Quality Assurance in Population and Housing Censuses By Langton Chikeya, Zimbabwe National Statistics agency

Presentation outline Census process Quality control of interview Quality control of content Quality control of coverage Problems in Undertaking QA Recommended Solutions

Census committees ITCC-Members of this committee were drawn from various government departments/ministries and other organisations that were deemed to be major users of census data. This committee had an input to questionnaire design, layout and content.

Quality of census Processes Questionnaire Design Enumeration Data processing Dissemination. QD- was done by the ITCC as major users of the data and this was for ensuring that census topics are relevant to user`s needs Enumeration- was done with persons with at least a tertiary Education and the bulk were Teachers DP- we had the scanning machine, but we also did online editing and coding DS- was done nationally and to all the ten provinces of the country

Quality of census Processes Preliminary report National & Provincial Reports Atlas Thematic Reports PR- produced in less than 3 months December 2012 N& P -The National Report was published in October 2013, together with Provincial Reports. Workshops to disseminate census results were held in December 2013 in all ten provinces A population census atlas was published in March 2014. 9 thematic reports were done between 2014 and 2016.

Quality of census processes There were basically three procedures used to improve the coverage and quality of the data: Quality control of interview Quality control of content Quality control of coverage

Quality control of interview Ensure that all the persons in the exercise clearly understand the whole operation, i.e Objectives, concepts and contents in the questionnaire and field operations Three Manuals were prepared that is; Enumerator Manual, Supervisor Manual and Training Manual Enumerator manual :which accompanied the questionnaire, where the concepts and contents in the questionnaire were defined and explained Supervisor Manual: was mainly used by the three levels of supervisors, it was a guide on what to look for when supervising. Training manual: had ways and means of training enumerators so that they grasp every concept(this ensured that training was the same for everyone)

Quality control of interview cnt EA Supervisor accompanied each enumerator at the beginning of the enumeration exercise. The supervisor recorded each mistake on the Supervisor’s Quality Control Form. Mistakes including both asking the questions incorrectly and errors in recording the questions were highlighted to the enumerator. Mistakes were correct whilst in the field. and observed each of them enumerate at least 2 households. The supervisor recorded each mistake made by the enumerator during the interview and these were recorded on the Supervisor’s Quality Control Form. Checks made during enumeration gave the EA supervisor the opportunity to correct any mistakes made by the enumerator so that the interviewing process was completed more accurately

Quality Control of Content During and after enumeration, completed questionnaires were checked for completeness and consistency. During enumeration corrections were made on the spot After the enumeration exercise all completed questionnaires were checked and edited A check list for quality control of completed questionnaires was produced for checking internal inconsistency The check list for quality control of completed questionnaires was mainly used in the field Content errors in the questionnaire can occur in any or all of the characteristics canvassed in an enquiry, viz age, sex, marital status, fertility, mortality, migration, education, economic activity, household and housing variables

Quality Control of Content cnt If any inconsistencies arose which could not be corrected from the information already given, the enumerator had to go back to the household for clarification.

Quality Control of Coverage The census was undertaken on the basis of complete enumeration Unit of Enumeration (private and collective households) Special arrangements for overnight travelers Efforts were made to enumerate each and every person who was in the country on the census night The unit of enumeration was the private household. Collective households, e.g. institutional populations in hotels, hospitals, the homeless, e.g. vagrants, were also covered. Special arrangements were also made to make sure that overnight travellers during the census night were enumerated.

Quality Control of Coverage Spot checks on coverage. three ways were used to check coverage. These are: A check household stickers Observation of selected interviews A cross check Between enumerated and mapping count. During enumeration, EA Supervisors did spot checks on coverage. three ways were used to check coverage. These are: A check on the marking of enumerated households by the enumerator Observation of selected interviews to ensure that the enumerator strictly adhere to the guidelines concerning whom to include in a household. A cross check was done between the number of households and persons enumerated and the count of households and persons identified by the mapping staff.

Quality Control of Coverage cnt There were three possible outcomes from cross checking: an undercount an over count. an acceptable result If the differences between counts were too large a more detailed check to determine whether an explanation for the differences or whether the enumerator appeared to have made mistakes were undertaken. This involved (a) checking the enumerator’s adding and copying of the number of persons (b) the supervisor would then copy totals for each EA onto the Supervisor’s Management Form (c) calculate percentage differences between enumerator’s and mapper’s total. Second, a decision had to be reached whether the EA should be rejected for further checking.

Post Enumeration Survey The post enumeration survey was preferred to demographic techniques(for the 1st time) census coverage errors and to enhance skills level of coverage errors and not new estimate for the total population PES was there to provide information on the magnitude of census coverage errors and to enhance skills and knowledge of Zimstat staff in census data evaluation. In conducting the PES, the idea was to get the level of coverage errors and not to arrive at a new estimate for the total population

Problems in undertaking QA Some supervisors had challenges in calculating under counts and over counts. Field supervision by some district and enumeration area supervisors was not done to satisfaction Not all unused questionnaires were accounted for The PES consultant that was hired had problems with such surveys

Recommendations to the problems There is need to strengthen quality assurance by setting up a committee to oversee implementation of procedures. In future it might be necessary to remove district level supervisors and increase enumeration area supervisors. There is need to tighten tracking of questionnaires before dispatching them. There is need to have a separate editing manual to be used at various stages of census taking. If consultants are to be hired, lets pick reputable persons

Thank YOU GOD BLESS!