestions. After people help out with their opinions, come up with a final list and submit it to the Ziu. IF you don't mind me saying so, you have a tendency to just fire things off halfway sometimes (probably because you're used to being your own boss), so by putting a full list of questions out there for comment, you can let other people check over your stuff, so you can concentrate on your core strengths of getting things done. You probably also want to post the proposed text for the email you'd send out.

[Eðo Grischun]

Can you just confirm, MPF, that what you have built is an ongoing/permanant/never ends census? So, we wont have an actual fixed period or time limited census?

Rather we have permanantly open census and as long as you update your own page once every two years (at least) then you remain active?

I hadn't thought of us implementing an idea like this. Very interesting. I like it, I think.

[Marti-Pair Furxheir S.H.]

Mar 7, 2016 14:30:19 GMT -6 Sir Alexandreu Davinescu said:

If you want my advice, then get the census questions all worked out that you think should be asked (starting with the ones asked in 2009), post them on Witt, and ask for comments and suggestions. After people help out with their opinions, come up with a final list and submit it to the Ziu. IF you don't mind me saying so, you have a tendency to just fire things off halfway sometimes (probably because you're used to being your own boss), so by putting a full list of questions out there for comment, you can let other people check over your stuff, so you can concentrate on your core strengths of getting things done. You probably also want to post the proposed text for the email you'd send out.

The way I see it, here is the problem.

The Census form I am building is actually 4 forms in one:

1 ) The Census itself, which would be the 2009 questions. I do not see so far the need to ask more questions. I can make graphics from those answers and we can compare them year to year (did salaries go up? for example).

2 ) Updating their information, such as their Name, their email, their address, their gender, etc... These are there to make sure I have up to date information. But perhaps, you could that as part of the Census. If so, then it's only 3 categories. These questions aren't all so much for the Census: I am not going to report on them, I just want up to date information.

3 ) New questions made to improve the links, such as listing which Talossans are your kids, which is your spouse, which are your parents, which Cosa was the first when you could vote, if you were in the Republic of Talossa before being in the Kingdom and thus immigrated with the Reunison or if you joined the Kingdom itself, etc.. This is to help create a better history of Talossa. Did you know I have no record of who are the parents of Dandelions?

4 ) The Privacy form. If I am going to ask people questions, I might as well ask their privacy preferences.

[Marti-Pair Furxheir S.H.]

Mar 7, 2016 15:14:56 GMT -6 Eðo Grischun said:

Can you just confirm, MPF, that what you have built is an ongoing/permanant/never ends census? So, we wont have an actual fixed period or time limited census?

Rather we have permanantly open census and as long as you update your own page once every two years (at least) then you remain active?

I hadn't thought of us implementing an idea like this. Very interesting. I like it, I think.

This is exactly what I built!

When it comes live, almost everyone will get a reminder, since no one filled it (other than the Beta Testers in this thread).

Then, every month, everyone who haven't filled the census in the last year will be sent a new reminder, but not on a fixed day, 30 days after the last reminder.

So, if you answer in 2 weeks, and another person answers in 3 weeks, you will get your reminder 1 year after YOUR filling, and he will get his 1 week later!

The questions shouldn't change from one day to another, and the answers from the previous time will be pre-filled in the second filling.

We might of course, add from time to time new questions, and perhaps remove one or two.

[Marti-Pair Furxheir S.H.]

Oh yeah, and one more thing, I am hoping that filling the Census will be one day a required step in the immigration procedure: that perhaps the immigration form would be replaced by a special census form (which will include some questions like why do you want to be a Talossan), so that even new citizens will have a census filled.

[Sir Alexandreu Davinescu]

If the database starts sending out automated reminders every thirty days, won't that pretty quickly get categorized as spam?

[Marti-Pair Furxheir S.H.]

Mar 7, 2016 15:42:41 GMT -6 Sir Alexandreu Davinescu said:

If the database starts sending out automated reminders every thirty days, won't that pretty quickly get categorized as spam?

Then very 3 months?

[Magniloqueu Épiqeu da Lhiun]

Mar 7, 2016 15:59:05 GMT -6 Marti-Pair Furxheir S.H. said:

Mar 7, 2016 15:42:41 GMT -6 Sir Alexandreu Davinescu said:

If the database starts sending out automated reminders every thirty days, won't that pretty quickly get categorized as spam?

Then very 3 months?

Once a year, or from GE to GE at most.

[Marti-Pair Furxheir S.H.]

Keep in mind it's every 3 months after the 1 year is up.

If you always answer the census, you will only get 1 email per year.

The every x time is for people who do not answer.

[Sir Alexandreu Davinescu]

I had always pictured the census as an event, not on ongoing opportunity. The idea is not just to collect demographic information, but to track how demographic information changes from one point to another. Having it at distinct periods of time -- every six months or so -- allows us to look at developing trends in our country. If it's a rolling process, then won't it be harder to evaluate how it changes over time?

I'm honestly asking... I don't know.

[Ian Plätschisch]

I actually think that a rolling census would make us better able to track trends over time.  Every month, the current data could be saved for future analysis, so trends could be graphed month-by-month without needing to ask people to fill out a new census every month.