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ORGANIZATION OF FIELD WORK
This chapter describes the need for strictly controlled
and efficient field supervision. It should be kept in mind
that the field supervisors are responsible in many countries
not only for supervision of data collection but for selection,
recruitment and training of enumerators, and in some cases
for their remuneration. All such activities require control
which cannot be provided directly from the central census
office. The supervision structure has to be organized at provincial
and lower levels. An efficient system of supervision is not
easy to organize, considering that an agricultural census
is conducted in many countries only once in ten years. The
rehearsal of field organization procedures is made within
the framework of a pilot census. Practical advice is also
given concerning advantages of recruiting resident enumerators
who are familiar with local conditions and local dialects.
A closely related topic is Census Enumeration covered
in Chapter 14.
Department responsible
15.1 The primary and chief responsibility for planning, organizing,
conducting and supervising the agricultural census operations,
tabulating and analyzing the results, and preparing and publishing
the reports normally rests with a single government department.
Success depends on the support and assistance of other government
departments and public agencies at various stages of the work.
This cooperation is particularly important for field work
and its supervision, including activities such as mapping
and delineation of enumeration areas, seeking cooperation
and support of the people through their leaders, training
enumerators and supervisors, securing accommodation and other
facilities for staff and transportation to the areas of operation,
etc.
15.2 The department at the national headquarters responsible
for the organization of field work on the agricultural census
can be the statistics division or department in the Ministry
of Agriculture or the Bureau of Statistics or Central Statistical
Office located in the Ministry of Finance and/or Economic
Planning. The responsible organization will differ from country
to country depending on whether the Ministry of Agriculture,
as the main user of agricultural statistics, has a full-fledged
division or department of statistics or there exists a central
statistical organization in the country which is not only
a coordinating body but also charged with the responsibility
of organizing and conducting censuses and surveys.
15.3 The department responsible for organizing the agricultural
census will seek the support and assistance of other departments,
either in organizing the field work and enlisting the cooperation
of the people or in developing plans and procedures, concepts,
definitions and classifications. This support and assistance
can be secured by the agricultural census committee (or coordinating
board) at the national level with representatives of all departments
concerned with the field organization and use of agricultural
data. One of the major functions of this committee is to coordinate
the activities of the staff of the different departments in
the field and to solve the practical difficulties encountered
during the census operations. To solve field problems quickly
and effectively, it is also necessary to set up census committees
(or coordinating boards) at provincial and district levels.
The need to set up census committees at various levels of
census operations has been discussed in detail in Chapter
2.
Provincial offices and their work
15.4 A large-scale agricultural census operation is difficult
to control and guide effectively from a single central office
at the national headquarters. The problems and difficulties
of the field staff cannot be expeditiously communicated and
timely solutions obtained. It is also difficult for a central
office to make adequate arrangements for transport of field
staff in distant places. The training of the field staff and
supervision of their work from a central office cannot be
adequate and effective. Supply of equipment and forms, provision
of necessary facilities and amenities, and payment of salaries,
etc., to field staff from a central office will be slow. These
problems are more difficult to handle if the country is large
and transportation and communication facilities are limited.
It is necessary to establish census offices at the provincial
and district levels. If the department responsible for the
census organization already has provincial and district offices
for normal statistical work and for survey and census purposes,
these offices should be strengthened to deal with the increased
work during the agricultural census or survey. The provincial
offices for census and survey purposes should be located near
other provincial government offices.
15.5 The provincial and district offices can serve as the
secretariat and coordinating body for the census committees.
These offices put the problems and difficulties faced in the
field before the departments represented on the committees
and obtain solutions, support and assistance. To enlist the
support and cooperation of village leaders and the staff working
on statistical operations, these offices can organize local
meetings in which district administrators and officials of
local administration and rural development departments can
assist in educating people on the objectives and scope of
the operation, its need and importance, its role in planning
the country's agricultural development and people's welfare
and the need for the people's support and cooperation in achieving
the desired results of the operation. Any concerns which might
exist about operations can be addressed more effectively by
the provincial or district authorities. Often, more than one
meeting of the leaders and their staff may have to be held
before an agreement for support and cooperation is reached.
The provincial and district offices have a necessary role
to play in such situations.
15.6 The provincial and district offices can pull together
the field and supervisory staff of different departments for
statistical operations in the province or district and coordinate
their activities. Instances of lack of cooperation on the
part of any member of the field staff can be brought to the
attention of concerned departments for prompt solution at
the local level. These offices can also assess day-to-day
transport requirements and pool transport facilities for census
operations in the province or district.
15.7 The provincial offices can organize intensive training
courses of small groups of enumerators and their supervisors
in the province with reference to specific local conditions
and problems. The enumerators and supervisors in a province
can be gathered together more conveniently at a provincial
office to discuss problems that might appear common to these
staff. Some trained enumerators can be kept in reserve at
provincial level to fill vacancies arising from resignations,
sickness, etc.
15.8 The supervision of field work, the prompt resolution
of mistakes, the ability to keep staff working on location,
to gather completed questionnaires from the enumerators and
to complete review of questionnaires and their evaluation
in consultation with enumerators can best be organized from
a provincial office. Transfer of enumerators from areas where
work has been completed to other areas where the work is lagging
behind or is not satisfactory can be assessed and resolved
promptly from a provincial office.
Census field staff
15.9 Since an agricultural census is taken at periodic intervals
it can be conducted either entirely with the help of new part-time
or temporary enumerators or by supplementing the field staff
already employed for annual surveys with new temporary enumerators.
These temporary enumerators may have little background or
knowledge of agriculture, the agricultural census and local
conditions. They will require intensive training, supplemented
with considerable practical work, field demonstrations, tests
and exercises. Considerable time and resources will have to
be spent in securing accommodation for them in rural areas,
in providing them with the required equipment and facilities,
in introducing them to village leaders and the people, and
in securing cooperation. Some temporary enumerators will leave
the job in the middle of the census operations and replacements
will have to be found. These inconveniences can be avoided
if normal field staff of the department responsible for the
conduct of the agricultural census is supplemented by field
staff of other departments concerned with agricultural statistics
or agricultural extension.
15.10 Extension assistants or field officers of the Ministry
of Agriculture who are usually familiar not only with the
boundaries of the enumeration areas within their jurisdiction,
the terrain, and land use and crop cultivation practices,
but also with people whose cooperation they can easily obtain,
are a good source for enumerators. The census field operations
and extension work can be integrated to complement each other.
In most developing countries the number of extension agents
is limited and their jurisdictions large. Moreover, extension
activities cannot be postponed for a long period of time.
In practice, only a part of the extension agents can usually
be made available to assist in the census work. Experience
in many countries would indicate that there may be more disadvantages
than advantages in using extension workers for census data
collection activities.
15.11 The advantages extension agents may have over temporary
enumerators in census operations can be lost if they are moved
to an area outside their jurisdiction. Moreover, the cost
of the census operations will increase as extension agents
will be paid for overnight stays outside their normal jurisdiction.
Extension agents should not be allotted an enumeration area
which does not fall within their normal jurisdiction.
General organization of field staff
15.12 It is advisable that the field staff, particularly
the supervisors and enumerators, live in the places where
they are working. Staff who are unfamiliar with local conditions
have many disadvantages: they cannot move around easily, they
may not be trusted by holders, they may not be able to communicate
easily with holders since they may not know the local dialect
and may not be familiar with local units of weights and measures.
15.13 If staff with local knowledge are recruited, the enumerators
can work alone in their jurisdiction as they will usually
get cooperation from holders. If it is not possible to recruit
qualified and experienced enumerators from the localities
where they need to work, it may be preferable to allow enumerators
to work in teams. This may be desirable in difficult areas
with poor transport and communication facilities. Sometimes,
for safety reasons it is better to have a team of enumerators.
15.14 The advantages are lost as teams become large. There
can be some economy in transportation and provision of accommodation,
camp equipment and facilities for the enumerators when organized
in teams. Enumerators in a team can discuss their problems,
difficulties and experiences to mutual advantage. Organization
of enumerators in teams can be especially advantageous if
there are a number of new and inexperienced enumerators. The
team serves as in-service training until the new enumerators
are ready to work independently.
15.15 The formation of teams of enumerators can also be useful
when field staff of other departments are made available to
supplement on a part-time basis the trained and experienced
enumerators of the department responsible for organizing and
conducting the census. Such part-time enumerators can be used
in emergencies or when an adequate number of fully-trained
enumerators are not available. It is highly preferable to
rely on full-time and fully-trained enumerators.
15.16 In a team, enumerators are likely to duplicate a certain
amount of work or waste time if there is no proper organization
and distribution of work among the team members and adequate
supervision of their work. The decision as to whether enumerators
should be organized in teams or work individually in separate
allotted areas will depend on the conditions and type of census
organization in a country. Even if enumerators work independently
in separate areas, they can be treated as members of a team
in a supervisor's zone or in a district to ensure balanced
progress of field work over all the zone or district. The
workload in some enumeration areas of a supervisor's zone
may be heavier than in others. The supervisor should be able
to transfer enumerators from areas where work has been completed
to areas where an increased number of enumerators are needed.
15.17 The crop harvests of one season may be at different
times in different parts of a supervisory zone or district
of the country, but usually the harvesting period in an area
is a very limited time. The enumerators allotted to such an
area may not be able to complete the crop-cutting survey on
time if crop-cutting is necessary to estimate crop yields.
In such situations, enumerators from other areas where the
crop harvests have not started or have been completed, can
be transferred to assist.
Supervisory work and staff
15.18 Adequate supervision of enumerators' work at proper
times and at frequent intervals, both by routine procedure
and by surprise visits, is essential and one of the most important
organizational aspects for a successful operation. Cases have
been reported in many countries where questionnaires were
completed with false information without respondents being
interviewed or with remote fields being omitted when the field
areas had to be measured. Enumerators' problems and difficulties,
and the guidance and assistance needed, will be known and
the required help given if their work is inspected at regular
intervals. Enumerators' work should be supervised at least
once a week, more frequently in the initial stages of the
work, and less frequently when the supervisor is convinced
that the enumerators understand their work and do it systematically
and correctly. The purpose of supervision should be to prevent
carelessness and negligence by the enumerators and to impart
instructions with reference to actual situations in the field,
and also to solve day-to-day technical and operational problems.
15.19 For supervision to be effective and useful during the
initial period of an enumerator's work, including identification
of enumeration areas with the help of maps and boundary descriptions
and listing of households, it should be done while the enumerator
is on the job. The supervisor should accompany the enumerators
to several initial interviews and actual measurements, observe
their work closely and take immediate measures to correct
any noticeable shortcomings. Supervisors should later visit
and observe one or two interviews and check a sample of questionnaires
to ensure their completeness, accuracy and consistency. As
each phase of enumeration work in an area is completed, the
supervisor should review the work and ensure that all households
have been listed and questionnaires have been fully completed
for all agricultural holdings; and corrections made for any
deficiencies observed before starting the next phase or moving
to another area.
15.20 Supervision can be efficient and objective by checking
a random sub-sample of enumeration areas and holdings. The
supervisor's observations, along with the data entered by
the enumerators, can be recorded on a prescribed supervision
form. This will provide an assessment of the nature and extent
of errors committed by enumerators and what corrections are
necessary. Such a programme of supervision will take considerable
time. Supervisors also have to arrange for accommodation facilities,
the transport of forms and camping equipment for the enumerators
from the headquarters or provincial offices, introduce enumerators
to the people and brief the local people on census operations
and encourage their cooperation. Considering the extent and
nature of the responsibilities supervisors have to discharge
in often difficult terrain, a supervisor can effectively supervise
five to ten enumerators. In difficult areas with poor transport
facilities and with remote and suspected non-cooperative farming
communities, a supervisor should not be responsible for more
than five enumerators. In areas with good transport and communication
facilities and where holders and enumerators are familiar
with censuses and surveys this number may go up to ten.
15.21 A supervisor can be expected to complete supervision
of not more than five enumeration areas in a month. This should
be taken into account when determining the size of the sub-sample
for supervision.
15.22 For successful, timely and effective supervision, adequate
transport is essential for both the supervisors and enumerators.
Often, the supervisor is provided with a four-wheel-drive
vehicle or a motorcycle, an enumerator with a bicycle. In
some areas these are not suitable, and supervisors and enumerators
may have to be authorized to hire local transport, such as
horses, mules, camels, boats, etc., depending on what is available
or needed to get the job done. Other details regarding supervision
can be found in Chapters 11 and 12.
Enumeration work and staff
15.23 The number of enumerators needed for the census operation
in a country will depend not only on the volume of work and
the length of the survey period, but also on the intensity
of agriculture, the number of crop seasons in the year and
the terrain to be covered. In many developing countries which
have only one major crop season or at the most two, the terrain
is difficult, transport and communication limited and movement
from one enumeration area to another time consuming. The households
in an enumeration area may also be far apart. It is difficult
to recommend the workload to be assigned to an enumerator.
This workload will depend on the content of the questionnaire,
whether the enumeration area is compact or widely spread and
transport and communication arrangements. Time elements required
when planning these activities can best be obtained from pilot
censuses (see Chapter 13). Perhaps
the most important time factor is whether plans for objective
measurements for areas and yields are included as this operation
is very time consuming. While enumerators may be able to interview
five or more agricultural holders a day, they may need a whole
day to measure the area of all parcels of one holding. Experience
shows that not more than 100 to 200 holdings should be assigned
to an enumerator if no objective measurement is done, and
only 20 to 50 if objective measurements are to be included.
15.24 If the enumerators are natives of or reside in the
area where they are assigned, they will be known by the people
and can usually get maximum cooperation, and when they need
assistance for some operations they may be allowed to choose
a helper. However, if they are new to the area, they have
to be introduced to village leaders and people by their supervisor
or senior local administration or rural development officers.
The chief or the village leader has to arrange for their accommodation
and, if necessary, a meeting with the people at which the
enumerator can explain the objective, need and importance
of the operation, and request their cooperation. The chief
or the village leader may have to assign to the enumerator
a helper who is familiar with the people and is well informed
about agricultural practices in the area. This helper may
be selected from those who usually work, or have worked, on
similar missions in the past.
15.25 These helpers can guide the enumerators around the
area, take them from one household to another and to different
fields and cattle-sheds if required. If objective measurement
of areas is required they can help in measuring distances
and taking compass readings. They can hold poles at the corners
of the fields, run the measuring wheel or chain and strings
or frames for demarcating crop-cutting plots. They can also
assist enumerators to harvest crop-cutting plots and in drying
and threshing the harvested produce. They can help to make
appointments with holders in advance and carry messages.
15.26 These helpers can be paid either a daily or monthly
wage based on the quantity of work done. The remuneration
should be in line with wages paid in the past or for similar
work. The enumerators should be given an allotment to cover
such expected expenses.
General suggestions for preparing the interview
15.27 The enumerators should plan their daily routine
for interviewing. It is important that the enumerators
plan clearly what they want and hope to accomplish in a stated
time frame. It may be desirable, especially for beginners,
to write down these objectives, and spell out possible problems
and possible solutions. In other words, they should plan and
decide what is to be accomplished and when they will do it.
15.28 It is desirable to have advance information about
the area of enumeration and the people to be interviewed.
The enumerators should learn as much as possible about the
place where the interview will be conducted and the persons
to be interviewed. What needs to be known will vary with the
situation, but the general principle is knowing the respondents.
This is the advantage of a local enumerator. If the area involved
is of one cultural group, it is often wise to interview the
leaders first to enlist their cooperation and to have them
recommend and introduce the enumerator to others in the group.
The principle of interviewing the leaders first not only applies
to cultural groups, but is also applicable to organizations
or institutions. The persons in charge should be approached
first and their cooperation secured before interviewing others
in the organization or institution.
15.29 If possible, appointments should be made in advance.
The date the census or survey will begin is often announced
through publications and news media. In some countries, every
household is requested to have somebody present in the house
during the time the interviewer is expected to be in their
vicinity. The enumerators can of course make their own appointments,
and in this case should have some knowledge of the respondents'
daily routine to ensure appropriate times and places are selected
for the interviews.
Suggested reading
Casley D.J. and Lury D.A. (1981). Data collection in developing
countries. Clarendon Press, Oxford.
FAO (1965). Estimation of areas in agricultural statistics.
FAO (1982). Estimation of crop areas and yields in agricultural
statistics.
FAO (1992). Collecting data on livestock.
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