Myanmar QUALITY ASSURANCE IN POPULATION AND HOUSING CENSUS

Myanmar QUALITY ASSURANCE IN POPULATION AND HOUSING CENSUS Myanmar

Myanmar 2 Outline Quality assurance (a) Planning (b) Management and Preparatory work (c) Field operations (d) Data processing (e) Census Analysis and Dissemination

Myanmar Planning Ø Census conduct in every 10 years Ø In Myanmar no census between 1983 census and 2014 census (period of 30 years) Ø Most of the population information/data has relied on: • Projections/estimates • Surveys Ø Political and economic reforms since 2011 – inevitable need for accurate, up-to-date and reliable data for decision making

Myanmar Census Planning • Enumeration: • Preliminary results: • Final results: 30 th March – 10 th April 2014 August 2014 May 2015 (pilot census April 2013 )

Myanmar International Technical Assistance Chief Technical Adviser (CTA) Consultants: • Cartography/Mapping • Communication and Publicity Campaign • Questionnaire design • Data capture and processing • Data analysis

Myanmar Management and Preparatory work Ø Preparatory activities • Preparation of project document • Setting up of various committees and structures • EA Mapping • Questionnaire • Training Materials • Recruitment of field personnel • Publicity/Advocacy

Myanmar Field operations To ensure complete coverage in the enumeration period Ø To monitor progress and quality control, Enumerators and Supervisors were provided with sets of control forms, including: • Daily progress forms • EA summary sheets (to be used for provisional results) • Completion forms Ø Observation Mission • Organize at the invitation of Government, with the aim of enhancing transparency of the census process and to receive regular feedback from the field

Myanmar Making sure all households were counted Ø Enumerators worked in the localities they reside in and know. Ø Good maps and lists of structures were produced beforehand. Ø Enumerators submitted daily progress reports on households counted.

Myanmar Verifying the data collected Ø Before leaving each household, enumerators made sure all questions were answered and recorded. Ø Random re-Interviews were conducted for at least three households in every EA. Ø EA Summary sheets completed by enumerators listed all the households where they conducted interviews. Ø Township Committee supervision ensured that all EAs were accounted for.

Myanmar Post-enumeration activities • Securely delivering questionnaires to the Census Office • Safely storing and organizing the questionnaires • Rigour in the receiving process • Preparing questionnaires for scanning • Registration before scanning • High-tech scanning process • Computerised character inspection and Key corrections • Monitoring and supervision • Addressing data inconsistencies • Protecting the data

Myanmar Securely delivering questionnaires to the Census Office Ø Transportation of all census materials was done by professional transport companies. Ø Security officers accompanied each shipment.

Myanmar Safely storing and organizing the questionnaires Ø Storage area holds an estimated 11 million completed questionnaires. Ø Cataloguing of questionnaires by location allows for ease of retrieval.

Myanmar Rigour in the receiving process Ø Count of questionnaires received and completed was verified by Township Census Officers. Ø Completeness was confirmed and explanations provided for any missing EAs or households.

Myanmar Preparing questionnaires for scanning Ø EA codes were checked. Ø Questionnaires were checked for damage, staples and clips were removed, and the forms were then split in two along a perforated line. Ø Registration forms detailed the number of questionnaires to be scanned for each EA

Myanmar Registration before scanning Ø Information from the pre-scanning process was further checked for discrepancies and then entered into a database containing all the EA codes Ø This information is linked to the scanning system, so the scanner can tell if there is a difference between the number of questionnaires received and scanned.

Myanmar High-tech scanning process Ø Eight state-of-the-art scanners working simultaneously can read around 150, 000 questionnaires a day, reject any damaged forms and identify character anomalies.

Myanmar Computerised character inspection Ø Scanners erroneous detect unreadable characters on the or possibly forms and automatically send them to the Key Corrections team for further processing.

Myanmar Key corrections Ø Operators check the highlighted numbers on each questionnaire and make necessary corrections. Ø An operator clicks on the unrecognised number to enlarge it and see what it should be. Ø If unsure about the correction, the operator sends the case to the supervisor. Ø The scanning software captures the number of cases corrected as well as who made the correction. Ø Corrections can only be made on numbers highlighted by the system and not on any other data.

Myanmar Monitoring and supervision Ø The scanning system enables managers to track progress, (for example, by showing how many forms have been scanned or how many characters have been inspected at any given time. ) Ø This allows them to verify that staff are performing their jobs skillfully, as well as to reallocate staff as needed, for instance to address a backlog that is slowing the data capture process.

Myanmar Addressing data inconsistencies Ø In some instances, information collected in the field may seem illogical or not be consistent with common sense. Ø This happens in all censuses, both in developed and developing countries. (For example, a 5 -year-old child may be recorded as having completed secondary education, or a 6 -year old as having given birth to two children. )

Myanmar Protecting the data Ø The Census Office is using state-of-the-art computer technology to make certain that all census data is stored safely and efficiently. Ø All census data is backed up locally and remotely every day.

Myanmar Census Analysis and Dissemination Ø Census dataset was cleaned before release of Main results Ø Data file available in CSPro, SPSS and REDATAM software • National and State/Region Launch • Dissemination workshops have been done in all districts across the country • Township Dissemination workshops is on going process

Myanmar Conclusion Ø Collecting, verifying and analysing data through Myanmar’s population census is an enormous and time consuming undertaking involving numerous distinct steps. Ø Quality assurance at each stage is a key component of the process, and essential to ensuring the data’s overall reliability. Ø Access to accurate and reliable population data is essential as the country formulates its development policies and projects to improve the lives of all its people. Ø All the census reports were distributed through www. dop. gov. mm or http: //myanmar. unfpa. org/ census

Myanmar Thank You