Survey of Young Canadians (SYC)

Detailed information for 2010 (Contact Test)

The Survey of Young Canadians is a cross-sectional survey being planned jointly by Statistics Canada and Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC). It will provide nationally representative indicators on child development.

Data release - The purpose of this contact test is to evaluate the quality of a survey frame being proposed for the Survey of Young Canadians. No data will be released.

• Description
• Data sources and methodology

Description

The Survey of Young Canadians is a cross-sectional survey being planned jointly by Statistics Canada and Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC). It will provide nationally representative indicators on child development.

The objectives of the Survey of Young Canadians are:

- To determine the prevalence of various risk and protective factors for children and youth
- To provide information on child development (such as cognitive, emotional and behavioural development)
- To make this information available for developing policies and programs that will help children and youth
- To collect information about the environment in which the child is growing up--family, peers, school, and community.

Subjects

• Child care
• Child development and behaviour
• Children and youth
• Education
• Health and well-being (youth)

Data sources and methodology

Target population

The target population consists of all children between the ages of 1 and 18, residing in Alberta, Ontario, Québec and New Brunswick during the month of February 2010. The survey frame was established using various administrative data sources created by Statistics Canada and Canada Revenue Agency. It is estimated that more than 95% of the target population is covered by the frame; a more in-depth evaluation is one of the objectives of this Contact Test.

Instrument design

The content for the Survey of Young Canadians Contact Test was developed in consultation with Statistics Canada methodologists. The questionnaire was also reviewed by a divisional-level questionnaire review committee and the Questionnaire Resource and Development Centre at Statistics Canada. Where possible, the questionnaire uses harmonized content. Harmonized content has been developed by various panels of experts within Statistics Canada to be used as standard content by social surveys.

Sampling

This is a sample survey with a cross-sectional design.

First, a stratified random sample was drawn to obtain a representative sample of children from each age group within each province in the target population. Half of the total sample was allocated in this way. Then, the remaining sample was allocated to a series of subgroups of interest, representing particular aspects of the frame that we wish to evaluate (for instance, cases where custody of the child is shared between two parents or guardians). Samples of such special cases were randomly selected within each province.

Data sources

Data collection for this reference period: 2010-02-01 to 2010-02-19

Responding to this survey is voluntary.

Data are collected directly from survey respondents.

The main objective of the Contact Test is to evaluate the quality of the frame being proposed for the Survey of Young Canadians. The frame is a comprehensive administrative file of children in Canada. A survey of about five minutes in length is conducted in which contact information such as addresses and telephone numbers are confirmed and updated for a random selection of respondents. In addition, the survey collects information about mobility, immigration and membership of a selected child in the household. Information about the selected child is provided by the child's parent or guardian. Data collection is conducted by Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) out of the Sherbrooke and Edmonton regional offices.

Disclosure control

Statistics Canada is prohibited by law from releasing any information it collects that could identify any person, business, or organization, unless consent has been given by the respondent or as permitted by the Statistics Act. Various confidentiality rules are applied to all data that are released or published to prevent the publication or disclosure of any information deemed confidential. If necessary, data are suppressed to prevent direct or residual disclosure of identifiable data.

In order to prevent any data disclosure, confidentiality analysis is done using the Statistics Canada Generalized Disclosure Control System (G-Confid). G-Confid is used for primary suppression (direct disclosure) as well as for secondary suppression (residual disclosure). Direct disclosure occurs when the value in a tabulation cell is composed of or dominated by few enterprises while residual disclosure occurs when confidential information can be derived indirectly by piecing together information from different sources or data series.

Revisions and seasonal adjustment

This methodology does not apply to this survey.