Project Design and Management - World Bank · Census Management Handbook. The census of buildings and dwellings is not a population and housing census, but the . Census Management

Technical Assistance on Poverty Analysis and Social Statistics

Mission on the Census of Buildings and Dwellings

March 21 – April 19, 2009

Project Design and Management

- Draft -

Consultant Report - Document II

May 5, 2009

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Project Design and Management 2

Contents

Introduction

1. Planning the census of buildings and dwellings

1.1 Stages of the census

1.2 Project management

1.3 Options for collecting socio-demographic data through the census

1.3.1 Cost estimate for a concurrent household survey

1.4 Example of planning: Data entry

2. Preparation

2.1 Government support of the census project

2.1.1 Legal/administrative ruling in support of census field operations

2.1.2 Recruitment, training and supervision of field workers

2.1.3 CAS staffing issues

2.1.4 Vehicles and temporary office space for field operations

2.2 Enumerator maps and related materials

2.2.1 Objectives

2.2.2 Production of maps

2.2.3 Enumeration area maps

2.3 Communications program

2.3.1 Purpose of the communications program

2.3.2 Channels and mechanisms of communication

2.3.3 Logo and branding

2.3.4 Budget for communications program

2.4 Risk analysis

3. Field operations

3.1 Duration and timing of enumeration

3.1.1 General considerations

3.1.2 Period of enumeration for the census of buildings and dwellings

3.1.3 Time of enumeration

3.2 Plan and method of enumeration 3.2.1 Enumerators, group leaders, controllers; Management of field work

3.2.2 Group leaders

3.2.3 Controllers

3.2.4 Enumerators

3.3 Management of field work

3.4 Logistics

3.5 Quality control

4. Data processing

4.1 Forms management

4.2 Editing, coding and data entry

4.3 Data security


5. Dissemination

5.1 Tabulations and tables

5.1.1 Terminology

5.1.2 Specification of tabulations

5.2 Diagnosis and presentation tables

5.2.1 Diagnostic tables

5.2.2 Presentation tables

5.2.3 Example

5.3 Analysis

5.3.1 What is “Analysis?”

5.3.2 Limited utility of classical statistics

5.3.3 Coverage and content error

5.3.4 Limited utility of the „coverage error‟—„content error distinction

5.3.5 Role of analysis in the national statistical office

5.3.6 Analysis can use simple methods

5.3.7 One aim of analysis: Design user-friendly “presentation” tables

5.4 Print publications

5.5 Dissemination events

5.6 Special request services 5.6.1 Draft a policy and procedures document for special requests

5.6.2 Institute system for capturing and compiling information on special requests

5.6.3 Advertise the availability of these services widely to all prospective users

5.7 Website 5.7.1 Draft Policy Document Governing CAS Website

5.7.2 Create email announcement list that site visitors can subscribe to

5.7.3 Conduct informal surveys of user needs, interests and capabilities

5.7.4 Define a position within CAS to have overall responsibility for the website

6. Evaluation

Annex 1: Calculation of time required for data entry

Annex 2: Budget for the 2010 population and housing census in Indonesia


Introduction1. This note addresses the questions related to the Design and Management of

the Census of Buildings and Dwellings considered as a Project. The note draws from the

main conclusions of the assessment phase. The note identifies the recommendations related

to project design and management in order to make the planning of the coming census

effective, relevant and comprehensive. In the following, six main stages for the conduct of

the Census as a project are identified. These stages are (i) Planning, (ii) Preparation, a crucial

stage where cooperation with other administrations have to be secured and choices between

different options of questionnaires and data coverage have to be made, (3) Field Work, (4)

Data Processing, a stage where choices in terms of analysis and tabulation are made, (5)

Dissemination, a stage where among other elements choices are done in term of presentation,

and (6) Evaluation. While the questionnaire is a crucial part of project planning, options on

questionnaire design are treated separately and in details in two other documents.

1. Planning the census of buildings and dwellings

The first stage of conducting the next census of buildings and dwellings in Lebanon, already

underway, is planning. Subsequent stages include preparation, field operations, data

processing, dissemination, and evaluation, as described in the Handbook on Census

Management for Population and Housing Censuses (UN Statistics Division, 2001), hereafter

referred to as the Census Management Handbook. The census of buildings and dwellings is

not a population and housing census, but the Census Management Handbook contains much

information relevant to the census of buildings and dwellings.

This section provides a high level overview of project design and management and addresses

key issues for planning of the next census of buildings and dwellings in Lebanon, including

those identified in the working document prepared following the meeting with CAS staff on

Tuesday 07, April 2009.

1.1 Stages of the census

The following highly stylized Gantt chart identifies the main stages of conducting a census

and suggests dependencies and approximate time scales.

Table 1. Stylized Gantt chart for Census of Buildings and Dwellings Project

Stage 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36

1 Planning

2 Preparation

3 Field work

4 Data Processing

5 Dissemination

6.a- Ongoing Evaluation

6.b- Wrap-up Evaluation

Months

Planning is the first stage. It is shown as extending nearly the whole extent of the project

because planning for subsequent stages is usually further developed as work on previous

1 The note is based on the assessments done by Griffith Feeney in the period March 21-April 4, 2009 and on a

brainstorming meeting held on Tuesday 07, April 2009 in the office of the Central Administration for Statistics

in Beirut. The following persons attended to this meeting: Alissar Nasser (CAS), Ibtissam Jouni (CAS) Nader

Keyrouz (CAS), Ziad Abdallah (CAS), Vicken Ashkarian (CAS), Griffith Feeney (Consultant) and Chadi Bou

Habib (World Bank). Other persons involved in the process are Najwa Yacoub, Lara Badre, Marleine Bakhos

and the Director General of CAS, Dr Maral Tutelian.


stages proceeds. Plans for dissemination, for example, may be refined during months 23-29,

and plans for wrap-up evaluation may be finalized during months 30-34.

Preparation refers to everything that must be done to prepare for field work. It is shown in

the Gantt chart as beginning two months after planning, since the first preparatory activities

must be planned before being initiated. This encompasses many diverse tasks, some of which

are discussed in detail below. Of particular importance for the next census of buildings and

dwellings are the support activities to be undertaken by the government. Field work cannot

begin until all preparation is complete. Thus the beginning of field work marks the end of

preparatory work.

Field work refers to the census enumeration proper, the period during which census

enumerators and their group leaders and field controllers are deployed throughout the country

to carry out the enumeration. It begins with recruitment of field staff and related central

office staff and ends when the enumeration is complete, all census forms delivered to the

central office, and all temporary field staff paid and terminated.

Data processing may begin as soon as the first completed census questionnaires reach the

CAS central office in Beirut, though it is shown in the chart above as beginning only at the

completion of field work. Data processing includes the reception, logging and temporary

storage of all census forms and manual editing and coding operations as well as data entry

and other computer processing work. Data processing ends when all designated information

on the census forms has been captured in digital form, with appropriate quality checks.

Dissemination refers broadly to the work of delivering the results of the census to those who

will use it. It should be emphasized, however, that it includes more than the publication of

traditional printed census reports. According to the Census Management Handbook, for

example, it includes user consultations and development of statistical products and services.

It also includes analysis of census results aimed at establishing data quality and the

preparation of appropriate metadata for all products and services. Some dissemination work

may begin when data processing has produced computer records for a small number of

enumeration areas, but full scale dissemination work cannot begin until data processing has

been completed. On the Gantt chart, dissemination is shown as beginning when data

processing ends.

Evaluation is the last stage of the census project in the sense that an evaluation report on the

census as a whole will be the final project deliverable. As noted in the Census Management

Handbook, however, ―It is important that a complete evaluation takes place at the end of each

phase of the census.‖ Whether or not stage by stage evaluation occurs, however, it is critical

to collect information on every stage that will allow subsequent evaluation. The final census

project evaluation must be based on this information. It may be useful to distinguish the

evaluation work that goes on throughout the period of the census (Ongoing Evaluation) from

the final evaluation that begins only when all other stages of the work are complete (Wrap-up

Evaluation).

1.2 Project management

Project management is a discipline concerned with planning, organizing and managing

projects. A project involves a defined outcome, resources necessary to achieve the outcome,

and a timescale within which the outcome is to be achieved. Three critical considerations in

any project are time, quality, and cost.

Project planning consists of a series of steps, beginning with a statement of the outcome to be

achieved. Subsequent steps include: identification of the ―deliverables‖ that will achieve this


(a census publication, for example); the tasks that must be carried out to produce the

deliverables; the time and resources necessary to carry out these tasks; dependencies between

tasks and groups of tasks (field workers must be trained, for example, before the enumeration

can begin); assessment of risk; identifying milestones (deliverables or other outcomes to be

completed by specific dates; e.g., printing of the questionnaires completed three months prior

to the scheduled beginning of field operations); and identification of persons who will be

responsible for carrying out tasks, meeting milestones, and producing deliverables.

It is generally accepted that a project plan should be capable of being summarized in one two

pages, but the plan for a large project such as a census of population and housing may run

into scores or hundreds of pages. Data entry, for example, one task among dozens, requires

detailed calculations of the numbers of keystrokes required to capture the data on the census

forms; planning the numbers of work stations and data entry staff required to complete data

entry within a given time scale; developing training materials for data entry staff, computer

programs these staff use for data entry, procedures for quality control, and so on.

1.3 Options for collecting socio-demographic data through the census

Following extensive and intensive discussions with CAS staff during the first three weeks of

the mission, the following three options for conducting the next census of buildings and

dwellings and for generating a maximum of relevant socio-demographic data have been

identified.

Option One Conduct the census of buildings and dwellings only in 2010 or 2011.

Unfortunately, the practical possibilities of generating socio-demographic data using

the census only are nil. The reasons for this are detailed in the note on questionnaire

development for the next census.

Option Two Conduct the census of buildings and dwellings in 2011 and, concurrently,

a large-scale household survey incorporating a select list of population census type

topics. See the note on questionnaire development for the concurrent household

survey. It is estimated (see below) that the additional cost to conduct a concurrent

household survey of one in ten households would be approximately 15 percent of the

total cost of the census.

Option Three Option Two and, in addition, a follow-on survey of living conditions

along the general lines of the surveys CAS carried out in 2004 and 2007.

1.3.1 Cost estimate for a concurrent household survey

Payments to enumerators (when enumerators are paid) are a very large component of census

costs. According to CAS statistical staff, enumerators in the 2004 census of buildings and

dwelling were paid LPD 500 for each building enumerated, 1,000 for each establishment

enumerated, and 250 for each unit enumerated. Given that there were approximately 500,000

buildings, 400,000 establishments, and 1.1 million units enumerated, this implies total

payments to enumerators of approximately LPD 980 million, or about 650,000 US$.

Based on the number and complexity of the questions on establishments in the 2004 census

and the number and complexity of the questions that might be included in the concurrent

household survey, it is reasonable to assume that enumerators would require the same

payment for completing a household survey form as they required for the establishment

portion of the 2004 census questionnaire, i.e., LPD 1000.


Given a one in ten sample of 1.1 million households, this implies an additional cost, in 2004

census terms, of LPD 110 million, or 73,000 US$. This represents 11 percent of the 2004

payments to enumerators. Since carrying out the survey would increase costs to some extent

in all stages of the census project, it is appropriate to apply this percentage to the total census

budget, and in view of the uncertainties involved, the percentage has been rounded up to 15

percent.

CAS administrative staff indicated a total budget for the 2004 census of LPD 976 million, or

650,000 US$, suggesting that essentially the entire budget went for enumerator payments, the

remaining costs were absorbed into the regular CAS budget.

It is expected that the cost of the next census will be substantially higher, partly due to

inflation, and partly because the 2004 census was under budgeted. CAS administrative staff

suggested that the cost of the next census would be at least 50 percent higher than the 2004

census and might be twice as high as the 2004 census. CAS statistical staff suggested that the

budget for the next census might be two or three times the budget of the 2004 census, in large

part because payments to enumerators in the 2004 census were seriously inadequate.

The budget for the next census had not been prepared as of the end of this mission, and there

is some uncertainly as to what it will be, but it is expected that the estimated 15 percent

additional cost for conducting the concurrent household survey will be robust against

variability in the level of the budget.

1.4 Example of planning: Data entry

One of the tasks of project planning for the census is to decide how much time will be

required for data entry, the process of keying the data written on the census questionnaires

into a computer for further processing.

The basic unit of work is the keystroke, which transfers one character written on the census

form into its digital equivalent. The general approach to planning time and resources required

for data entry is to (a) calculate or estimate the basic process parameters and (b) work out the

implied time in weeks that will be required.

The basic process parameters are the number of keystrokes required to enter all the data that

will be collected; the average number of keystrokes per hour that data entry operators will be

able to achieve while maintaining a high degree of accuracy; average hours per week that

data entry operators will work; and the number of workstations available for data entry.

The most complicated step in the process is estimating the total number of keystrokes

required. It is necessary to take account of the different information obtained for different

units of enumeration (in the case of the census of buildings and dwellings, these are

buildings, residential units, non-residential units and establishments) and of the variability of

the number of strokes required for each unit.

For the purpose of this example, it will be assumed that there are 500,000 buildings, 1.1

million residential units, 400,000 non-residential units, and 400,000 establishments. These

are round numbers based on the 2004 census of buildings and dwellings.

The census questionnaire includes 23 items/questions for buildings. For the purpose of this

calculation it will be assumed that entries for all 23 items will be made for every building.

This will slightly overestimate the number of keystrokes required because some items will

not apply for some buildings. For the purpose of this calculation, over estimation is

preferable to under enumeration.


The number of keystrokes required for each item will depend on certain parameters or

assumptions. In the case of names, for example, the number of characters recorded by the

census enumerator will vary according to the length of the name, but if names are entered

into the computer records, they will probably be truncated to some upper limit, 20 characters,

for example.

Annex 1 reproduces a computer spreadsheet containing five panels, one for each unit of

enumeration followed by a concluding panel for total keystrokes and the parameters required

to determine number of weeks required for data processing. The panels for each enumerated

entity list the questions on the questionnaire, the number of keystrokes required for each

question, and notes on any assumptions on which the number of keystrokes is based.

The first item for buildings, for example, is serial number of the building in the enumeration

area (EA). If this number is always less than 100, two keystrokes will be required (leading

entries are counted as keystrokes here, whether or not they require keying); if it may be

greater than 100 (but less than 1,000), three keystrokes will be required. Annex 1 indicates

that it has been assumed that no EA includes more than 100 buildings.

Adding the number of keystrokes for each of the buildings items gives a total of 45.3

keystrokes per questionnaire. The fractional number arises because some answers to the

―year construction completed‖ question are given as a one digit code, whereas others are

given as a year, which requires four digits. The calculation assumes that 90 percent of all

buildings will be assigned a code, and 10 percent a year, and calculating keystrokes as a

weighted average.

Multiplying this by the total number of buildings, 500,000, gives 22.6 million keystrokes.

Similar calculations give 18.7 million keystrokes for residential units, 14 million keystrokes

for non-residential units, and 58.4 million keystrokes for establishments, for a total of 113.8

million keystrokes. This is multiplied by 1.2 to allow an extra 20 percent for verification of

data entry operator’s work, for a grand total of (rounding to the nearest whole number) of 136

million keystrokes.

A reasonable assumption is that data entry operators can entry 10,000 keystrokes per hour,

implying that a total of 13,650 person hours of data entry. The remaining calculations are

elementary, requiring only the number of data entry operators who will work simultaneously,

that is, the number of data entry workstations available. Based on space currently available

within CAS, this has been set at 15.

The end result of the calculation is that just under 7 months will be required for data entry.

The Gantt chart shown above allows 7 months for data processing, it being assumed that

editing and coding take place simultaneously with data entry and will take no longer than

data entry. Similar calculations must of course be made for editing and coding, with time

required for data processing increased if necessary.

It should be emphasized that the point of this example is to illustrate the process of planning

the time required for data processing, to identify the necessary parameters, point out the role

of assumptions, and illustrate the calculations. This is the process CAS staff will follow as

one step in planning the data processing stage of the next census of buildings and dwellings.

2. Preparation

Preparation refers to everything that must be done to prepare for field work. This section

provides a high level overview of preparatory work identified in the working document

prepared following the meeting with CAS staff on Tuesday 07, April 2009. It should be


emphasized that, as in the case of planning, this represents only selected aspects of the work

of preparing for the next census of buildings and dwellings.

2.1 Government support of the census project

2.1.1 Legal/administrative ruling in support of census field operations

As documented in the Census Management Handbook, it is standard practice for

governments to create, using a suitable legal/administrative instrument, a national census

committee to support the census organization (in Lebanon, the Central Administration for

Statistics) in conducting the census. It is common for census organizations to draw heavily on

other government agencies in the preparation and conduct of the census. One role of the

national census committee is to identify and mandate these contributions. It is recommended

that CAS work with GoL to create a national census committee to support the conduct of the

next census of buildings and dwellings.

2.1.2 Recruitment, training and supervision of field workers

The field work experience of the 2004 census of buildings and dwellings has been described

as ―a nightmare.‖ Extensive and intensive discussions with CAS staff members and records

of the operation confirm that this colorful, if non-technical description is apt. The problems

were due to administrative inflexibilities that made it impossible for CAS to recruit and

remunerate field workers on a timely basis.

To proceed with the census of buildings and dwellings in 2010, it is recommended that CAS

and relevant authorities in Government cooperate swiftly to remove the administrative

inflexibilities so that CAS will be able to recruit, train, supervise, when necessary dismiss

and replace, field workers as necessary to the conduct of a quality enumeration and will be

able to pay field workers without delay the remuneration to which they are entitled.

Otherwise, the conduct of the coming census would be at best difficult if not impossible.

2.1.3 CAS staffing issues

2.1.3.1 Mandated staffing The statistics law of 1979 and related administrative decrees

stipulate CAS staffing in detail. Of the 256 posts stipulated in these documents, CAS reports

that, as of April 2009, 55 are filled and 201 are vacant. This deficit of nearly 75% is partially

ameliorated by 18 non-permanent staff, including 13 contractual workers.

2.1.3.2 Staffing at Civil Service and CAS Levels 2 and 3 These numbers are only approximate

indicators of staffing issues, however, because they include all staff, including staff at lower

levels for which developments in information and communications technology has reduced

the need.

It is important therefore to note the situation with respect to staff at higher levels, specifically

at Civil Service and CAS levels 2 and 3. The demand for staff in these categories has either

remained steady or increased over the three decades since the 1979 law was promulgated.

As of April 2, 2009, there were over 90 posts at levels 2 and 3, of which only 21 were filled,

a deficit of over 75%. The heads of all 7 CAS departments (Administration, Population

Statistics, Households and Social Statistics, Field Operations and Regional Statistics,

Computer, National Accounts, and Documentation, Printing and Publication) were vacant. Of


the 8 senior statistician posts, all were vacant. Of the 16 statistician posts, 3 were filled and

13 were vacant. These vacancies alone total 28 mandated senior staff CAS lacks.

2.1.3.3 Staff turnover Staff turnover statistics indicate that the staff deficit has not been

significantly reduced over the past five years. From January 1, 2004 to December 31, 2008:

In Category 2 (Head of administrative department, Statistician head of department,

Senior statistician, etc.), no staff were recruited; all posts in this category were vacant

at the beginning of the period and remained vacant at the end of the period.

In Category 3 (Department chief, Statistician, Economist, etc.), 6 staff were recruited

and 5 staff left, for a net gain of 1 staff.

In Category 4 (Writer, Typist, Accountant, etc.), 8 staff were recruited and 14 staff

left, for a net loss of 6 staff.

The lack of growth in Categories 2 and 3 is far more serious than the loss in Category 4.

2.1.3.4 Critical mass is lacking CAS staff numbers are below the critical mass required for

sustainability. There are so few senior staff that the loss of even one could substantially

impair the organization’s ability to carry on operations.

The pool of individuals in the labor force with the knowledge and experience, as well as the

qualifications, to carry on the highly specialized work of a national statistical office is very

small. In some cases it may be nil. For senior positions responsible for field work, for

example, the knowledge and experience required to function effectively can usually be

obtained only by working in a national statistical office with knowledgeable and experienced

senior colleagues. Critical mass, if lost, may therefore require many years, perhaps a decade,

to recover.

2.1.3.5 Additional staff required for the census It is strongly recommended to recruit a

minimum of 10 additional permanent staff in Categories 2 and 3 for the purpose of

conducting the census in appropriate conditions of time schedule and workload. Relevant

authorities in the Government are invited to consider this issue of recruitment as a priority

since at least the quality of the census if not the census as a whole would be at risk if lack of

critical personnel is not addressed swiftly and properly.

The number of 10 additional permanent staff takes account of (i) the large component of

newly recruited staff time that will be occupied by on-the-job training and learning, during

which time their contribution to work will be attenuated; (ii) the large component of existing

staff time that will be required to provide this training, and will thus be substantially lost to

work; (iii) the possibility that labor market conditions and the remuneration CAS is able to

provide will limit the suitability of some of the staff recruited; and (iv) the likelihood that

some of the people recruited and trained will leave for better paying positions before

contributing substantial work. It is recommended that the recruitment be of permanent staff

because temporary staff will have less motivation to learn all what must be learned for

effective performance.

The number of 10 additional staff reflects a balance between the desired number of additional

staff (a reasonable minimum number would be the department heads, senior statisticians, and

statisticians noted in section 2.1.3.2 above, 28 persons) and the number of staff CAS can


absorb in a limited period of time given the constraints noted in the previous paragraph. No

exact calculation is possible, given the uncertainties of the labor market, but 10-15 is

suggested as a plausible maximum number of additional staff CAS could effectively absorb

during the period leading up to the census.

If the option is taken of carrying out a large-scale household survey to collect socio-

demographic information concurrent with the census, it is recommended that this minimum

number be increased to 15 additional permanent staff in Categories 2 and 3. Given sufficient

staff, the additional time required to carry out the census together with a concurrent

household survey might be negligible. As it is, additional time will be required to absorb the

additional staff that would be required, and it seems reasonably certain that this would

require the census to be carried out in 2011 instead of 2010.

It is recommended that these new staff be recruited a minimum of one year prior to the start

of field work to receive the necessary training. Given the time required for recruitment,

taking the census in October-November 2010 would require recruitment to begin almost

immediately.

2.1.4 Vehicles and temporary office space for field operations

A census enumeration requires the deployment of field staff and the movement of census

forms and related materials throughout the national territory. Vehicles are required to

transport staff and materials from the CAS central office to and from field locations. It is

recommended that CAS be supplied with a minimum of 7 automobiles and 3 vans suitable

for traveling throughout the country.

CAS has no regional offices, though these are mandated by the 1979 Statistics Law. Modest

offices are needed at various locations throughout the country for the period of enumeration

and for approximately three months prior to and one month following the period of

enumeration. If facilities cannot be provided by other government departments, commercial

space may be rented. It is recommended that CAS be supplied with, at a minimum, seven

office locations appropriately distributed throughout the country.

It should be noted that these offices are required for storage of materials and meetings

between CAS central office staff and field staff. They would not necessarily be staffed, and if

staffed might not require more than one staff member of modest rank. It is essential that they

be secure, however, and suitably equipped with electricity and telephone lines.

2.2 Enumerator maps and related materials

2.2.1 Objectives

The principle objectives of mapping work are to generate (a) enumeration area maps that will

be used by census enumerators to conduct the enumeration and (b) smaller scale maps (maps

of larger areas) that locate enumeration areas within the country and facilitate planning and

execution of field work, including communications, logistics and enumeration proper.

2.2.2 Production of maps

Maps will be produced by computer using GIS facilities available in CAS. Consultant David

Rain met for two days with members of the CAS staff managing mapping operations and

concluded that technical capacity for computer mapping was generally strong (Mission with

the Central Administration for Statistics to assess GIS work and capacities, February 2009).


The GIS resources used to create the enumerator maps are described in this report and need

not be repeated here.

2.2.3 Enumeration area maps

According to the current plan, the enumeration areas used for the last census will be used for

the next census. There are a total of 16,119 enumeration areas. Production of these maps will

require an additional 6 months of field work (several months of field work was completed

last year) and 3 months of central office work to produce ―soft copy‖ enumeration area maps

and smaller scale maps to support the enumeration. An additional month will be required to

print ―hard copies‖ of the enumeration maps.

Printing of the maps will require a high speed printer and a large format plotter. A suitable

printer is available (it was donated about two years ago), but only one. Should this printer

fail, it would need to be replaced to produce the enumeration area maps on schedule.

CAS has a five year old plotter that has not been used in several years. CAS considers this

plotter unsuitable, and given the expected working life of such devices and the pace of

technological change, considers that a new plotter should be obtained. As an illustrative

specification, HP produces a plotter that supports print sizes up to 42" wide by 150" long at a

print speed of 85 square feet per hour with a resolution of 1200 x 600 dpi and a memory of

160 MB. It is recommended that CAS procure a printer with these or similar specifications by

the end of December 2009.

Production of the enumeration maps requires one resource that CAS does not yet have, a GIS

―coverage‖ of the national road network. Coverages are available from the Army and/or the

Ministry of Transportation, but it is not known whether the coverages will include detail on

local roads required for the enumeration area maps. If the coverages do not include this

detail, it will be necessary for CAS to create the additional coverage of local roads using

satellite images. This will require an additional three months of central office work to

produce the enumeration area maps. This work can be carried on concurrently with field

work, so that maps will in any case be available by February 2010. CAS expects to receive

the road network coverage by the end of June 2009, at which point it will know whether the

coverages include the necessary detail on local roads.

2.3 Communications program

2.3.1 Purpose of the communications program

The purpose of the pre-census communication program is to facilitate the smooth operation

of field work and maximize the quality of the data collected. The communication program

would ensure insofar as possible that the people that field workers encounter as they do their

work, including but not limited to respondents, (i) know that the census of buildings and

dwellings is an official undertaking by the Government of Lebanon with which they are

obliged to cooperate, (ii) understand enough about its purpose and that it will be to the

advantage of their families, communities, municipalities, etc., and, as a consequence (iii)

provide their full cooperation.

2.3.2 Channels and mechanisms of communication

Channels include the government administrative hierarchy, particularly that of the Ministry

of the Interior, newspapers, radio and television. Mechanisms include meetings with local

authorities, schools, religious and community organizations.


2.3.3 Logo and branding

It is customary for censuses to adopt a logo that is used in all census communications to

facilitate branding the census project. The logo would appear, for example, on brochures, on

the satchels enumerators use to carry materials in the field, on the caps and jackets that may

be provided to enumerators, and on T-shirts distributed to advertise and promote the census

enumeration.

2.3.4 Budget for communications program

Most national statistical offices will use past experience as a guide to the resources that

should be allocated to communications. It is recommended that CAS devote more resources

to a communication program than was the case for the 2004 census, both in the number and

variety of channels and mechanisms used and in the budget allocated for communication.

As a rough guide to the proportion of the census budget for the year of enumeration that may

be devoted to communications, the budget for the 2010 population and housing census of

Indonesia suggests a minimum of one percent. For Indonesia this comes to 1.37 million USD

out of a total of 137 million spent during 2010, out of a total budget of 204 million spent

during the years 2008-2012. See the budget given on page 7 of ―Planning for the 2010

Population and Housing Census in Indonesia,‖ by Rusman Heriawan, Director-General, BPS-

Statistics Indonesia (paper presented to the 11th Meeting of the Heads of National Statistics

Offices of East Asian Countries, 6-8 November 2006, Tokyo, Japan), reproduced in Annex 2.

2.4 Risk analysis

It is recommended that CAS staff prepare a risk analysis identifying what might go wrong

during enumeration, how likely each contingency is, how serious each contingency would be

if it materialized, and what will be done should the contingency arise and what is the

expected cost of the contingency measure.

3. Field Work

Field work refers to the census enumeration proper, the period during which census

enumerators and their group leaders and field controllers’ travel are deployed throughout the

country to carry out the enumeration. This section presents several key aspects of fieldwork

for the next census of buildings and dwellings.

3.1 Duration and timing of enumeration

3.1.1 General considerations

A census is by definition an enumeration of some population (buildings, dwelling units,

persons, etc.) at a point in time. Since it is not possible to enumerate any but the smallest

populations at a single point in time, censuses of population stipulate a ―reference time‖ to

which census information is supposed to refer. The enumeration occurs over a period of

several weeks immediately following the reference time and enumerators are instructed to

obtain information as of this reference time. The period of enumeration is kept as short as

practicable to minimize errors arising from the difference between the reference times at the

time of interview, including errors arising due to the mobility of the population.

3.1.2 Period of enumeration for the census of buildings and dwellings


For the census of buildings and dwellings, it is far less important to keep the enumeration

period short, because buildings do not move, and because characteristics of buildings,

dwelling units and establishments tend to change more slowly than characteristics of people.

Because a short enumeration period requires more field workers, it complicates management

of the enumeration and raises field worker training costs. In this perspective, a longer

enumeration period is, to a point, preferable.

The 2004 census field work in Lebanon was planned to occur over 8 weeks. It is

recommended that the period of enumeration for the next census be planned for not less than

8 weeks and not more than 10 weeks.

3.1.3 Time of enumeration

The best periods for a census enumeration in Lebanon are April-May (following the Easter

holiday) and October-November. December, January and February are less suitable on

account of weather conditions. The summer months are less suitable on account of population

mobility. September is unsuitable on account of Ramadan. The higher chance of poor

weather conditions during October-November makes April-May the preferred period. Also,

major religious events should be taken into consideration (i.e. Ramadan).

The municipal elections scheduled for May 2010 might make April-May 2010 inappropriate.

If the census is to be taken in 2010, therefore, it is recommended that it be taken in October-

November.

3.2 Plan and method of enumeration

3.2.1 Enumerators, group leaders, controllers; Management of field work

As in the previous census, enumeration will be carried out by enumerators supervised by

group leaders, with each group leader normally supervising 5-6 enumerators. For the

upcoming census, however, it is recommended that the role of the controllers be redefined as

described below.

Enumerators, group leaders and controllers are all responsible for the security of the forms

they handle, including blank as well as filled forms, to ensure their security against loss,

damage and unauthorized access. The first two conditions bear on the quality of the census

results. The quality involves enumerators correctly filling census forms for every building,

dwelling and establishment in the country, but also that every one of these forms reaches the

CAS central office data processing facility with no information lost through physical damage.

3.2.2 Group leaders

Responsibilities of group leaders will, as in the last census, include (i) assigning enumerators

to enumeration areas; (ii) providing them with blank forms and related materials (pencils,

satchels, hats, etc.) at the beginning of each day (or other suitable period); (iii) collecting

completed forms from enumerators; (iv) maintaining records of forms dispersed and

collected on control forms provided by CAS; (v) providing regular reports on the progress of

the enumeration in the areas for which they are responsible; (vi) addressing day to day

problems encountered by their enumerators; (vii) requesting assistance from their supervisors

with problems they cannot handle alone; (viii) monitoring and reporting on the performance

of enumerators; and (ix) dismissing (following stipulated procedures) enumerators whose

performance is unsatisfactory.


3.2.3 Controllers

It is recommended that controllers work be defined as reviewing on a daily basis the forms

filled by enumerators, meeting with enumerators on a daily basis (or as frequently as

practicable, not less than once per week) to discuss anomalies, omissions, and apparent errors

and to advise enumerators as to how forms ought to be filled. Controllers would also meet

regularly (preferably daily, not less than once per week) to discuss issues arising from their

review of the work of enumerators.

The role of controllers under this plan is not only to identify and correct errors in the work of

the enumerators, but to understand why enumerators make the errors they make and coach

them to improve their performance so as not to make these errors in the future. It is

particularly important that controllers meet frequently with enumerators during the first

weeks of the enumeration, making this period in effect a continuation of enumerator training.

These meetings serve both to reinforce and continue the training enumerators received during

formal training and to put enumerators on notice that their work is being constantly

scrutinized for quality, thus reinforcing the emphasis on the importance of quality work.

Controllers should however be trained to behave toward enumerators as coaches, answering

enumerator’s questions and facilitating their work.

Controllers will work closely with group leaders, as noted, but they will be supervised either

by the position that supervises the group leaders or by a controller supervisor whose principle

responsibility is quality control during the enumeration.

3.2.4 Enumerators

It is a truism, but worth repeating, that the results of any census cannot be better than the

work of the enumerators. It is the enumerators who record the information on which the

entire edifice of the census rests. Everyone who interacts with enumerators should understand

this and communicate this message to them in appropriate ways during every personal

interaction.

Responsibilities of enumerators include (i) receiving blank forms and related materials from

their group leaders; (ii) knowing precisely the boundaries of the enumeration area they have

been assigned; (iii) completing the census forms for every building, dwelling and

establishment in their enumeration area; (iv) carrying out their work in accordance with their

training, not just in respect of filling the forms, but in all interactions with respondents and

any other persons they encounter; (v) ensuring at all times the security of all forms from loss,

damage and unauthorized access; (vi) returning completed forms to their group leader; (vii)

meeting regularly with controllers to discuss any issues that have been identified with forms

they have completed; and (viii) using prescribed census materials, such as satchels, jackets,

hats, etc.

For planning purposes, it may be noted that enumerator’s work following training consists of

(i) travel to and from their place of residence (usual or temporary) to the areas they are

assigned to enumerate; (ii) travel between buildings within the enumeration area (in sparsely

populated areas this travel may occupy much of their time); (iii) travel to and from meetings

with group leaders and controllers; time spent in meetings with group leaders and controllers;

and (iv) time spent traveling to and from and re-enumerating buildings (dwelling units,

establishments) that require re-enumeration.

3.3 Management of field work


Management of field work refers here to the support and supervision that must be provided

by the CAS central office to group leaders and field controllers leading up to, during and

following the enumeration. This will require approximately 5-10 staff to support and

supervise group leaders and 5-10 staff to support and supervise field controllers. Given the

experience of the last census and the lack of regional offices, these staff may best be located

at the CAS central office in Beirut. Given the shortage of CAS staff, most of these staff

would probably be short term, hired for the enumeration. They would need to spend a

significant portion of their time in the field, for which they would require vehicles and

provision for accommodation expenses. These persons would be supervised by one or two

senior CAS staff with overall responsibility for execution of field work.

3.4 Logistics

Logistics refers generally to movement of people and materials for the enumeration.

Enumerators must be transported to and from the areas they enumerate. Blank census forms

(control forms as well as the census questionnaires) must be distributed to enumerators

before they arrive at their enumeration areas (it is obviously important that they have enough

forms, else enumeration be delayed), collected after they have been filled in, checked in the

field, returned to enumerators for re-enumeration as required, and transported to the CAS

office in Beirut. The security of enumerators and forms must be looked after. The entire

hierarchy of central office and field workers that support the enumerators similarly require

transport and supply. It is recommended that CAS prepare a logistics plan for the

enumeration detailing all materials, transport, holding points, and so on.

3.5 Quality control

Quality control consists in monitoring field operations to ensure, to the extent possible, that

field staff carries out their work in accordance with the plan of enumeration. This requires

regular communication between field operations in every part of the country and project staff

at the CAS office in Beirut.

Monitoring operations should result in a written record that is preserved for the purpose of

review and evaluation once the field work is complete. Controllers, for example, should be

provided with forms on which to record the results of their examination of enumerator’s

work. Variances above certain limits should trigger a report to the group leader and the group

leader’s supervisor.

Project staff at the CAS office in Beirut should maintain a record of every census form

printed, of the progress of forms into the field, of their completion in the field, and of the

progress of their return to the CAS office in Beirut. CAS should know on a daily basis how

many forms have been completed and where completed forms are.

The recommended procedures for quality control of enumerator’s work were discussed above

in section 3.2 above, ―Plan and method of enumeration.‖

It is recommended that CAS prepare a detailed plan for monitoring field operations,

including the forms that will be used to record the results of monitoring, the instructions to

the persons completing these forms, and the actions to be taken when variances arise.

4. Data processing Data processing includes the reception, logging and temporary storage of all census forms

and manual editing and coding operations as well as data entry and other computer

processing work. This section presents an overview of key aspects of data processing.


4.1 Forms management

A plan for forms management would address, (i) process of reception of completed forms,

logging, transfer to storage to await further processing; (ii) batching of forms for efficient

handling; (iii) quality control measures to prevent forms from being damaged, misplaced or

lost; (iv) signing out forms for coding and data entry and return to storage; (v) tallying

progress of coding and data entry and process quality indicators; (vi) prominently displaying

this information in work areas; (vii) paper control forms and/or computer procedures for

capturing information on progress in processing; (viii) which positions are responsible for

monitoring which progress indicators; expected rate of processing; and (ix) actions to be

taken when variances from the expected rate exceed some prescribed minimum. It is

recommended that CAS prepare a detailed plan for forms management at the central office in

Beirut.

4.2 Editing, coding and data entry

It is recommended that CAS prepare a detailed plan for recruitment, training and supervision

of editors, coders, and data entry operators. Recruitment and training should be reasonably

straightforward; whatever time and effort they require. Supervision is not so straightforward,

and inadequate quality controls over data entry can have the effect of severely degrading the

quality of the data collected at such great expense in the field.

Quality control of data entry (the same applies to coding and editing) requires that every data

entry operator receives, at the end of every day, a report on the accuracy of their work in a

form they can readily understand. The underlying principle is that if operators receive

accurate feedback on their performance, the majority will rapidly learn to perform to the

desired standard; those who do not should be dismissed or reassigned to other work,

otherwise they might do serious damage to the data they are processing.

This principle implies the necessity for the persons responsible for the processes to constantly

monitor errors and anomalies and compile suitable defined statistical measures performance.

Some data entry software provides built-in facilities for this purpose. If the software used

does not, appropriate facilities must be designed, programmed and tested. The plan should

provide detailed specifications for this work.

4.3 Data security

Security here refers to loss or corruption of data, whether inadvertent or malicious, and to

unauthorized access to data (i.e., violations of confidentiality). CAS has a system in place for

backing up computer files, and with some degree of geographic dispersion (needed to protect

against the risk of catastrophic damage to the building holding the equipment on which the

files are stored.

A data security policy may address, (i) the staff position responsible for enforcing the policy;

(ii) the backup system(s) implemented to avoid data loss resulting from equipment failure

and natural or human catastrophe (the latter requires geographically dispersed backups,

which must be appropriately secured); (iii) routine procedures used to test backup systems to

ensure their proper functioning; (iv) control of physical access to computer equipment on

which data and metadata are stored; (v) procedures to ensure against loss of data through

deterioration and obsolescence of media; (vi) network security; and (vii) periodic review and

revision of the policy to align it with advances in information and communication technology

and with changes in the security environment. It is recommended that CAS adopt a written


data security policy dictating what measures are taken to ensure the security of data and

metadata for which the organization is responsible.

5. Dissemination

Dissemination includes three broad components. (1) Internal scrutiny and analysis of the

census results within the census organization to assess the quality of the results and to

identify results most likely to be of interest to users. (2) Consultation with users (including

prospective users) for the purpose of developing statistical products and services that will

best meet user’s needs. (3) Development and delivery of products and services to users and

prospective users, including the general public.

In principle, at least, user needs drive the entire census project, so consultations with users

take place at every stage, from defining overall objectives to final evaluation. Consultations

during the dissemination stage are accordingly the culmination of an extended series of

communications with users. Consultations with users during the final evaluation stage will

incorporate perceptions of users on how well the census results meet their needs.

The first stage of the dissemination process, internal scrutiny and analysis of census results, is

least adequately documented in the Census Management Handbook and the UN Principles

and Recommendations for Population and Housing Censuses Revision 2. It is accordingly

given particular emphasis in the following sections, with specific examples based on the 2004

census of buildings and dwellings.

5.1 Tabulations and tables

5.1.1 Terminology

Usage of ―tabulation‖ and ―table‖ is not well standardized, but there is an important

distinction to be drawn. ―Tabulation‖ tends to refer to a table that shows the total number of

entities (buildings, dwellings, persons, …) classified by one or more characteristics, e.g., ―all

persons‖ enumerated in a population survey classified by ―age‖ and ―sex.‖ ―Table‖ tends to

refer to any display of information organized by rows and columns. ―Table‖ in this sense is a

far more general designation, and it subsumes tables that are tabulations.

5.1.2 Specification of tabulations

Precise specification of tabulation requires specification of (a) the group of entities

enumerated, (b) the ―dimensions‖ of the tabulation (―age‖ and ―sex‖), and (c) the values or

categories for each dimension. In the case of age, for example, age may be ―single year of

age‖ or ―age in five year groups,‖ and in either case there is usually an ―open ended‖ group,

e.g., ―98 years old and older.‖

The preceding paragraph refers to what might be called the ―content‖ specification of

tabulations, which is usefully distinguished from ―format‖ (or ―layout‖) specifications.

―Format‖ specifications refer to the size of the page (in the case of printed tables) on which

the table is displayed, which dimensions are shown as rows, which dimensions are shown as

columns, how many pages long the table is, whether columns are separated by vertical lines,

the size and style of font used for numbers and textual matter, justification within table cells,

whether digit spacers are used, and if so what they are (commas, spaces, periods, etc.), etc.

The distinction between content and format specification is particularly important in

connection with dissemination in digital form. Digital data are not constrained by the limits


of a fixed page size, for example, and it is inappropriate to format digital tables in the same

way as printed tables.

5.2 Diagnosis and presentation tables

The concept of diagnostic versus presentation tables is not standard, but it is very useful in

designing user-friendly statistical products and is presented here for this purpose. CAS is

strongly encouraged to constantly observe this distinction in analyzing census data and

designing publications and other statistical products.

5.2.1 Diagnostic tables

―Diagnostic‖ tables are intended for use by professional statisticians. Often they are

tabulations that ―dump‖ full information on responses to questionnaire items. They are used

to identify ambiguities or problems with the data, and design user-friendly ―presentation‖

tabulations.

5.2.2 Presentation tables

―Presentation‖ tables are intended for end users. They may merge information derived from

many separate tabulations, and may present means, percentages, and other non-count

statistics. They are designed to make it as easy as possible for users to gain the information

they are interested in.

5.2.3 Example

To illustrate, consider the 2004 census table showing buildings by status (usable, unusable

due to war damage, etc.) and use (residential, non-residential, mixed, etc.). As a diagnostic

table to be used by statisticians, this table is unexceptionable.

As a presentation table for users, however, its design can be substantially improved on

several dimensions, as indicated below.

The ―status‖ variable serves a primarily technical purpose that is of little interest for

the final user. The census aims for a complete enumeration of buildings. To ensure

the most complete enumeration possible, a two stage process is followed: first, ask

enumerators to capture anything that might be a building; second, have them capture

information that will enable CAS statisticians to ascertain whether each entity

captured is a ―building‖ for the purpose of the census. The typical user should not be

burdened with having to understand this statistical stratagem,

The principal entities of interest are establishments and dwelling units. Most users

will be interested in one or the other (or perhaps both, but generally not at the same

time). Tables for users should focus on dwelling units or establishments, with

classifications appropriate to the one or the other,

The ―building status‖ variable mixes multiple dimensions—usable versus non-usable

versus partially usable buildings, buildings under construction versus buildings whose

construction has been abandoned, buildings rendered unusable or partially usable by

war damage versus buildings rendered unusable or partially usable for other reasons,

buildings versus nomad camps versus open spaces (not ―buildings‖ at all in the usual

sense of the word), buildings proper versus improvised buildings—in a way that

makes comprehension of the information in the table next to impossible for a user

who is not a statistician. Indeed, it is already problematic for statisticians, and CAS


staff observed that the classification caused problems in the 2004 enumeration and

should be revised for the next census,

User-friendly presentation tables will present a more manageable focus. We may be

interested in buildings rendered unusable by war damage, for example, in relation to

the totality of usable buildings. In this case we would be well served by a table

showing the buildings lost to use due to war damage as a percent of all buildings that

would have been usable if the war had not occurred. And if this is our interest, we

will want to see the results not just for Mohafazat, but for Caza, and probably for

lower levels as well (municipalities). In the case of partial damage, we might be

interested to know not just whether buildings were ―partially unusable,‖ but what

proportion of the units in the building are (were at the time of the census) usable. This

in turn might lead us to want to know about the percentage of dwelling units lost to

use on account of the war. Designing a table that brings ―war losses‖ into focus in this

way is what we mean by designing a user-friendly table. This work does not require

advanced statistical concepts or methodology, but it is by no means trivial work.

5.3 Analysis

5.3.1 What is “Analysis?”

―Analysis‖ may be defined in this context as the process of scrutinizing data, mainly tabular

data, to arrive at conclusions about the data and the reality it purports to represent that are not

immediately evident from the data itself. The result of analysis will generally be a document

describing the conclusions and the evidence and argument that leads to them.

5.3.2 Limited utility of classical statistics

Because census data are complete count data, the statistical theory of sample design and

sampling error is largely irrelevant, and because the aggregates counted are generally very

large, the ―statistical significance‖ issues that preoccupy classical statistics are also largely

irrelevant (not entirely, as breakdowns eventually lead to small numbers and random

variability). A more useful starting point for most census analysis is the perspective of what

has been called ―exploratory‖ data analysis (Exploratory Data Analysis, by John W. Tukey,

Addison-Wesley, Reading, Massachusetts, USA, 1977).

5.3.3 Coverage and content error

The errors that need to be addressed by analysis are mainly what are called, not particularly

aptly, ―non-sampling‖ errors. It is customary and useful to distinguish between coverage

error, which refers to differences between the set of entities the census was intended to

enumerate and the set of entities that actually were enumerated and content error, which

refers to differences between the true characteristics of the enumerated entities and the

reported values.

5.3.4 Limited utility of the „coverage error‟—„content error distinction

In practice, the errors that are most important, errors in the numbers that appear in census

tabulations and in statistics derived from them, often reflect both coverage and content error

and in ways that make it difficult or impossible decompose errors in the tabulated numbers

into components representing coverage and content error.


In the case of population age distributions, for example, age-misreporting is ―content‖ error

and under-enumeration is ―coverage‖ error. What matters to the user of a census age

distribution is how accurate (for example) the number of children shown as being zero

competed years of age is. Whether this is due to age misreporting (enumerated children

whose true age is zero but whose reported age is above zero) or age-selective completeness

of enumeration (children whose true age is zero are less completely enumerated than the rest

of the population) may be of little or no interest to the user, though it may interest the census

taker concerned with how to obtained better age distribution data in the next census.

There is in fact no simple, general relation between content and coverage error in a census

and errors in counts of persons in different statistical categories derived from the census. If a

census omits one percent of the population it was intended to enumerate, for example, but

includes an equal number of persons that it was intended not to enumerate, the total

population enumerated will be precisely accurate. In practice, incorrect omissions tend to

exceed incorrect inclusions, so the usual result is a net under enumeration.

For a more detailed discussion of this subject see the ―Data Assessment‖ entry in the

Encyclopedia of Population, edited by Paul Demeny and Geoffrey McNicoll (New York,

Macmillan Reference USA, 2003.

5.3.5 Role of analysis in the national statistical office

As noted in the Statistical Master Plan, analysis undertaken by the national statistical office

should in general focus on clarifying methodological issues and assessing data quality.

Policy-oriented analysis should generally be left to others who use data provided by the

national statistical office as one input to their analyses.

It may be mentioned that this leaves a great deal of analysis to be done within the national

statistical office; more specifically analysis of data quality. See for example Luisa T.

Engracia, ―The 2000 Round of Population and Housing Census in the ESCAP Region:

Lessons Learnt and Emerging Issues,‖ paper presented to the Expert Group Meeting on

Population and Housing Censuses, 9-10 December 2004, Bangkok, Thailand.

5.3.6 Analysis can use simple methods

Statistical sophistication should be brought in as needed, but the purpose of analysis is to

benefit users. Toward this end, very simple methods—calculating percentages, rearranging

rows and columns in cross-tabulations, visual representation of data in plots and/or maps,

asking and answering simple questions—often suffice.

The 2004 census tabulations include, for example, a tabulation (Table 9) showing ―Units in

Beirut‖ by ―Caza‖ and ―Type of residential unit.‖ The ―Type‖ categories for residential units

are ―Principal,‖ ―Secondary,‖ ―Vacant,‖ and ―House for a guard.‖

For Beirut as a whole, there are 97,272 principal residences and 1,626 secondary residences.

If every secondary residence in Beirut belongs to the owner of a primary residence in Beirut,

the proportion of occupants of principal residences who possess a secondary residence is 1.7

percent—not particularly high.

It is presumably reasonable to assume that every secondary residence belongs to the owner of

a primary residence (else what would ―secondary‖ mean?), but it is clearly not reasonable to

assume that every owner of a principle residence in Beirut who has a secondary residence has

this residence in Beirut. The owner of a primary residence in Beirut may have a secondary

residence in some other part of the country. And of course the owner of a primary residence


in Beirut may own multiple secondary residences in different part of the country, or for that

matter, abroad (though these would not be enumerated in the census).

Nor is it reasonable to assume that every secondary residence in Beirut belongs to the owner

of a primary residence in Beirut—it may belong to a party whose primary residence is

elsewhere.

To get a better indication of the proportion of the population with both a secondary and

primary residence we would need to look at these numbers for the country as a whole. The

(digitally) published 2004 census tables do not include tabulations for the entire country, only

for Mohafazat and Caza. It is possible of course to sum over Mohafazat, but having

tabulation for the whole country would make better justice to the efforts deployed by CAS to

collect data under adverse conditions.

At this point we might note that the numbers in the table are simply of residential units

identified as ―primary‖ or ―secondary,‖ without reference to ownership. Do ―secondary

residences include residential properties owned by a landlord who leases them out to

different individuals at different times? If so, is it appropriate to call these ―secondary‖

residences? Or does ―secondary residence‖ imply a second property used as an occasional

residence by a party who owns a primary residence?

If we look at the same figures for Mount Lebanon, we see 296,829 ―Principal‖ residential

units and 28,445 ―Secondary‖ residential units, for an implied (on the assumptions noted

above) percentage of secondary units of 9.6 percent. This suggests that something like 10

percent of persons whose primary residence is elsewhere have secondary residences in Mount

Lebanon.

This discussion set out to make the point that analysis can be very simple, yet it is clear from

the discussion that analyzing the data on primary and secondary residences is anything but

simple, that various complexities enter in as we pursue the meaning of the results. Yet the

methods of analysis are simple, in the sense that they require no sophisticated statistical

technique.

5.3.7 One aim of analysis: Design user-friendly “presentation” tables

Tables produced by and for statisticians for the purpose of diagnosis, identifying ―control

totals,‖ and other such technical uses may be difficult or impossible to understand for users

who are not statisticians. Tables aimed at end users should be ―user friendly.‖ This implies,

among other things, a focus on topics the user is interested in. Design of presentation tables

must accordingly be driven by knowledge of user interests and needs.

5.4 Print publications

Print publications will continue to be a fundamental medium for the foreseeable future,

despite the rise in importance of digital products and services. The following

recommendations are made for print products for dissemination of census results.

Census publications should include English and/or French translation. Complete

translations are highly desirable because the meaning of the numbers in census tables

may depend crucially on metadata contained in the text of the publication.

CAS may consider releasing a single census publication, rather than separate

publications for each Mohafazat. In any case, tables should be shown for the country

as a whole as well as for individual Mohafazat.


Appropriately designed tabulations should be shown for the Caza level as well as the

national and Mofahazat level. The general principle is that more detailed tabulations

are shown for larger geographic might be considered, especially for medium size

cities (Tripoli, Saida, …). Providing more published detail may be expected to reduce

special requests.

Census publication should emphasis user-friendly ―presentation‖ tables over

diagnostic tables. Many of the tables published in the 2004 census reports may be

placed in the diagnostic category. A user interested in establishments, for example,

would like to look at a table that shows only establishments, rather than a table that

shows both establishments and dwellings.

Print publications can incorporate digital products in the form of a CD. This is a very

cost effective means of adding value to the census publications. The CD that come

with a print publication would include the publication itself in the form of a PDF file,

but it may also include the tables presented in the publication in a spreadsheet format

such as CSV (―comma-separated variable‖).

Print publications are costly to print, costly to store, and costly to ship. Cost

considerations will therefore limit the size of the publications, which in turn limits the

details of the tables included in the publication. These costs are radically reduced for

data in digital form. A CD included with a census publication of 150 pages (say)

could for example include tables in digital form that, if printed out, would require

many thousands of pages.

When designed the contexts of CD products it is important to observe the different

characteristics of the print and digital media. Printed publications have (with rare

exceptions, fold out maps, for example) a fixed page size, whence tables must either

be limited to fit on a single page or formatted so as to be spread across many pages.

For tables in digital form there is no ―page size‖ to constrain table size or force multi-

page formatting. A digital table may have 25 rows and 5,000 columns, and for users

of such tables, it will generally be preferable for the table to be presented without the

print equivalent of pagination.

Providing publications designed for printing in digital format only is a useful

expedient if it is impossible to produce print publications, but this does not replace

print publication. A professionally produced print publication promotes CAS’s stature

and brand far more effectively than a user printed PDF file from a digital CD. Print

publications also reach user segments that are not so effectively reached by digital

only publications.

5.5 Dissemination events

As part of its campaign to strengthen its national brand and increase it’s national presence,

CAS may consider (an expanded) series of post-census events, at different venues, in

different parts of the country, to advertise the availability of the census results, educate the

public about CAS and the national statistical system (per the Statistical Master Plan), and

strengthen communication channels between CAS and its users. Such events may be a

particularly useful way to reach out to a category of nonusers who are in fact potential users.

It is generally the case that significant numbers of individuals and organizations of all kinds

could benefit by using data produced by the national statistical system but are unaware of its

existence or are uncertain how to find what they want. It is in CAS’s interests to serve as

many users as possible. Ideally, of course, the design of such user events is guided by


detailed knowledge of user needs, interests and capabilities. In practice, one begins with what

is known and uses events to expand knowledge of users.

5.6 Special request services CAS provides selected special services to users on request, without charge. This is an

important activity that benefits both users and CAS. Several recommendations are made with

respect to this service.

5.6.1 Draft a policy and procedures document for special requests

This document may cover, for example, the following.

Stipulate terms under which the service will be provided free of charge. In general,

providing services free of charge is a good idea, because the cost of imposing fees

would probably exceed the revenue that would be generated by them. CAS should

however limit its exposure to the risk of heavy work that it can ill afford. The policy

may specify that requests requiring extensive work may incur a charge or a delay,

Stipulate systematic, periodic report son these valuable services that CAS is providing

to users. Such reports (i) may be presented in partial support of requests for resources

of various kinds; (ii) will provide CAS with a resource for studying user needs; (iii)

can be used to design regular publications and other statistical products and services

that will reduce the need for special requests; and (iv) provide a channel of

communication with users that are useful for extending knowledge of user’s needs,

interests, resources and capabilities.

5.6.2 Institute a system for capturing and compiling information on special requests The

system may provide for the following, for example.

Full name, position, organization and contact information of individual making the

request,

The content of the request, what data set, what processing, etc,

The date the request was received, to whom the work was assigned, when the results

were delivered to the requester,

The time and any other resources required to fulfill the request.

Regularly reports on requests processed, work entailed.

5.6.3 Advertise the availability of these services widely to all prospective users

Having instituted appropriate controls on the workload that may be generated, the service

may be advertised by a notice on the CAS website and by a brief brochure that can be

mailed/emailed to users on request and distributed at user meetings. This is in the spirit of the

IMF’s General Data Dissemination Standard (GDDS).

5.7 Website

5.7.1 Draft Policy Document Governing CAS Website

This work can begin at any time and the issues to be addressed may include the following:


All pages on the site will conform to one of the standards (e.g., HTML 4.1

Transitional and CSS Level 2, Revision 1) promulgated by the World Wide Web

Consortium (http://www.w3.org/). Conformity will be checked regularly using a

suitable validation facility. Many validation facilities are available, beginning with the

W3C validator (http://validator.w3.org/). At this writing, validation of the CAS home

page (http://www.cas.gov.lb/) indicates 106 errors and 5 warnings,

Standards for server down time and time outs will be set, monitored, logged and

reported on. Most web hosting servers claim extremely high uptime, but time outs

may occur when the server is up and can severely impair site usability. Numerous free

and commercial services are available to monitor both up time and time outs (e.g.,

http://aremysitesup.com),

Analysis of server log files to see how heavily the site is being used, what areas of the

site are most used, what HTTP requests are returning errors, and so on. Web hosting

services should provide access to server log files and perhaps also to at least a

rudimentary report system. At some point it may be appropriate to use Google

Analytics,

Contracts with vendors for services externally supplied (hosting services, for

example) will stipulate explicit quality standards for service and provide for

monitoring conformance to these standards and for actions to be taken if

nonconformance occurs,

Policies on basic site metadata, including contact information, terms of use notice,

site map, and search facility. On the issue of search facility, it may be noted that

Google searches are often more effective than searches using site supplied search

facilities. This is true even of Amazon.com, which has enormous resources to provide

search facilities. The implication is that it may not be worth investing significant

resources in a site specific search facility,

Policies and procedures to enforce quality control for translations between Arabic,

French and English. Quality control is important because errors in metadata can have

consequences as serious as errors in data,

Policies on backup of web site data, including periodic testing of backup systems and

reporting on results of the tests,

The staff position within CAS with overall responsibility for the site, including

conformity to mandated policy, periodic review and revision of policies, managing

contracts with vendors, managing any staff reporting to the position, and coordinating

contributions to site content from all CAS departments.

5.7.2 Create email announcement list that site visitors can subscribe to

This serves many functions. It helps raise awareness of CAS and CAS activities. It engages

site users in a way that a site without such a facility does not. It opens a channel of

communication to one segment of CAS users. It provides CAS with a list of users and

(potentially) with user feed back that can be used to support budget requests for further

development of the site. It does this not only for national users, but for users in all sectors

(government, private, international, nonprofit) throughout the world. This is an extremely

cost effective way to initiate a systematic program of communication with users and

prospective users. The hosting service used should be able to implement such a list for a

modest cost. If it cannot, alternative hosting services or a third party provider may be


considered. This should be done as soon as possible to build on the already existing mailing

list of the CPI.

5.7.3 Conduct informal surveys of user needs, interests and capabilities Here again, the

website provides an extremely cost effective way to gather information about users. The

home page might, for example, include a prominently displayed notice that during the month

of (say) August, users are invited to give their comment on the site, the content, organization,

navigation, to suggest information they would like to see provided, to note problems they

have had with the site, and so on. This information would be emailed to a special address,

and it would be made very clear that the request is time limited, that the email address will be

operational only for the designated period. This is not urgent. It could be done any time over

the next year, and repeated regularly or from time to time.

5.7.4 Define a position within CAS to have overall responsibility for the website

The location of the position needs to be decided (it might or might not be in the IT

Department; there are many ICT issues, but many non-ICT issues as well), as well as the

qualifications, duties, etc. It is recommended that no major initiatives to develop the website

be undertaken until this position has been created and filled.

6. Evaluation

The Census Management Handbook states that ―Like any other project, the census needs to

be evaluated to ensure that the effort and investment of resources have been worthwhile.

With so many different activities involved, the evaluation of such a project is a complex

exercise.‖

A detailed discussion of evaluation is beyond the scope of this note. What may be usefully

said here is that (a) the more complete and detailed the evaluation is, the more useful it will

be in planning future censuses and other data collection operations, and (b) the completeness

and detail of the evaluation is limited by the completeness and detail of the records kept of

every aspect of the work of conducting the census from the first stages of planning to the

final stages of dissemination. It is therefore recommended that every effort be made to

document the work of the census as it proceeds.




(See text section 1.4 for explanation)

Questionnaire Item Keystrokes Assumptions and notes

Buildings

B1 3 999 units in EA maximum

B2 0 Name not keyed

B3 0 Name not keyed

B4 3 Numbers less than 1000

B5 1

B6 1

B7 1

B8 1.3 4 digit year given for 10% of buildings

B9 7

B10 3 Less than 10 underground floors

B11 10 2 digits for each response

B12 2 <100 establishments/building

B13 10 Parcel number requires 10 keystrokes

B14 3 Three digit code for nature of use

Keystrokes/building 45.3 Sum keystrokes over all questions

Number of buildings 500,000 Round number, adjust as appropriate

Total keystrokes 22,650,000 Calculate as product

Residential units

U1 3 Less than 1000 buildings in EA

U2 2 Less than 100 units in building

U3 2 Less than 100 floors in a building

U4 2 Number of unit less than 100

U5 1

U6 1

U7 1

U8 3 Less than 1000 square meters

U9 0 This calculation is for residential units

U10 0 Not entered for residential units

U11 2 Less than 100 floors per unit

Keystrokes/RU 17 Sum keystrokes over all questions

Number of RUs 1,100,000 Round number, adjust as appropriate

Total keystrokes 18,700,000 Calculate as product

Non-residential units

U6 0 This calculation is for non-residential



U9 3 3 digit code for "Other"

U10 20 Entered for establishments

Keystrokes/NRU 35

Number of NRUs 400,000 Round number, adjust as appropriate

Total Keystrokes 14,000,000 Calculate as product

Questionnaire Item Keystrokes Assumptions and notes


Establishments

E1 2 Less than 100 establishments per EA

E2 2 Less than 100 buildings per EA

E3 4 Less than 1000 units per EA

E4 20 Name entered, truncated to 20 characters

E5 20 Name entered, truncated to 20 characters

E6 4 4 digit ISIC code

E7 1

E8 1

E9 1

E10 6 Less than 1B registered capital

E11 4

E12 1

E13 1

E14 1 Assume <10 subsidiaries average

E15 1

E16 12 Enter "0" or "1" for each month

E17 3 Less than 1000 workers

E18 9 At most 9 digits in telephone numbers

E19 9 Ditto for cell phone numbers

E20 25 Assume <=25 characters in email address

E21 1

E22 9 Assume <10 digits in VAT number

E23 9 Assume <10 digits in MoF number

Keystrokes/Estab 146

No of establishments 400,000 Round number, adjust as appropriate

Total Keystrokes 58,400,000 Calculate as product

Summary

Section Keystrokes

Buildings 22,650,000

Residential units 18,700,000

Non-residential units 14,000,000

Establishments 58,400,000

Subtotal 113,750,000

Verification 22750000 Add 20 percent for verification

Total 136,500,000

Keystrokes per hour 10,000

Hours required 13,650 Total person hours required

Hours per day 6

Days required 2,275 Total person days required

Days per week 5.5

Weeks required 414 Total person weeks required

Number of operators 15 Based on space available in CAS

Weeks required 28

Months required 6.9


Annex 2: Budget for the 2010 population and housing census in Indonesia

Source: ―Planning for the 2010 Population and Housing Census in Indonesia,‖ by Rusman

Heriawan, Director-General, BPS-Statistics Indonesia. Paper presented to the 11th Meeting

of the Heads of National Statistics Offices of East Asian Countries, 6-8 November 2006,

Tokyo, Japan. Available at http://www.stat.go.jp/english/info/meetings/eastasia/asia11.htm.

Note: This budget is for a population and housing census for a population of approximately

233 million persons.

Documents

Project Design and Management - World Bank · Census Management Handbook. The census of buildings and dwellings is not a population and housing census, but the . Census Management