Population censuses are among the primary sources of information on directional flows of migrants between places of usual residence, and of commuters between places of dwelling and work in Great Britain. The use of census origin–destination counts has in the past been restricted by data complexities and the lack of user accessibility. In order to improve accessibility a new, web-based interface has been developed which is the core of a Census Interaction Data Service, launched in 2002. The authors explain the Web-based Interface to Census Interaction Data from a user perspective, focusing on various features of the system that enable queries to be constructed and subsets of flow data to be extracted and downloaded in a quick and easy manner. Examples are provided to demonstrate alternative types of query and to illustrate the value of these data sets in providing insights into interaction behaviour.
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