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Neighbourhood Statistics Glossary
This provides summary definitions of a range of terms used on the site. If the term you are looking for is geographic, however, you may also be interested in the more detailed Beginners' Guide to UK Geography. If you cannot find a definition of a term then please let us know and we will provide a definition, and also consider whether to add the term to the glossary.
The following symbols have been used in data tables throughout the site:
- .. not available
- . not applicable
- - negligible
- 0 nil
- x data suppressed to protect confidentiality (sometimes '-' or '..' are used for this)
- ~ cannot be calculated
In addition to these symbols, Eurostat have compiled a harmonised convention of data symbols:
* Please note, under the new convention the symbol for Nil, '0' can only be used when the figure is a true zero
The Office for National Statistics have produced a Guide to Harmonisation.
Due to changes to some Output Areas (OAs) as a result of data from the 2011 Census, areas which have changed may display a .. or a ~ symbol instead of data. This is because an actual data value cannot be calculated for that area. It may be possible that data is available in another part of the site, such as the 'Custom Route' or the 'Topics Route.'
Accuracy
The difference between a value appearing on the website and the actual value of that item. Data values may be affected by rounding and estimation, as well as by other quality issues. The dataset information (metadata) will give full details. Note that values may be published to a high resolution, such as two decimal places, without being accurate to that level.
Best-fit
Indicates that data do not match exactly to the named area, but have been estimated using data for other areas.
Example:
The smallest unit of output within Neighbourhood Statistics is the Output Area (OA). In the example above, 2011 Census statistics for a ward (red boundary) have been calculated by adding the values for the best-fitting set of Output Areas (shaded blue).
To improve accuracy the 'best-fit' allocations are based on the distribution of population in each Output Area, rather than just the configuration of the boundaries. While Output Area geographies are more stable than traditional administrative hierarchies, such as wards, some change is inevitable due to changes in population over time. Details of changes to Output Area Geographies as a result of the 2011 Census can be found in this guidance from ONS Geography.
CAS Ward
CAS (Census Area Statistics) wards are the standard 2003 wards used on Neighbourhood Statistics, primarily for 2001 Census data. They reflected electoral ward boundaries promulgated (legally agreed) as at 31/12/2002, regardless of when the boundaries actually came into effect. However, 18 wards with fewer than 100 residents or 40 households have been merged with other wards to protect data confidentiality.
As such, statistical wards no longer exist - the last set produced was 2005 statistical wards. CAS wards will not be used to disseminate 2011 Census data within Neighbourhood Statistics.
Census
Census refers to a complete count of the population of interest (as opposed to a sample). In the United Kingdom a census of the entire population is taken every ten years - the last was in 2011. UK Censuses collect information on a wide range of topics, providing a rich source of data for Neighbourhood Statistics. Full details of the 2011 Census can be found on the 2011 Census homepage.
Census Area Statistics
Detailed data from the 2001 Census, going right down to the smallest available geographic level (Output Areas). Census Area Statistics contain a wider range of variables than Key Statistics, but do not contain percentages, only count data. For the 2011 Census they were replaced by Census Quick Statistics.
Census Quick Statistics
Quick Statistics tables were produced to disseminate 2011 Census data. They generally provide information about a single census topic, arranged in tabular form without relation to other topics. Classifications used in Quick Statistics are usually those with the most categories, and provide the most detailed information available from the census about the single topic covered in each table.
Coherence
This is a subheading in dataset information (metadata) referring to whether the statistics were collected using standard methods, statistical frameworks, and classifications. Adherence to these standards improves the ability of the information to be combined and compared with other sources.
Community
The Welsh equivalent of Parish.
Confidence Interval
A confidence interval provides an estimated range of values in which an actual data value is likely to fall. The smaller the size of a sample, the less accurate are estimates, so the wider the confidence interval. A few datasets on Neighbourhood Statistics indicate confidence intervals, in the form of lower and upper limits to the interval. For example, the life expectancy datasets.
The most commonly used confidence interval is 95 per cent. This means that, across the dataset as whole, the confidence intervals are expected to contain the true values around 95 per cent of the time.
Council Area
Term used to describe local authorities in Scotland.
Country
One of the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom - ie England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.
County
Counties were formerly the upper tier of local government across the UK. Due to various local government restructurings, however, the only counties retaining an administrative function are the non-metropolitan (shire) counties of England (eg Cheshire), each of which covers a group of non-metropolitan districts. The Neighbourhood Statistics website also includes data on the former English metropolitan counties, although these are no longer administrative units.
CSV
Comma separated value. This is one of the formats in which you can download data from the site. It can be used in any compatible product - for example GIS systems, spreadsheets and databases.
Denominator
See numerator and denominator.
Disclosure
Occurring when information published could allow someone to identify or deduce previously unknown information about an identifiable individual (eg a person, a household, or a company). Neighbourhood Statistics treats disclosure very seriously, and takes special measures to ensure that nobody can be identified from a dataset. This is done using techniques such as rounding or suppression (replacing low numbers in a dataset with 'x' or 'c').
District Council Area
Term used to describe local authorities in Northern Ireland.
Domain
An alternative word for topic, in the sense of the broad subject headings appearing on the website.
Education Authority
Prior to 1 April 2009 Local Education Authorities (LEAs) were the bodies responsible for the local administration of state sector education services in England and Wales.
In those parts of England that still had counties there was one LEA for each county - for example, Cumbria LEA and Devon LEA, etc. Full details of Local Education Authorities (LEAs) / Education and Library Boards can be found on the relevant pages of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) website.
Electoral Ward/Division
Electoral wards/divisions are the key building block of UK administrative geography, being the spatial units used to elect local government councillors in metropolitan and non-metropolitan districts, unitary authorities and the London boroughs in England; unitary authorities in Wales; council areas in Scotland; and district council areas in Northern Ireland. Full details can be found on the Electoral Wards/Division pages of the ONS website.
Experimental Statistics
See National Statistics.
Great Britain
Collective term for England, Wales and Scotland, including offshore islands. Note that Northern Ireland is not part of Great Britain.
Health Geography
This refers to Strategic Health Authorities, which oversee groups of Primary Care Organisations in England. Neighbourhood Statistics does not include any data at this level for the rest of the UK. The organisation of the National Health Service (NHS) is different in each of the four countries of the UK. Please see the Health Geography pages of the ONS website for further details.
Health Board
This relates to areas used for local health administration - 'Local Health Boards' in Wales, 'Health Boards' in Scotland, and 'Health and Social Services Boards' in Northern Ireland. When accessing data, all these area types are classed as 'Primary Care Organisations'.
Hierarchy
This refers to the different geographic hierarchies for which data are available on the website. The most important of these are the 2001 and 2011 Statistical Geography Hierarchies (Output Area - Lower Layer Super Output Area - Middle Layer Super Output Area - Local Authority - County - Region - Country - England and Wales - Great Britain - United Kingdom). There are other hierarchies specifically for the different tiers of administrative areas, health areas etc. Please see the dedicated ONS Geography pages for more information.
Other forms of hierarchy may be used to subdivide the data within a dataset - for example, categories and subcategories of industry type.
Imputation
A procedure for entering an estimated value in a dataset when the actual value is missing or unusable. For example, in some cases it is possible to estimate a missing value by looking at previous years' data.
Indicator
A statistical measure which summarises information about a particular item or subject of interest, eg crime or education, and which provides a more accurate and reliable indication of change in that item than the use of raw data on their own. Indicators are usually (but not always) presented as rates or percentages, which facilitate comparisons between areas and over time.
Javascript
A computer programming language which must be enabled on your computer before you can create customised tables, charts and maps (this includes the 'compare your data further' option in the Find Statistics For An Area route). For details of how to enable Javascript, please see our Viewing Requirements page.
Key Statistics
Summary datasets covering the main Census topics, and displaying information as both counts and percentages.
Local Authority
In general terms 'local authority' can refer to any local government area in the UK. In the Neighbourhood Statistics context, however, it only refers to the lower tier of local government. This includes non-metropolitan districts, metropolitan districts, unitary authorities and London boroughs in England; unitary authorities in Wales; council areas in Scotland; and district council areas in Northern Ireland. Counties, the upper tier of English local government, are not included.
Local Health Board
See Health Board.
Mean
The mean (commonly referred to as 'average') is the sum of a series of values, divided by the total number of values. So, for example, if the ages of four friends are 62, 69, 74, and 87, their mean age is (62+69+74+87)/4 = 73.
Median
The median is the middle value of a series of values when listed in size order. If the number of items is even the median is taken to be halfway between the middle pair of values. So taking the four friends from the 'Mean' example above, their median age is halfway between 69 and 74 - ie 71.5.
Metadata
All datasets on Neighbourhood Statistics come with information on who supplied the data (including contact details), how and where the data were collected, the variables in the dataset, and any other important supplementary notes. This information is often called metadata. Metadata is automatically downloaded with a dataset. In addition, when selecting data to view or download, you can view the metadata by clicking on the blue information icons 
next to the dataset or variable names. Detailed guidance on the content of Neighbourhood Statistics metadata is available in the Dataset Information page.
Metropolitan District
In 1974 a new two-tier system of counties and districts was established across England and Wales. Six of the upper-tier units, all in England and representing heavily built-up areas (other than Greater London), were designated 'metropolitan counties' and were subdivided into 'metropolitan districts'.
As with non-metropolitan areas the respective authorities covered all areas of local government, but the distribution of responsibilities was different to that of the county/district structure. In 1986 however the metropolitan county councils were abolished, although the county areas (see map) are still recognised, especially for statistical purposes.
The 36 metropolitan district councils were left as single-tier authorities, a status retained to date, and accordingly have more powers than their non-metropolitan district equivalents.
Metropolitan districts are subdivided into electoral wards.
On the 1 January 2011, the GSS Coding and Naming Policy was implemented. This policy led to the creation of a new coding system (the 9 character codes) for all geographies held by ONS. For further information, please refer to the Code History Database (CHD).
National Statistics
'National Statistics' is a brand name and any data labelled 'National Statistics' are guaranteed to comply with the principles and standards set out in the National Statistics Code of Practice.
'Experimental Statistics' applies to a small number of datasets and means that the data have been prepared in accordance with the National Statistics Code of Practice, but have not yet been fully tested and approved as 'National Statistics'.
Other data may be labelled 'Not National Statistics'. These mean that the data do not comply fully with the required standards, but will still have been quality assured and deemed suitable for publication.
New Deal for Communities
New Deal for Communities (NDC) was a Government programme which gave some of the poorest communities in England the resources to tackle deprivation in an intensive and coordinated way. There were 39 NDC neighbourhoods in total, generally covering areas of around 10,000 residents in some of the larger cities and conurbations. An assessment of the New Deals for Communities Experience can be found here. Neighbourhood Statistics no longer maintains this geographic hierarchy.
Non-metropolitan District
A form of local authority - subdivisions of those parts of England which still have counties.
Numerator and Denominator
Rates, percentages and proportions are generally derived from two components, referred to as the numerator and the denominator.
The denominator can be thought of as the total group that could have the characteristics being measured, and the numerator is the group known to have those characteristics. In calculations the numerator is divided by the denominator.
In the following example, the 'Number of infant deaths' is the numerator, and the 'Number of live births' is the denominator. The proportion has been multiplied by 1000 to obtain the rate per 1000 live births.
Output Area
The smallest units for which data are available on Neighbourhood Statistics. Originally Output Areas (OAs) were subdivisions of 2003 wards and each contained approximately 125 households (300 residents). Following the 2011 Census some revisions to OAs were required, however changes were kept to a minimum. The main changes are that the average population of an OA increased from 297 in 2001 to 309 in 2011 A full analysis of the 2001 to 2011 OA changes can be found in this Excel spreadsheet (Excel 406 Kb) Full details of the changes can be found on the ONS Geography pages.
Parish
Parishes are the most local administrative areas in England and Wales (where they are referred to as communities), and often have a parish council with a range of duties. Approximately 40% of the population of England and Wales live in parishes / communities. The areas without parishes are mainly in the larger urban areas. More information can be found on the ONS website.
Parliamentary Constituency
Westminster parliamentary constituencies (WPCs) cover the whole of the UK and are used to elect members to the UK Parliament in Westminster, London. Neighbourhood Statistics uses constituencies as at 01/01/2010. Full details relating to Parliamentary Constituencies can be found at www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/geography/beginner-s-guide/electoral/westminster-parliamentary-constituencies/index.html
Primary Care Organisation
These are units of local health administration, responsible for the provision of local health services. For Neighbourhood Statistics purposes this includes Primary Care Trusts and Care Trusts in England; Local Health Boards in Wales; Health Boards in Scotland; and Health and Social Care Board in Northern Ireland. On the 1st April 2013, a new structure of health geographies in England came into force. The new structure consists of clinical commissioning groups, NHS area teams and NHS commissioning regions. For further details, please see the Health Geography pages of the ONS website.
Region
Government Offices for the Regions were established across England in 1994. After the Comprehensive Spending Review, it was confirmed that the GORs would close on 31 March 2011, shifting focus away from regions to local areas.
However, there is still a requirement to maintain a regional level geography for statistical purposes.
The GSS Regional and Geography Committee have agreed that from 1 April 2011, the former GORs should be simply referred to as 'Regions'. Full details, including codes for the regions, can be found on the ONS website.
Statutory Instrument
A government document introducing the detail of legislation. For example, ward boundary changes within a local authority will be specified in a Statutory Instrument.
Strategic Health Authority
See Health Authority.
Super Output Area
Following the 2011 Census, changes were identified for Output Area geographies created as a result of the 2001 Census. Maintaining stability as far as possible was key for the 2011 Census. LSOAs and MSOAs created following the 2001 Census continue to exist unless a significant population change occurred between 2001 and 2011, and household minimum and maximum thresholds were breached. Simplistically, where populations have become too big, the LSOA/MSOA has been split into two or more areas; where populations have become too small the LSOA/MSOA has been merged with an adjacent one. Responses to the Output Geography Consultation from December 2009 to March 2010 were also considered in the redesign of OAs and SOAs. However, the total changes across the output area hierarchy were no more than five per cent overall.
Full details of the changes can be found on the ONS Geography pages.
Suppression
Replacing a value with a symbol, usually 'x' or 'c' or a blank in order to prevent disclosure - ie the release of information which may be linked to an individual.
SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics)
Software used on the Neighbourhood Statistics website for mapping. Although most browsers now include an SVG reader, if your browser does not you may need to download Adobe SVG viewer (or similar) to use some of the mapping facilities on the site. Please see the Viewing Requirements section of the Neighbourhood Statistics User Guide.
Topic
Datasets on Neighbourhood Statistics are classified under different broad subject headings, known as 'topics' (although older material on the site may refer to 'domains', the two terms are interchangeable). The topic names reflect the main subjects of interest to community regeneration practitioners - eg crime, health or education. If you use the 'view or download data by topic' or 'create a customised table, chart or map' options, all available datasets are listed by topic. The customised table, chart and map option also refers to the individual data variables (eg number of people in a particular ethnic group) as 'topics'.
Unitary Authority
A form of single-tier local authority, found in England and Wales.
United Kingdom
The nation state consisting of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Variable
An individual data category, which can be in a column or a row within Neighbourhood Statistics. For example, in the dataset 'Ethnic Group (KS06)' there are 33 different variables: 16 for the number of people in each ethnic group, 16 for the percentage of people in each ethnic group, and one providing a total population count for each area. The variable will normally appear in a row unless you access the data via the 'Topics' route, in which case it will be in the column.
Ward
Electoral wards (electoral divisions in Wales and the Isle of Wight) are the base unit of UK administrative geography, being the areas from which local authority councillors are elected. Commonly referred to just as 'wards', they appear in the various administrative hierarchies on the website. Wards are subject to frequent boundary changes over time and as such are not always suitable geographic areas to disseminate data against.
