The 1995/1996 Household Income, Expenditure - (PDF, 101 mb ...

General Instructions for Infonnation Collection:
The enumerator collects necessary information on either expenditure and consumption, or income
by holding periodic meetings with the household surveyed. The following steps should be
implemented by the enumerator to maintain efficient performance:
1. Creating a friendly relationship with household members; exerting conceivable efforts to
make the household feel comfortable, confident and safe in the first few minutes while
she is introducing herself. The enumerator can use the following way of introduction:
Good morning/Good afternoon
My name is , and we are carrying out a survey to serve the community. Our survey
is a study of income and expenditure, and I need to talk to you about this survey.
The enumerator should master communication techniques, she should not roughly
interrupt the respondent in order to force the household surveyed to understand the
objectives of the survey and recognize its value. This is an important element to gain a
household's confidence, which can be increased by the enumerator presenting her card,
issued by the CAPMAS, when introducing herself even if she was not asked for it.
2. Dealing with households avoiding information disclosure:
The enumerator might realize from the first minute that the household is trying to evade
disclosing information, but this should not cause the enumerator to be perplexed because
she can face it with wisdom. This behavior is natural and most enumerators will
experience it when obtaining information from the household.
The household might change the course of the survey and the information needed,
however the successful enumerator is capable of steering the conversation without
appearing that she is restricting the respondent's freedom or interrupting her speech. This
requires a skillful and intelligent enumerator.
Escaping and rejecting conversation result from the enumerator not choosing suitable
timing, therefore she has to choose the right time to visit the household. If the
enumerator feels that the time is not suitable, she has to apologize and excuse to leave
hoping that she might visit them in another suitable day according to the household's
desire.
The household might refuse to cooperate with the enumerator as it considers information
of expenditure, consumption and income very personal and not for disclosure. Here, the
creation of a friendly relationship between the enumerator and the household is very
significant, in addition to emphasizing secrecy and publishing information accumulatively
for statistical purposes. Further, the enumerator respecting the household's customs and
3