14.1 Raw data collected

This section summarises the methods employed to collect and collate raw data for the census.

In planning for the 2003 census, it was noted that previous census manual data collection systems created a significant imposition on prison staff, and were subject to a reasonably high non-response rate. The decision was taken therefore that, wherever possible, electronically recorded information on offenders would be used, and that only where required data was not held in IOMS would data be collected manually.

Therefore, the current census, unlike its predecessors, has largely been developed on the basis of data extracted electronically from the Department’s Integrated Offender Management System (IOMS). IOMS data is entered by staff in the normal day-to-day management of inmates, with the bulk being entered at time of reception.

It should also be noted that previous censuses used paper-based questionnaires in which the specific wording of individual questions may have differed to the form used for IOMS data capture. This creates some difficulties in comparability for time series data.

In addition, the Corrections Analysis and Reporting System (CARS) data warehouse was used for provision of home detention data. Some data (particularly in relation to inmate programmes and activities) was obtained manually from other prison records. The remainder was obtained via prison staff conducting brief inmate interviews.

A full listing of electronic and manual variables collected is shown below.

Collected from the IOMS database:

Inmate management data: Inmate ID; Prison name; Sentenced or remand status; Segregation status; Deportation status; Security status; RoCRoI

Inmate Physical Data: Gender; Date of birth.

Inmate Criminal History: Earliest SCD; Earliest Custodial SCD; Current SCD; Current SED; Current major offence; Prior major offence; Previous sentences count; Previous custodials count.
(SCD = sentence commencement date; SED = sentence end date)

Inmate Social History: All ethnicities; Primary ethnicity; All Iwi; Primary Iwi; All gangs; Highest education level attended; Highest education qualifications; Child custodial dependents count; Child financial dependents count; Marital status.

Data from other sources:

Bulk data supplied by Corrections Health Services: Medication numbers; Psychiatric medication numbers.

Bulk data supplied by Public Prisons Service: Targeted programmes, Special focus unit locations;

Bulk data supplied by Corrections Inmate Employment: Employment programmes;

Inmate data collected by Prison officers: Income sources; Sole child carer; Child carer now.