One of the very important requisites of a media planner is familiarity with media choices and various sources of media information. Media information is available from sources within the media itself as well as external sources. Some of the media source books in the Indian context and other database publications often used by media planners include the following.
We will be explaining each of these individually:
POPULATION CENSUS
Census is conducted every ten years. It is the broadest based database offering a profile of the people living in a particular region. The census data provide information about the population size, population strata, age, sex ratio, literacy level, family size and forms, Area, Administrative Divisions, Annual Exponential Growth Rate, Variation in Population, Institutional & Houseless Population, Population Density, Rural Urban Distribution, Broad Age Groups, Number of Literates & Literacy Rates, Work Participation Rates, Religions, Languages Spoken, Number of Households & Household Types, Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes Population etc.
It is established practice to conduct a population census once every ten years to obtain information on the size, composition and characteristics of population. The population census is a very important source of statistics for small geographical areas and population sub-groups. It also provides the base population for compiling population estimates and projections.
Population censuses were conducted in 1961, 1971, 1981 and 1991and 2001.
In order that more up-to-date information on the population could be made available, a population by-census is also conducted in between two censuses. Thus, in 1966, 1976, 1986 and 1996, there were population by-censuses conducted. The information collected is vital to Government planning and policy formulation, particularly in such fields as education, housing, transport, medical and social services. The data are also important to the private sector for formulating business strategies and to researchers for conducting social and economic studies.
