Case Study - Philippines Metagora Pilot Project

CHAPTER 5: THE FIELD OPERATIONS (page 2)

5.2 SUPERVISION AND QUALITY-CONTROL PROCEDURES

The best method of ensuring good output is to ensure good input. That means that the statistics, which are the final product of this survey, are accurate only if the data that were collected from the field are of good quality. Hence, for this survey, adequate controls were instituted at the source to ensure that only accurate information was obtained.

Close supervision of the enumerators' work, and regular review of the completed questionnaires, were the basic strategies implemented to assure good quality data. For this survey, quality of field enumeration was controlled at various levels. The supervisors for the survey were the Regional Directors and Regional Statistician/Assistant, Provincial Statistics Officer and Provincial Statistician/Assistant and Team Supervisors. Each of those supervisors had his/her own role in the survey operation.

5.2.1 Regional Directors (RDs) and Assistants

During the enumeration period, the regional directors and regional statisticians were authorised to travel to and within their areas of jurisdiction. During those visits, they called attention to inadequacies in the conduct of the operations and solved problems that arose during the course of their field supervision. The regional directors and regional statisticians:

1. Evaluated the progress of the enumeration by looking into the progress report of the provincial office;

2. Determined and evaluated the quality of the data collected by randomly checking completed questionnaires and forms;

3. Coordinated the material and supply requirements of the provincial offices and arranged that enough reserve supplies were stored in the regional office for distribution to provinces that needed additional materials/supplies; and

4. Attended to all problems encountered during the enumeration and to administrative matters that needed immediate action.

The PSO and his/her provincial statistician were given four days to visit sample areas in his/her province. The PSO and his/her assistant visited as many field personnel as possible during the days they were allowed to supervise.

The PSO and his/her assistant performed the following activities during their supervision:

1. Made a courtesy call to the Mayor and explained the importance and objectives of the Metagora Pilot Survey;

2. Visited each team supervisor assigned to supervise the enumeration of sample areas in the province to check on the progress of enumeration;

3. Spot-checked the field staff, especially in known problem areas, to determine whether they were doing their assigned tasks;

4. Performed quality-control checks to evaluate the quality of the data collected by reviewing the completed questionnaires, and pointing out and correcting the errors, omissions or inconsistencies detected;

5. Coordinated the material and supply requirements of the provincial office and evaluated and met requests for additional materials/supplies of the team supervisors/enumerators; and

6. Arranged prompt action in response to problems encountered in the field and to administrative matters that needed more attention.

5.2.3 Team Supervisor

Close supervision of the assigned enumerators was the responsibility of the team supervisor. For every four teams of enumerators, one team supervisor was assigned to supervise. Described below were the supervisory functions that the team supervisor performed:

1. Conducted field visits. Close supervision of the fieldwork was crucial for obtaining good quality data. In this regard, the team supervisors were in the field most of the time during the enumeration period. They were required to carry out the following quality control checks during their visits:
   1. Spot-checked enumerators to see if enumerators were doing their assigned tasks; scrutinised the completed questionnaires and forms on the spot; and pointed out errors, omissions or inconsistencies observed so that they were corrected as early as possible.

   2. Observed actual interviews and checked whether the enumerators were doing their work according to instructions. Team supervisors were able to observe at least one interview per enumerator.

   3. Conducted re-interviews of households that were already interviewed by the enumerators so as to check whether the households were interviewed by the enumerators and that the information recorded was accurate. The team supervisor was able to conduct a re-interview of at least one household per enumerator.

2. Performed quality-control checks. The team supervisor was required to verify, on a sample basis, the questionnaires submitted by his/her enumerators. He/she was required to review one of every four questionnaires submitted by each enumerator for consistency and completeness of entries.

3. Distributed materials and supplies needed by the enumerators according to their actual needs and made additional requests from the PSO, as required.

4. Handled field problems. Informed the PSO or any concerned NSO official about problems in the field that could not be resolved by the CAS.