The Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) is currently conducting the seventh population census of the State of Israel. The population census is conducted, on average, once a decade, and collects socio-demographic data. The last census was in 2008. The data collected are used by Israel’s decision-makers, thus contributing to the improvement and increased efficiency of the future of the country’s citizens.
With the current census, for the first time, the questionnaire can be filled out online, via the census website. This is the recommended method, since it is simple to carry out, saves time and resources, and eliminates the need for an interviewer to come to the home of the respondent.
Within about three weeks from the start of the census, as of the end of April, about 100,000 people responded to the census questionnaire (representing about 15% of all those sampled). Of these, about 89,000 answered online. The rate of online response was particularly high in the haredi localities of Modi'in Illit, Bene Brak, and Beit Shemesh. According to respondents, it took only between 20 to 30 minutes to fill out the questionnaire.
The data from the census, which is processed by the CBS, assist in planning and improvement for the future of the country. Response to the questionnaire is mandatory, as specified by the Statistics Ordinance, but it is also a right – the right to have an influence on the quality of life of the residents of Israel and Israeli society in the future.
The response to the questionnaire is on an individual basis, but refers to all those living in the household. The information is collected while maintaining the confidentiality of the data and the privacy of those sampled, as required by the Statistics Ordinance. Those included in the sample can respond to the census until its expected conclusion in December 2022, with preference given, as already mentioned, to online response, which entitles the respondent to a gift voucher in the amount of NIS 75.
Nitzan Hacohen, Director of the Population Census, said: "In recent years, the CBS has been working on changing the method of data collection in order to make the work procedures more efficient, with the aim of saving resources. As part of this process, about 7% of the country's residents will have to respond to the questionnaire, about 700,000 citizens. I am pleased that the public has complied with our requests, and is responding online, securely. I appeal to everyone who has not yet responded to allocate half an hour of their time and respond online, thus saving time, resources, telephone inquiries, and the arrival of interviewers to their homes."
She added, "Over one hundred thousand people filled out the questionnaires of the first Internet census in Israel since its inauguration only 17 days ago, and this is definitely a pleasant surprise. We invite those who have been sampled and have not yet responded to the questionnaire on the Internet, to do so soon, thereby saving a great deal of resources, saving time, and winning a gift voucher."