Intermediate Zone Centroids 2011
Intermediate Geography Centroids 2011
Intermediate zone centroids are point features that represent the population weighted centre of intermediate zones – the geography used for the dissemination of small area statistics in Scotland when results are unsuitable for release at data zone level. These centroids are used to link intermediate zones to other (higher level) geographies and produce a 'best-fit' match. Intermediate zones can then be aggregated to approximate this larger area of interest or higher level geography that statistics wouldn’t normally be available for. Intermediate zones also represent a relatively stable geography that can be used to analyse change over time, with changes only occurring after a Census. Following the update to intermediate zones using 2011 Census data, there are now 1,279 intermediate zones covering the whole of Scotland.
dataset
https://maps.gov.scot/server/services/ScotGov/StatisticalUnits/MapServer/WMSServer?
protocol: OGC:WMS
name: IntermediateZoneCent2011
description: OGC View Service
function: information
https://maps.gov.scot/server/services/ScotGov/StatisticalUnits/MapServer/WFSServer?
protocol: OGC:WFS
name: SU:IntermediateZoneCent2011
description: OGC Feature Download
function: download
https://maps.gov.scot/server/rest/services/ScotGov/StatisticalUnits/MapServer/8
protocol: WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link
name: Intermediate Zone Centroids 2011
description: ESRI REST Service
function: download
https://maps.gov.scot/ATOM/shapefiles/SG_IntermediateZoneCent_2011.zip
protocol: WWW:DOWNLOAD-1.0-http--download
name: Intermediate Zone Centroids 2011
description: ESRI Shapefile Download
function: download
SG_IntermediateZone_Cent_2011
www.gov.scot
eng
location
society
Statistical units
publication
2008-06-01
population distribution
statistical data
publication
2010-01-13
Statistical analysis
publication
2020-11-18
-8.80
-0.71
60.87
54.63
publication
2014-11-06
revision
2021-10-04
notPlanned
Centroids for intermediate zone boundaries have been created by the Scottish Government's Geographic Information Science and Analysis Team (GI-SAT) in order to provide a way to link intermediate zones to other (higher level) geographic boundaries used by Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics (SNS) and the wider public sector. Intermediate zone centroids do not represent the geometric centre of the feature, but rather the population weighted centre. For 2001, intermediate zone centroids were calculated as the mean centre of all 2001 data zone centroids contained within an intermediate zone. A detailed methodology for the process used in 2001 can be provided on request. While the method used to create 2011 Intermediate Zone Centroids remains broadly the same, a small change was implemented following consultation with Local Authorities regarding 2011 Data Zone boundaries. This change was to use the median of locations of data zone centroids contained within an intermediate zone, as opposed to the mean centre. The median is a measure of central tendency and, broadly speaking, the median can be thought of as the 'middle' value. While the mean is calculated by summing all the values together and then dividing by the number of observations, the median is calculated by putting the observations in order, from lowest to highest, and then taking the value in the middle. (Or calculating the mean of the two middle values if there are an even number of observations.). The key advantage of using the median is that it is not as heavily influenced by extreme values as the mean. If an intermediate zone has a highly skewed population distribution, for example a large rural intermediate zone containing a small town in one corner, then the mean can be heavily influenced by the small number of people who live far away from the population centre and the mean will likely fall outside of the town. The median is considered to be a more robust measure of central tendency and is less likely to be influenced by values far away from what would be considered to be the population centre of the intermediate zone. The process for creating 2011 Intermediate Zone Centroids was automated using ESRI ArcGIS, but the general method is as follows. The median easting and northing coordinate pair for all 2011 Data Zones within the intermediate zone is calculated, giving a notional centroid of the intermediate zone. The distance from each of the data zone centroids to the notional (or median) centroid is calculated using Pythagoras' Theorem. The data zone coordinate pair with the shortest distance to the median was then chosen to represent the centroid of the intermediate zone. Each 2011 Intermediate Zone has been given a new unique code, following the Scottish Government’s standard naming and coding convention. The Intermediate Zone 2011 codes range from S02001236 to S02002514 (the previous 2001 codes ranged from S02000001 to S02001235). Census 2011 total, resident and household counts have been summed for each intermediate zone and included in the attribute table.
publication
2010-12-08
false
WMS
1.3.0
The following attribution statement must be used to acknowledge the source of the information: Copyright Scottish Government, contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right (insert year)
Geographic Information Science and Analysis Team
Scottish Government
Victoria Quay
Edinburgh
EH6 6QQ
United Kingdom
publisher
Data, Statistics and Outcomes
Scottish Government
St Andrews House, Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG
United Kingdom
neighbourhood.statistics@gov.scot
pointOfContact
Geographic Information Science and Analysis Team
Scottish Government
Victoria Quay
Edinburgh
EH6 6QQ
United Kingdom
pointOfContact
2021-10-05T15:24:46