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Summary
A brief preliminary review of sources of error in the 1951 Census of England and Wales is made against the background of earlier experience. Examples are given of methods of assessing the nature and extent of errors of misstatement or misunderstanding which form an inherent risk of census taking. An extension of pre-census testing of question appreciation is foreshadowed but the truism that accuracy depends upon acceptance of the social purposes of the census, is emphasised as the essential condition for securing the best possible response.