USES OF OMR IN CENSUS

[Amit Sharma]

OMR

 

Short for Optical Mark Recognition, the technology of electronically extracting intended data from marked fields, such as checkboxes and fill-infields, on printed forms. OMR technology scans a printed form and reads predefined positions and records where marks are made on the form. This technology is useful for applications in which large numbers of hand-filled forms need to be processed quickly and with great accuracy, such as surveys, reply cards, questionnaires and ballots. A common OMR application is the use of "bubble sheets" for multiple-choice tests used by schools. The student indicates the answer on the test by filling in the corresponding bubble, and the form is fed through an optical mark reader (also abbreviated as OMR, a device that scans the document and reads the data from the marked fields. The error rate for OMR technology is less than 1%.

OMR technology has been widely used since the 1970s for a variety of uses, including school and university tests, censuses, surveys and lotteries, as well as for voting. It is also used in barcode readers, which are in widespread use in retailing, stock taking, libraries and schools.

Apart from voting systems, there are other potential applications for OMR technology. In Australia, for example, OMR systems are used to scan electoral rolls marked in polling places to indicate the names of electors who have voted. This permits Australian electoral authorities to automate the enforcement of Australia's compulsory voting system, as well as identify any instances of multiple voting.

 

USES OF OMR IN CENSUS

(Excerpts from http://www.tanzania.go.tz/census/report8.htm)

After studies made in countries that had used the new technologies for data capture like Zambia (OMR) and South Africa (OCR) it was decided that the OMR technology be adopted and first tested during the pilot census; if successful, be used for the main census. The Pilot Census was successful (the scanning acceptance rate was 98.29 percent) and the OMR technology was accepted.

This phase began as planned on 15th October 2002 and was completed in 26 days; an average of one region a day. Final checks were carried out to ensure that all EAs were scanned before production of General Report tables. The scanning acceptance rate was 99.91 percent. The preparation of these General Report tables was completed by January 9th 2003, less than three months from the start of scanning and less than four months after the Census Day.

 

Excerpt from http://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/200010/10/1010211.htm

"Around 2.8 million sets of forms will need to be processed. In order to achieve the target of completing the data input process within three months from end-March to end-June 2001, we have decided to implement data capturing by using the Optical Mark Recognition technique," Mr Ho said.

He pointed out that census data were very important information and their use would have far reaching implications for the development of Hong Kong and the future generations. "We must ensure that the data are processed accurately and results are available as soon as practicable. By adopting the OMR technology, it is anticipated that both efficiency and accuracy of data input would be achieved at a very high standard," he added.