About the SURF
Dataset
Activities
SURF for Schools is a synthetic unit-record dataset containing 200 records and seven variables based on the Statistics New Zealand Income Survey.
In the activities section there are six resources with ideas on how SURF for Schools can be used at different levels in the classroom, covering the statistics strand from levels 4 to 8. For senior levels, the focus is on activities to support the internal statistics achievement standards: AS90193, AS90288, and AS90645. For junior levels, the material covers activities suitable for both the old and the draft new statistics curricula. The resources include suggested answers found in the teacher's pages.
About the New Zealand Income Survey
The New Zealand Income Survey (NZIS) is run annually during the June quarter (April to June), as a supplement to the Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS). It was run for the first time in the June 1997 quarter. June 2004 quarter results were published in the New Zealand Income Survey: June 2004 quarter Hot Off the Press on 28 September 2004.
All respondents in the HLFS were asked to participate in the NZIS. Data was accepted from a proxy only if people were unable to answer the survey on health or language grounds. Questions were related to the respondent's most recent pay period, except for questions on annual income, self-employment income, and investment income, which cover the 12-month period prior to the interview.
Statistics NZ was unable to collect valid data from all eligible respondents. The most common reasons for this were that a respondent was not able to be contacted or that a respondent was not able to provide the relevant information about their income when asked.
Of the 90.2 percent of eligible households that responded to the HLFS, over 84 percent of eligible individuals gave a valid response to the NZIS.
This activity was first released in 2007.
Dataset
List of variables for New Zealand Income Survey
Variable name |
Variable description |
Codes |
Notes |
Personid |
Unique person identifier |
Whole number up to 3 digits in length |
|
Age |
Age of individual |
Single year ages up to 45 years |
Continuous data |
Qualification |
- Highest qualification:
- No qualification
- School qualification
- Vocational or trade qualification
- Bachelor's or higher degree
|
- None
- School
- Vocational
- Degree
|
Categorical data |
Ethnicity |
What ethnic group the individual has reported |
- European
- Māori
- Pacific
- Asian
- Other
|
Categorical data |
Marital |
- Never married
- Married
- Separated, widowed, or divorced
- Other
|
- Never
- Married
- Previously
- Other
|
Categorical data |
Gender |
|
|
Categorical data |
Hours |
Usual total hours work – weekly
From all wage and salary jobs |
Numeric – rounded to nearest whole number |
Continuous data |
Income |
Weekly income from all sources, excluding investment income |
Numeric – rounded to nearest whole number |
Continuous data |
Activities
For activity ideas, go to the SURF activities page here.