Data

Data Source

The data used in this project are from the statistical summaries the Dissemination Area level of 2001 Canada Census 20% sample data. The data were accessed through the SFU library services linked to the Canadian Census Analyzer at the University of Toronto.
The 20% Data sample were used because they contain more variables required for this study than the 100% sample data.

Data Resolution

I decided to use Dissemination Area level data because they give a more meaningful spatial extent of the neighborhoods. However, this was done at a cost because due to the need for anonymity and privacy, dissemination areas have fewer variables than do Census Tract summaries. Nonetheless, I still had a comprehensive list of variables to achieve my objective.

Variables

Knowing that the social distribution of stress tends to be concentrated in impoverished neighborhoods, which are replete with many stressors (e.g. Latkin and Curry, 2003), I was able to select a number of variables mostly based on a study1 carried out by the city of Tucson, Arizona in 1990 and my own judgment. These variables reflect physical and social conditions indicative of dependency and need; economic status; and shelter.

After selecting the variables I wrote a simple Visual Basic program to join the Dissemination Area code to the Census Division code (CD code) in order to create the Dissemination Area Unique Identifier (DAUID). This is important because the fields are of type ‘text’ such that ‘0004’ is not the same as ‘4’ - a simple concatenation in Excel will not do it -, moreover some dissemination area codes are "missing" so they have to be handled carefully.

The 14 variables indicative of neighborhood stress were selected from Canada Census Data.

Selected Variables (listed in no particular order)
  1. Minor Population
    Ratio of persons 17 years or less to the total population
  2. Elderly Population
    Ratio of persons 65 years and over to the total population
  3. Preschool index
    Ratio of number of children 6yrs or less to the total number youth aged 17 or less
  4. Dependency Index
    Ratio of number of children 14 years or less and elderly people 65 years or more to the total number of people 15 and over in the labor force
  5. Language Disability
    Ratio of persons who speak only French or neither English nor French to the total population
  6. Mobility Disability
    Ratio of persons 1 year and over who are non-movers to the total number of people 1 year and over
  7. Income Status
    Ratio of persons 15 years and over without income to the total population 15 yrs and over
  8. Education Attainment
    Ratio of persons 20 years and over with less than grade 9 education to the total population 20 years and over
  9. Unemployment
    Ratio of number of persons 15 years and over in the labor force and are unemployed to the number of persons 15 years and over in the labor force
  10. Lone parent index
    Ratio of number of lone parent families to the total number of families
  11. Housing Age
    Ratio of number of dwellings constructed before 1946 to total number of private dwellings
  12. Average Family Income
    Average 2000 family income
  13. Average Individual Income
    Average 2000 total income
  14. Low Income Incidence
    Ratio of low income incidence to total population in private households in 2000
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1 http://www.tucsonaz.gov/planning/data/general/nhstress.pdf (last accessed Nov 23, 2006)

Definitions

Dissemination Area

Small area composed of one or more neighboring blocks, with a population of 400 to 700 persons. All of Canada is divided into dissemination areas.
(Statistics Canada)

Census Tract

Area that is small and relatively stable. Census tracts usually have a population of 2,500 to 8,000. They are located in large urban centres that must have an urban core population of 50,000 or more.
(Statistics Canada)

Variables

These are the characteristics of the neighborhood that were extracted from Dissemination Area summaries and used in the statistical analysis of this project