The national census has just been concluded.

It is an extremely complex operation, which is probably why we have it every 10 years, involving hundreds if not thousands of enumerators not considering the vast backroom work it involves. Perhaps it is only now that the first phase is over that the real back-breaking work begins.

Ours is an increasingly complex society whose main contours are changing year after year, which is probably why holding a census is increasingly important. It is not just a question of finding out how many people there are in Malta but also to find out what is it that underscores the country’s population, the trends, the changes, the movements, etc.

However, like in everything else, if something is done just because it has to be done, or just because a person gets some kind of remuneration to go round and knock on people’s houses, then all the effort may be for nothing. For the census to be valid, care must be taken about those who for one reason or another tend to get away.

It is true that the census formula tells people that if the enumerator fails to come to them, they must contact the census office in these post-census days. This may be useful in cases where, for instance, people are working when the enumerator knocks or live on their own and happen to be out.

Enumerators did not leave a note asking people to contact them. This is surely wrong.

One of the important facts that have to be ascertained by this census is the amount of unoccupied houses, since we tend to bandy gross figures around without anyone checking to see if that is true. In fact, the census questions also include questions on people having second homes or holiday homes.

But there are many reasons also why people may be hiding away from the census and it is the duty of the census officers to find out who is doing that. There may be cases where people are living illegally in Malta, where people are hiding away from debtors, and even where people have for instance a government residence but are living elsewhere. There may also be cases where people are running away from their spouses, etc.

Now we are not calling for the return of the inquisition. We are simply asking what is the use of the census information, obtained at such a huge cost and trouble, if then the information collected is unreliable because of shoddy fieldwork.

Apart from returning to knock on those houses where no one answered, much can also be done by the backroom people. Correlations can be made with, for instance, water and electricity addresses, ID Cards addresses, electoral registers, and the like.

Like many contemporary societies, Maltese society is growing to become a more anonymous society where many times we do not even know who our neighbours are, where people move around frequently, where people for one reason or another, not necessarily malignant, do not want to give out details about their household due to data protection reasons and also to what this information in the wrong hands can lead to.

As far as we can see, there has not been any real discussion in the country about the questions that were asked in this census but we strongly urge such a discussion when the next census comes around. Some questions were not asked at all, and they would have provided a better picture of Maltese society in 2011, but some questions that were asked looked like being rather uncalled for.

Ideally, the national census should balance between the national need to find out what is going on within society and the need for people to keep their private lives private.