Day 2

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Day 2 Afternoon Preparatory tasks Census
forms and manuals
UNECE Workshop on Census Management in SPECA
member countries StatCapCA Training Workshop Nr.1

• Paolo Valente (UNECE)

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Topics covered

• 1. Form design
• 2. Form testing
• 3. Instructions manuals
• 4. Printing of forms and other documents
• Reference material
• Handbook on Census Management for Population and
  Housing Censuses (Chapter II sections D, E, F)

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Form design

• A well-designed census form
• Allows to collect and capture data more
  efficiently
• Reduce the number of errors and improve quality
• Reduce the time and costs of data processing
• A poorly designed census form
• Is difficult to complete by enumerator or
  respondent
• May result in scarce cooperation by the
  respondent
• May affect quality of data collected
• ? These problems cannot be overcome later,
  during or after enumeration!

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Form design

• Types of forms (depending on methodology)
• Individual
• Household
• Housing unit
• Building
• Communal establishments

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Form design

• Issues to consider when designing census
  forms
• 1. Respondent burden
• 2. Wording and format of questions
• 3. Form layout and design
• 4. Type and format of forms used

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Form design 1.1 Respondent burden

• ? Respondent burden must be MINIMIZED in order to
  obtain accurate information
• ? Particularly important when self-enumeration
  method is adopted
• Factors affecting respondent burden
• 1. Length of the form
• 2. Number and type of questions
• 3. How the form is easy to complete

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Form design 1.2 Wording and format of questions

• Factors to be considered
• 1. Level of accuracy and detail required
  (depending on users needs)
• 2. Use of language appropriate and easy to
  understand
• 3. Possible use of standard definitions or
  question wording
• 4. Data processing system
• 5. Order of questions
• 6. Space required for each answer
• and

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Form design 1.2 Wording and format of questions

• Factors to be considered
• 7. Language diversity
• Possible strategies to deal with language
  diversity
• Multilingual forms
• More versions of the forms, in different
  languages
• Forms in one language, but translations available

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Form design 1.3 Form layout and design

• ? Form layout and design has a direct impact on
  how the form is completed, and on accuracy of
  output
• Most important factor is data-capture method
• Manual data entry
• Form scanning OCR/OMR ? Requires specific
  format
• BUT
• ? Data-capture requirements should not have a
  negative impact on the respondents perception

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Form design 1.4 Type and format of forms used

• Individual form or Household form?
• ? Depends on enumeration method adopted
• Different formats of household form
• Booklet first questions on person 1, then person
  2, 3
• Matrix questions on left column, answer for
  persons in different columns
• Option Use of short form and long form
• Long form submitted to sample of households
  (15-20)

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Form design 1.4 Type and format of forms used

• Suggestion Consider the experience of other
  countries!
• ? UNECE in 2003 sent to all ECE countries a
  complete set of census forms used by all ECE
  countries in the 2000 round
• However Be careful to possible effects of the
  same question wording in different languages,and
  to possible implications of cultural differences!

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2. Form testing

• Form testing should be only one of the components
  of a larger testing programme
• The testing programme shout test effectively all
  the main component of the census forms,
  enumeration, data processing etc.
• The testing programme should focus in the first
  phase on testing forms.
• Key element of the testing programme is the final
  pilot census, that should reflect as much as
  possible the final census conditions

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2. Form testing

• Form testing is particularly important for new
  topics or questions
• Important to test also impact on other questions,
  already existing before
• If changes to the form are considered, the form
  should be evaluated BEFORE and AFTER the
  changes, to assess if performance has improved

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2. Form testing

• Different procedure to evaluate forms
• 1. Analysis of errors
• 2. Cognitive testing
• 3. Analysis of quality and level of detail

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2. Form testing 2.1 Analysis of errors

• Analysis of errors Counting number and type of
  errors occurred on a sample of forms
• Purposes
• 1. Find out what errors occur
• 2. Provide information on possible changes
• 3. Provide benchmark to evaluate form
• 4. Allow comparison among different forms
• 5. Provide estimate of costs to repair errors

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2. Form testing 2.2 Cognitive testing

• Cognitive testing Market research approach to
  form testing. Different activities, including
• Focus group research (group discussion)
• Observational studies (observe respondents)
• Advantage Provides in-depth understanding of
  how questions are interpreted by respondents
• Disadvantages Its relatively expensive, and
  its based on small samples

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2. Form testing 2.3 Analysis of quality and
level of detail

• Particularly important for open-ended questions
  where information has to be collected at high
  level of detail (occupation, industry)
• The question wording influences detail, and
  ultimately quality of output
• As part of the testing, replies are coded to
  evaluate if the level of detail is sufficient

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3. Instruction manuals3.1 Categories of
instruction manuals

• Generally, different manuals for different
  levels
• 1. Enumerators handbook
• 2. Supervisors handbook
• 3. Regional mangers handbook
• ? Staff at each level should be familiar also
  with handbooks for lower levels
• ? Some headings may appear in all manuals, but
  with different content or different level of
  detail

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3. Instruction manuals3.2 Enumerators handbook

• ? The Enumerators handbook is one of the most
  important field documents!
• It details responsibilities and tasks of the
  enumerator
• It should provide the enumerator with sufficient
  information to work independently in the field
• Trade-off Ideally, it should cover all
  eventualities
• BUT
• it should not be too bulky and difficult to
  use
• ? Right balance It should cover most ordinary
  situations in some detail, and provide guidance
  on how to deal with unusual situations

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3. Instruction manuals3.3 Content of
instruction manuals

• Suggested lists of contents for the three
  instruction manuals are presented in
• ? Handbook on Census Management for Population
  and Housing Censuses (Chapter II section E)

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4. Printing of census documents

• Printing census documents is a MAJOR activity,
  due to the size of the operation and the amount
  of material to be managed
• Timing, planning and coordination of the printing
  process are fundamental factors for the success
  of the census

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4. Printing of census documents4.1 Planning and
management of printing

• Most difficult aspectCoordination of the
  information needed from all census areas that
  require items to be printed
• Information include
• Details of the items to be printed
• Specifications needed for logistics (for packing
  etc.)
• Reliable estimates of quantities
• Key information for planning
• Timetable for preparation of documents from
  census areas
• Timetable and requirements for delivery of
  printed material

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4. Printing of census documents4.1 Planning and
management of printing

• A system should be developed to recordfor each
  item to be printed
• 1. all details relevant to obtain estimates of
  printing costs
• 2. quantities
• 3. estimated, quoted and actual costs
• With this information the estimate of the total
  printing costs can be updated regularly, and the
  overall printing budget can be monitored

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4. Printing of census documents4.2 Printing of
census forms

• Printing of census forms has a CRUCIAL
  importance
• Important issues to consider
• The quality of form printing is very important
• ? Data processing methods such us OCR/OMR require
  specific standards in terms of positioning of
  response areas, colours of the form, etc.
• Estimation of the quantity of forms to be printed
• The paper stock should be estimated well in
  advance, to make sure that paper of the required
  quality be available
• Timing is very important, considering the long
  lead times

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4. Printing of census documents4.3 Printing of
other census material

• Printed items that may be needed in large
  quantities
• Information booklets distributed by enumerators
  or mailed to all households in advance
• Instructions for the respondents (for
  self-compilation)
• Multilingual material or translation of
  questionnaires
• Other printed items
• Instruction manuals for enumerators, supervisors,
  etc.
• Record books and control books and forms
• Training material
• Administrative items (for census staff
  recruitment, appointment, finance, etc)

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4. Printing of census documents4.4 Quality
assurance

• The quality of census form is crucial for the
  success of the census, especially when using
  OCR/OMR
• ? Census forms should be subject to intensive
  quality assurance checks
• Checking of proofs (during development of
  material)At each stage of the development,
  proofs should be carefully checked by project
  leader
• Production runs (during printing
  process)Independent checks should be conducted
  on samples of printed forms over the entire
  printing process