Germany's ambivalent relationship with its census

Germany's Federal Statistical Office is planning a test run for the 2021 census in January. Michaela Kreyenfeld, Professor of Sociology, talks about the country's historical unease with the large-scale collection of data and other past issues, such as the difficulty collecting reliable statistics. "If you look at the 2011 census, the number was 80,219,695. That sounds extremely precise. We know the statistics office must supply an exact number, but that kind of precision is not a reflection of reality. It's really just an estimate."

Listen to the full broadcast on Deutschlandfunk (in German).