Encuesta Nacional de Hogares sobre Medición de Niveles de Vida 1993

FIELD WORK

Interviewing for the LSMS_NICA_93 was done by region, with all of the interviewing completed in one region before a new region was started. Work began in the Southern Region of the country and ended in the Atlantic Coast Region. A regional field office was set up in a central location in the region where work was being done and all questionnaires were processed through these field offices. Coding of the few openended questions was done by INEC staff, data were entered on computers with the data entry program running automatic checks on range and consistency errors. Based on reports from the data entry, both the brigade-level supervisors and INEC general supervisory staff determined if questionnaires were complete or if follow-up visits were needed to the households.

Nine interviewing teams (brigades) did the interviewing at the household level. Each interview team consisted of four interviewers, one supervisor and one driver (with vehicle). Interviewers and supervisors participated in a two-week training course and carried out the pilot study. Immediately prior to the actual field work, interviewers were given an additional week of training which focused on the problem areas identified in the pilot study and all changes which had been made to the questionnaire. Supervisors were given an additional week of training in using maps, locating clusters and housing units and specific supervision duties.

Working closely with the brigades were 9 data entry people. These people received one week of training and also entered the data from the pilot study. Originally the data entry personnel were assigned to work only with one brigade and to enter the data from the questionnaires completed by this brigade. After the first region was completed, however, it was determined that the work progressed more quickly if incoming questionnaires were assigned to the next available data entry person and not to any specific person.

In addition to the brigades, two other types of teams were fielded. Two anthropometric teams of four anthropometrists and one supervisor were formed. These people received one week of training by an expert in anthropometric measurement techniques (Irving Schorr) and visited hospitals and pre-schools to practice measuring children prior to the field work. The anthropometric personnel did not, however, participate in the pilot study. During the survey the anthropometric teams visited households after the household interview had been carried out. Only households with children under the age of five were visited.

The last 'team' consisted of two people who were responsible for the community and price questionnaires. The community questionnaire was administered to community leaders in rural areas in the sample and the price questionnaires were used to gather price information on a basic basket of products in up to three locations in the communities. The community/price team received one week of training and, although they did not participate in the pilot study, they were sent to various communities, prior to the field work, to get some field experience.

The LSMS_NICA_93 was carried out by the staff of the Survey Department of INEC. The staff involved in the actual implementation of the LSMS_NICA_93 consisted of: (i) three persons responsible for verifying the questionnaires and coding the few questions that were not pre-coded; (ii) one person responsible for the overall organization of the field work; (iii) one person responsible for supervising the data entry process; and (iv) one person, the Director of the Department, responsible for overall supervision and coordination. All other persons involved in the field work10 were short-term employees hired for this specific survey.

The household interviews were designed to be completed in one visit to the household. Once an interview was completed, supervisors were required to visit a random selection of households to check that the interview had been done properly and to complete a short questionnaire designed to check the veracity of the data recorded by the interviewer. Records on the extent to which such supervisory activities were carried out are not, however, available.