Data Access and Dissemination:Some experiments during the FirstAgricultural Census in China

In this chapter, we describe some experiments made during the First National Agricultural Census (FNAC) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). In particular, we report a number of innovations that involved the author during the data access and dissemination steps. Particular attention is devoted to the on-line dissemination. Considering the technologies available, the solutions adopted, and the size of the country, the FNAC represented the most demanding statistical computing task ever accomplished: more than 7 million enumerators were used, about 220 million forms were filled, 220 gigabytes of data entered (partially using OCR techniques), and so on. The FNAC was characterized by the heavy implementation of new techniques and technologies. Checking and imputation activities were performed at different levels, with considerable use of automated checking.