SCOTTISH INDEX OF MULTIPLE DEPRIVATION 2004: SUMMARY TECHNICAL REPORT
Chapter 2: Geography
The SIMD 2004 is a measure of relative deprivation at small area level. In previous years the source of small area data has been the Census, and where measures were developed using other sources, the size of the geographic unit was necessarily compromised. This has meant that whilst measures based on the 1991 Census were available at Output Area or Enumeration District, those produced in 1998 and the 2003 SID were only available at postcode sector and Wards respectively.
Over the last couple of years the Scottish Executive has consulted widely with users on the development of a small area geography (data zones) 5. The main reasons for developing this new geography were
- to enable users of Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics to access statistics across a number of policy areas to be readily (and regularly) available on a consistent and stable geography, and
- to allow the SIMD 2004 to have a consistent and comprehensive small area geography that would enable small pockets of deprivation to be identified.
The publication of the data zones has been a significant milestone in the Scottish Executive and other users' ability to monitor and develop policy at a small area level. Through Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics and the SIMD 2004, data zones will increasingly be the core geography for making available small area statistics across most policy areas including information about benefits, education, health and the labour market. This will allow users to readily bring together information from various sources on a common geography. The SIMD 2004 is a prime example of this functionality.
The data zone geography covers the whole of Scotland and nests within local authority boundaries. Data zones are groups of Census output areas which have populations of between 500 and 1,000 household residents, and some effort has been made to respect physical boundaries. Of particular practical benefit to the SIMD 2004, is that each data zone is likely to exhibit substantially more homogeneity across the constituent population and households in respect of their socio-economic characteristics than the associated larger geography - such as sector or ward - that the data zone sits within.