Book Description

This is one of a series of technical documents providing guidelines on the measurement and analysis of the socio-economic effects of structural adjustment policies, and in particular how such policies affect living standards at the household level. This document describes the main elements of the national information system needed to effectively provide the information used to undertake the full range of analysis proposed in the Analysis Plan. It reviews the objectives of the Integrated Survey (IS) and includes a brief description of the analysis plans as well as a review of the other uses to which the IS data can be applied, such as the computation of weights for consumer price indices. A presentation of the prototype questionnaire and the rationale for the structure of the questionnaire and the reasons for including the various sections and questions is provided. It reviews issues related to survey organization and field logistics, with special emphasis on organizing survey operations in such a way that delays in survey implementation are reduced and that adequate checks are built in to control the levels of non-sampling error that can so easily threaten the success of such a survey. The document describes the steps of computing the essential household income and expenditure aggregates and subaggregates needed to develop household accounts. Finally, issues related to the presentation of the initial survey results are discussed.