RURAL BANGLADESH - PreventionWeb

Socio-Economic Profiles of WFP Operational Areas and Beneficiaries
2.3 SAMPLING STRATEGY & PROCESS
2.3.1 Quantitative Household Survey Sample
TANGO and MITRA employed a two-stage sampling procedure in order to ensure a random
sample of all households within the six WFP priority zones. TANGO began by calculating a
minimum required sample size per zone – 406 households – and added in an additional 12
percent as cushion to take into account non-response and questionnaire error factors. In
order to minimize the design effect and ensure that all households within each zone had an
equal probability of selection, TANGO targeted 20 households per village. In order to
obtain a sufficient number of households per zone, TANGO targeted 23 villages per zone,
for a total of 460 households per zone and 2760 villages in the six-zone survey (20
households x 23 villages x 6 zones).
MITRA developed a sample frame of all villages within each of the WFP priority zones,
based on 2000 census data. The lists were arranged geographically in order to ensure
adequate sample coverage. MITRA then randomly selected villages systematically from the
list, employing the probability-proportional-to-size (PPS) technique.
MITRA then sent out teams to each of the 138 villages randomly selected for the survey to
develop a complete census by listing all households in each village. After listing households
alphabetically, a sample of 20 households per village was randomly selected, providing the
team with a complete list of households for the household survey. A separate weight factor
was constructed for each zone to ensure that all households had the same probability of
selection.
The Sampling Strategy for the Socio-economic Profiles Study is attached as Annex D.
A map of the priority six regions for the allocation of WFP resources is included as Annex
E. The six priority regions include:
1. Chittagong Hill Tracts (Bandarban, Rangamati, and Khagrachhari);
2. Drought zone (Rajshahi, Nawabganj, Naogaon, and Natore);
3. Northwest (Dinajpur, Rangpur, Joyperhat, Lalmonirhat, Nilphamar, and
Thakurgaon);
4. North-central chars (Kurigram, Gaibandha, Jamalpur, Sirajganj, and Pabna);
5. Haor basin (Sherpur, Netrakona, Mymensingh, and Kishoreganj); and
6. Coastal zone (Bhola).
A complete list of villages selected by zone is included as Annex F.
2.3.2 Qualitative Community Assessment Sample
TANGO selected 22 villages for participation in the qualitative community profiles. The 22
villages included four villages from each of five zones and two villages from the Coastal
zone, which is substantially smaller, representing only one district, and more homogeneous
than the other four zones. The four villages from each of the five zones and two villages
from the Coastal zone were purposively randomly selected from amongst the 23 villages
already selected for the quantitative survey, ensuring wide geographic coverage in
representative districts for each zone.
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