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<P class="auto-style2"><SPAN class="style92"> <A 
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<H1>community profiling</H1>
<H2>On this page we suggest some basic and quick steps you can take to gather 
 information about about a particular neighbourhood in Britain or Northern 
 Ireland.</H2>
<H6>contents: <A href="http://www.infed.org/community/community_profiling.htm#intro">introduction</A> 
·<A href="http://www.infed.org/community/community_profiling.htm#overview">quick 
statistical profile</A> · <A href="http://www.infed.org/community/community_profiling.htm#census">census 
 material</A> · <A href="http://www.infed.org/community/community_profiling.htm#local">local 
authority statistics and other material</A>  · <A href="http://www.infed.org/community/community_profiling.htm#crime">crime</A> 
 · <A href="http://www.infed.org/community/community_profiling.htm#other">other 
searches</A> · <A href="http://www.infed.org/community/community_profiling.htm#library">your 
local library  and agencies in the area</A> · <A href="http://www.infed.org/community/community_profiling.htm#further">further 
reading</A></H6>
<P><A name="intro"></A><IMG alt="The picture of Gibson Gardens, Stoke Newington is by Fin Fahey and is reproduced here under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic licence. " 
src="community%20profiling%20@%20infed%20org_files/gibson_gardens_stoke_newington_fin_fahey_cc_asa2_flickr_474017426.jpg" 
width="600" height="450">
<P>The best and easiest starting  point with regard to data about the community 
you are interested in profiling is  the web. Most of the basic statistics and 
background you need can be obtained by  a few keystrokes (hopefully!). Below we 
set out the first steps you need to  take. From there we go on to look at the 
sort of paper information that might be  available in your local library and via 
local agencies.<A name="overview"></A>
<H4>For a quick statistical profile</H4>
<P>For quick and easy profiling of the neighbourhood or  community go to <A 
href="http://www.upmystreet.com/">UpMyStreet</A> (www.upmystreet.com).  To 
access the database you will need to provide a postcode from within the area 
 (it will recognize town names as well). You will then be able to review details 
 concerning:
<UL>
  <LI dir="ltr">
  <P>house prices</P></LI>
  <LI dir="ltr">
  <P>the performance of local schools</P></LI>
  <LI dir="ltr">
  <P>local councillors and political representatives</P></LI>
  <LI dir="ltr">
  <P>council departments and performance</P></LI>
  <LI dir="ltr">
  <P>raw population numbers and unemployment</P></LI>
  <LI dir="ltr">
  <P>Acorn profile (Acorn is a way of categorizing local  neighbourhoods using 
  demographic data, socio-economic profile, housing types,  leisure usage etc. 
  It is rather blunt instrument - but does at least provide an 
   overview).</P></LI>
  <LI dir="ltr">
  <P>policing and crime</P></LI>
  <LI dir="ltr">
  <P>local public transport </P></LI></UL>
<P>One of the useful features is the ability to compare  one area with 
another.<A name="census"></A>
<P>The<A href="http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/">Office 
for  National Statistics </A>neighbourhood statistics site provides a range of 
 information - often on a ward basis for England and Wales. Enter the postcode 
in  the Neighbourhood Summary box.
<P>The main headings are:
<UL>
  <LI>
  <P class="style123">People - detailing the make-up of the local 
  population.</P></LI>
  <LI>
  <P class="style123">Health - including material on long-term illness and the 
  	numbers of people providing unpaid care.</P></LI>
  <LI>
  <P class="style123">Work - with details of occupations and local labour 
  	market statistics.</P></LI>
  <LI>
  <P class="style123">Education - basically local attainment levels.</P></LI>
  <LI>
  <P class="style123">Housing - including details of dwellings by tenure and 
  	housing conditions (for many areas this will be at a local authority 
  level).</P></LI>
  <LI>
  <P class="style123">Crime - a breakdown of recorded crime etc. (but may 	cover 
  a wide area. Instead use CrimeMapper - see below).</P></LI>
  <LI>
  <P class="style123">Environment - which includes land use, fire statistics 
  	and domestic energy consumption.</P></LI></UL>
<P>Some of it dates back to the last census, but a significant amount comes from 
 up to date data sources.
<P>For Scotland go to <A href="http://www.sns.gov.uk/">Scottish Neighbourhood 
Statistics</A> and put the post code in the quick profile  box.
<H4>More detail - the census</H4>
<P>The next step in profiling your community is to access  data for the 
neighbourhood from the<A href="http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/default.asp">2001 
Census</A>(England and Wales) 
(http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/default.asp). You  can get local area 
statistics (often based on wards or a similar size area) by  going to<A href="http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/default.asp?nsid=false&amp;CE=True&amp;SE=True">
neighbourhood statistics</A> and entering the post code (in the left hand box 
 "Find statistics for an area"). This will bring up a  map of the area covered 
and detailed statistics concerning, for example:
<UL>
  <LI dir="ltr">
  <P>demographic make-up (including ethnic  description)</P></LI>
  <LI dir="ltr">
  <P>health and care</P></LI>
  <LI dir="ltr">
  <P>economic activity</P></LI>
  <LI dir="ltr">
  <P>housing and households</P></LI></UL>
<P>Figures are compared with the overall figures in your  borough/council area 
and the national average. You can also access up-to-date  figures on employment 
from Nomis (http://www.nomisweb.co.uk/).
<P>Scottish figures can be obtained from<A href="http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/grosweb/grosweb.nsf/pages/censushm">
Scotland's Census</A> 
(http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/grosweb/grosweb.nsf/pages/censushm),  more local 
figures from Scroll (<A 
href="http://www.scrol.gov.uk/scrol/common/home.jsp">http://www.scrol.gov.uk/scrol/common/home.jsp</A>). 
 Northern Ireland's census results can searched according to postcode from the 
 frontpage of the be found on the <A href="http://www.nisra.gov.uk/">NISRA</A> 
 site (http://www.nisra.gov.uk).<A name="local"></A>
<H4>Local authority data and information</H4>
<P>You can access your local authority website via  UpMyStreet (see above) or 
via the<A href="http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Dl1/Directories/Localcouncils/index.htm">
Directgov gateway</A>(http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/index.htm). You will be able 
to examine different  aspects of the council's work such as housing, social 
services, planning,  education and so on. You can also usually search the site 
for information about  particular areas and examine the minutes of different 
committees. They may even  have produced profiles of different 
communities/neighbourhoods.
<P>Some things worth typing in include the name of the area plus:
<UL>
  <LI dir="ltr">
  <P>plan</P></LI>
  <LI dir="ltr">
  <P>topic paper</P></LI>
  <LI dir="ltr">
  <P>education</P></LI>
  <LI dir="ltr">
  <P>and so</P></LI></UL>
<P>From the Directgov gateway it is also worth trying the  powerful <A href="http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/AdvancedSearch/index.htm">advanced 
 search</A> option. You can search over 2000 government sites (and 1.5 million 
 documents). This will access your local authority databases as well as central 
 government sites concerning the area.<A name="other"></A>
<H4><A name="crime"></A>Crime statistics</H4>
<P>It is now possible to get information on crime and antisocial behaviour on 
 neighbourhoods in England or Wales via <A href="http://maps.police.uk/">
CrimeMapper</A>. You can search by village, town or postcode. In Scotland you 
 need to go to the<A href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Crime-Justice">
Scottish Government Crime and Justice Statistics </A>for the overall situation.
<H4>More routes into government data</H4>
<P>The government has also begun to encourage people to develop ‘apps’ that make 
 the data they collect more accessible. You can find these at:<A href="http://www.data.gov.uk/data">http://www.data.gov.uk/data</A>. 
You can  also get at the main public government data sources here.</P>
<H4>Pictures of your neighbourhood</H4>
<P>For a view from the air go to<A href="http://maps.google.co.uk/maps">Google 
maps</A> (http://maps.google.co.uk/maps),&nbsp;  enter the place or postcode and 
then press 'satellite' in the map/image area.  Zoom to the view you require.
<P>For pictures of the area  a search on <A 
href="http://www.flickr.com/">Flickr</A> (www.flickr.com), the  photo-share 
site, can often yield interesting results. 
<H4>Housing</H4>
<P>Take a look at the property sites such as<A href="http://www.rightmove.co.uk/">rightmove.co.uk</A>. 
This gives a good idea  of the non-social housing rental market and sales. You 
can get recent housing  prices from <A 
href="http://www.nethouseprices.com/">nethouseprices.com</A>.
<H4>Transport</H4>
<P>One way into different sources is via the BBC site (<A href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/home/d/">http://www.bbc.co.uk/home/d/</A>)- 
just type a postcode into the <A href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/whereilive/">Where I 
 Live</A> page - and see what comes up. 
<H4>Other searches</H4>
<P>Now it is time to go to <A href="http://www.google.co.uk/">Google</A> (still 
the best search engine) or<A href="http://www.bing.com/">Bing</A>. A  good 
alternative is the metasearch engine<A 
href="http://eu.ixquick.com/eng/">ixquick.com</A> (which searches Yahoo, MSN, 
 AlttheWeb plus a number of other engines). It also has the advantage of being 
 the only main engine, so it claims, to delete your personal data.
<P>The secret with searching is to include some qualifying words e.g. 
 Bermondsey+history, Rotherhithe+health. This should pick up some useful 
 material.&nbsp;For hints on Google searching go to <A href="http://www.google.com/help/basics.html">
the essentials of Google search</A> ; and for Ixquick check out their '<A href="http://eu.ixquick.com/eng/power_search_techniques.html">search 
 like a pro</A>'. <A name="library"></A>
<H4>Your local library and  agencies in the area</H4>
<P>Much of the material available on the web might well  be found in a good 
local library. What they will also have pre-internet material - and this can 
provide information that helps make sense of current developments  and issues.
<P>An often invaluable resource is the reports  and materials held by other 
agencies. Frequently, they will be in a pretty  unorganized state, but ploughing 
through what has been chucked in a box file or  document box can sometimes yield 
gems.<A name="further"></A>
<H4>Further reading</H4>
<P>Hawtin,  M., Hughes, G. and Percy Smith, J. (2007)<I>Community Profiling. A 
practical guide.</I> (Revised edition) Maidenhead:  Open University Press. 256 
pages. Practical guide with an annotated bibliography  detailing UK examples of 
community profiles. 
<P>Chapters on the nature of community profiles;  planning; involving the 
community; making use of existing information;  collecting new information; 
survey methods; storing and analysing information;  collating and presenting 
information; using your findings.
<P><STRONG>Acknowledgements</STRONG>: The picture of Gibson Gardens, Stoke 
Newington is by  Fin Fahey and is reproduced here under a Creative Commons 
Attribution-Share  Alike 2.0 Generic licence.&nbsp;<A href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/albedo/474017426/in/set-72157600134031856/">
http://www.flickr.com/photos/albedo/474017426/in/set-72157600134031856/</A>
<P>© <A href="http://www.infed.org/mobi/mark-k-smith/">Mark K. Smith</A> 
2001-2009<!-- #EndEditable --></P></DIV>
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