Understanding the 2001 UK census migration and commuting data: the effect of small cell adjustment and problems of comparison with 1991

Origin-destination statistics have been produced from the last three UK censuses. The paper describes what is new about the 2001 census interaction data on migration and commuting, considers the disclosure control methods that were applied to cells containing small values and demonstrates the problems that are associated with making comparisons with 1991 data. The effect of small cell adjustment procedures on the interaction data sets is investigated by means of selective analyses at different spatial scales. Some recommendations are made in light of the problems that were manifest in 2001.