Labour Force Survey – April 2013 Metadata

1. 1. 1. Questionnaire(s)
         1. Household
         2. Person
      2. Manual(s)
      3. Scope - Summary Data Description
      4. Methodology - Data Collection and Processing
      5. Sampling
      6. Data Collection
      7. Accessibility

Type Labour Force Survey April 2013

Version Production Date: 2013-04-05 

Time Period(s) 2013

Countries Belize 

Geographic Coverage National coverage 

Unit of Analysis Household

Primary Investigator(s) Statistical Institute of Belize, SIB 

Other Producer(s) None

Funding Agency/ies  

Government of Belize, Main funder 

Statistical Institute of Belize (SIB)

Abstract

The first Labour Force Survey that was conducted in Belize was administered by the Central Statistical Office (CSO) in 1993. Every year since then, labour force data has been collected. Although two rounds of the survey were conducted initially, financial constraints led to a reduction in the frequency with which it was done. Thus, the survey has been conducted around April, the time of the year when employment in Belize is at its highest.

Currently, a labour force survey is conducted twice a year, once in April and then in September.  Generally, the concepts that have been utilized in the survey are in accordance with guidelines as determined by the International Labour Office (ILO) and so are comparable to those used internationally.

Kind of Data                    Sample survey data [ssd]

Universe

The survey covered all de jure household members (usual residents), all women, men and children resident in the household.

 Added Modules              None

Questionnaires

Two sets of questionnaires were used in the survey: 1) a household questionnaire which was used to collect information on all de jure household members (usual residents), the household, and the dwelling; 2) an individual questionnaire administered in each household to all persons 14 years and older. The questionnaires included the following modules:

The Household Questionnaire included the following modules:

• Household Information Panel
• Household Listing Form
• Education

The Individual Person Questionnaire included the following areas:

• Individual Information Panel
• Training
• Employment
• Occupation
• Under employment

Household

A household consists of one or more persons living together i.e. sleeping most nights of a week AND sharing at least one daily meal.  It is possible for a household to consist of just one person, or of more than one family, as long as they share living arrangements. A boarder or a domestic servant who sleeps in most nights of the week is a member of the household.  A group of unrelated persons living together also constitutes a household.

Working Age population

This refers to all those persons aged 14 years and over.

Labour Force

The labour force is comprised of all those persons aged 14 years and over who were engaged in any form of economic activity, for at least one hour, during the survey week or who were willing and able to be engaged in producing economic goods and services. Also included would be all those persons who were temporarily absent from work during the survey week.  Hence, the labour force is made up of all those persons who either had jobs (the Employed), or those who did not have jobs but were willing and able to work (the Unemployed).

Employed Labour Force

The employed population comprises all those persons who worked for at least one hour during the survey week together with all those persons who had jobs but were not working during the survey week.  The following are considered as having worked:

1. All persons who run their own business regardless of the size of the enterprise.
2. All persons who receive a salary, wage or some kind of payment in exchange for their labour.
3. Unpaid helpers such as trainees and apprentices, family workers on commercial farms or other enterprises.
4. All persons engaged in agricultural production whether for own use or for sale.
5. All persons who worked at home such as sewing for someone outside the household, preparation of food for sale, sale of nuts, fruits, lottery tickets, etc.

The following are considered as NOT having worked:

1. All persons engaged in household duties done around the house.
2. All persons engaged in odd jobs such as gardening, cutting lawn, etc. done around the home.
3. All persons engaged in voluntary work for service organizations such as Boys Scouts, Youth Groups, etc.

Persons who worked for less than one hour during the survey week and who had no jobs are excluded from this category.

Unemployed Labour Force

The unemployed labour force refers to all those persons who, during the survey week, were (a) without work and (b) currently available for work.

Labour Force Participation Rate

Labour Force Participation Rate refers to the ratio of the total labour force over the total Non-Institutional population aged 14 years and over, i.e.

Labour Force Participation Rate = 100 x  Labour Force Population/Working Age Population

The participation rate reflects the proportion of the working age population that is willing to dedicate part of its time to economic activity.

Unemployment Rate

Unemployment Rate = 100 x Unemployed Population/(Employed Population+Unemployed Population)

Unemployment rate refers to the ratio of the unemployed over the total labour force, i.e. the percentage of the labour force that is unemployed.

Job Seeking Rate

Job Seekers are those unemployed persons who actively sought employment within the two months prior to the survey.  The Job Seeking rate refers to the ratio of the total number of job seekers over the total labour force, i.e.

Job Seeking Rate = 100 x Job Seekers/Labour Force

Persons Not in the Labour Force

This category includes all those persons aged 14 years and over who are neither employed nor unemployed.  These persons are also referred to as the Economically Inactive Population, and they include all persons who explicitly stated that they did not want work, full-time students, persons engaged in Home Duties, the Retired etc.  The difference between the figure for the Working-Age Population and the figure for the Labour Force gives the figure for the Persons Not in the Labour Force.

The sample for the Labour Force Survey (LFS) was designed to provide estimates for indicators labour force participation, unemployment, under employment, persons not in the labour force the national level, for urban and rural areas, and for six regions: Corozal District, Orange Walk District, Belize District, Cayo District, Stann Creek District Toledo District.  Disaggregation is also provided by sex, ethnicity and age groups.

The urban and rural areas within each region were identified as the main sampling strata and the sample was selected in two stages.

Within each stratum, twenty-eight census enumeration districts (ED) were selected systematically with probability proportional to size. After a household listing was carried out within the selected enumeration areas, a systematic sample of twenty-five households was drawn in each sample enumeration district.  Each ED was visited during the fieldwork period. The sample was stratified by region, urban and rural areas, and is not self-weighting. For reporting national level results, sample weights are used.

Deviations from Sample Design                     None

Response Rates

Of the 2,800 households selected for the sample, 2,113 were found to be occupied. Of these, 1,986 were successfully interviewed for a household response rate of 94.0 percent. In the interviewed households, 3,972 persons (age 14 and over) were identified. Of these, 3,655 were successfully interviewed, yielding a response rate of 92.0 percent within interviewed households.

Sample Size Calculation

Sample size of 2500 households (HH) for April LFS 2013 was calculated using the indicator, “Female Labour Force Participation rate”. Various indicators were tested and it was observed that the Female Labour Force Participation rate yielded a sample that is representative of Belize’s population.

The calculation took into account the 2010 Census population figures by District and Urban/Rural.

Table 1 Census 2010 population by district, urban/rural

Owing to the indicator used, the calculation of Sample Size required the inclusion of the Sub Population, i.e. females of working age population; figures stemming from the results of the 2012 April LFS.

Table 2 Sub-population for females 14 years or older by district

Calculation allowed for a ten percent (10%) non-response rate, with an adjustment in the form of a Design Effect (Deff) of 3 for each district.

Additionally, prevalence rates (Female Labour Force Participation Rates) used in the calculation also reflect figures from April LFS 2012 results; while, Average Household Size reflect that found in the 2010 Census.

Table 3 Prevalence of Female Participation Rates and average household sizes by district

Sample Size, then, was calculated after the error allowed per district was decided upon, along with Population and Average Household Size per district according to the 2010 Census and the Sub Population and Prevalence figures from the April 2012 LFS.

Table 4 Number of households sampled and resulting error predicted by district

Sample Size (HH) was calculated using: n=4r(1-r)f(1.1)/(e r)^2 p ñ

• r = prevalence
• 1.1 = 10% non-response
• f = design effect
• e = relative margin of error
• p = proportion of total proportion on which indicator is based
• ñ = average household size
• 4 = 95% confidence interval ~= (1.96)^2

A further break down by number of Clusters by Urban/ Rural and number of Households by Urban/Rural was also allowed for by Sample calculation, information needed in Sample Selection of Households.

Table 5 Number of clusters sampled by district and urban/rural areas

a. Total Clusters = Sample Size (HH)/25

25 is the number of HH to be selected from each cluster

b. No. of Urban Clusters = Urban Population/Population x Total Clusters

c. No. of Rural Clusters = Rural Population/Population x Total Clusters

Table 6 Number of households sampled by district and urban/rural areas

a. No. of Urban Households selected = No. of Urban Clusters x 25

b. No of Rural Households selected = No. of Rural Clusters x 25

At the second stage, households were selected within each of the clusters selected at the first stage. A total of 2,500 households were randomly selected in all six districts with 25 households to be sampled within each cluster.

The sample selection was done in a two-step process. First, to select the clusters, the sample frame was prepared from the updated database of visitation records. The sample was stratified using the 12 stratum (Urban/Rural by district). The sample was then designed to have a greater probability of sampling the larger units; thus, the probability proportional to size (PPS) without replacement method was used. The units were then defined as per the outcome in Table 5. The second step in selecting the households was completed using the simple systematic method with unit counts of 25 for each stratum. To draw the sample, a randomly chosen number was used.

To obtain population estimates, weights were attributed to each sampling region. First, the sampling regions were determined taking into consideration the district, urban/rural, sex, and age group where:

s = District * 1000 + U/R * 100 + sex * 10 + age group

District: 1 = Corozal, 2 = Orange Walk, 3 = Belize, 4 = Cayo, 5 = Stann Creek, and 6 = Toledo

U/R: 1 = Urban and 2 = Rural

Sex: 1 = Male and 2 = Female

Age group: 1 = 0 to 13

2 = 14 to 24

3 = 25 to 34

4 = 35 to 44

5 = 45 to 54

6 = 55+

P_s = population assigned to sampling region s obtained from the current mid-month estimate weighted by totals from the 2010 census.

i.e.                   P_s = E * R_s / C

where        E  = total population by district, U/R, Sex from the latest mid-month estimates

Finally, the weight for each sampling region was determined by:

W_s = P_s/N_s

where N_s = number of sample observations in sample region s.

Data Collection Dates start 2013-04-10       end 2013-05-05

Data Collection Mode Face-to-face [f2f] 

Data Collection Notes

Pre-Test: A pre-test field exercise for the LFS April 2013 was conducted on Wednesday 26^th January 2013 and Thursday 27th January 2013 in the Orange Walk District in the rural villages of Shipyard, August Pine Ridge and Trinidad and in the urban areas of San Jose Palmar and Orange Walk Town. Personnel from the Statistical Institute of Belize (SIB) were responsible for conducting the pre-test.

Training of Field Workers: Training of 49 Field Workers was conducted over a two-week period from 13th to 25^th June. Training sessions were held in Belize City at the University of Belize, Faculty of Management and Social Sciences. Participants were housed in nearby hotels. Training included plenary sessions, intensive smaller group meetings, practice sessions, one day collecting real data in the field and a final summary of the entire process. Special attention was given to editors and field supervisors. Along with the training received by all participants, these persons received special instruction on handling questionnaires, editing questionnaires and field supervision.

Secondary Editing: Secondary editing programs were not in place during the data collection phase of the survey.

Field Checking: Field checking is designed to identify any problems in the fieldwork as quickly as possible to allow correction by SIB staff. The field tables were produced prior to data collection to yield counts of selected variables from which indicators were calculated to monitor the progress of the fieldwork.

Sensitization: A sensitization campaign was executed by the SIB. The efforts include newspaper advertisements and TV messages on local TV stations nationwide.  The stations included:

1. Wake Up Belize
2. Open Your Eyes
3. Love FM 4. Belize Watch

The Mennonite communities in Corozal, Orange Walk, Stann Creek and Toledo Districts were visited by SIB staff in the week of 4th July to sensitize the leaders of those communities to the benefits of LFS and to pave the way for interviewers to their communities.

Data Entry and Data Processing

Data entry and data processing was scheduled for 3^rd April to 11^th May, 2013.  Preparation of tables and preliminary summaries were scheduled for 9^th June to 11^th July, 2013.

Questionnaires

The questionnaires for the LFS were structured questionnaires based on previous LFS 2012 questionnaires with very few modifications and additions.

A household questionnaire was administered in each household, which collected various information on household members including sex, age, relationship, ethnicity, country of birth and education.

The individual person's questionnaire includes types of training, employment and underemployment, occupation and income.

Data Collectors

Enumeration:

In April 2013, there were 54 interviewers recruited country wide to complete data collection within 4 weeks from Sunday, April 7^th to Saturday, May 4^th for a total of 2,502 sampled households (1,601 rural and 901 urban). Eighteen (18) interviewers worked in urban areas while 36 worked in rural areas. Eight Assistant Statistician IIs and 4 HQ staff acted as field supervisors in each district. Belize City was split into Northside and Southside and Cayo district was split into 2 with each district having an ASII assigned to the area. Fluent Spanish-speaking field staff from Corozal and Orange Walk conducted interviews in 3 enumeration districts (EDs) in San Pedro mainly due to having several Spanish speaking households in the island and the availability of the field staff. These interviewers were led by a temporary Field Supervisor and the Belize District Assistant Statistician II (ASII) performed spot checks. In each district, both the Assistant Statistician II and one HQ staff each had a field check day for every week, so 2 field visits were conducted per week per district. Regular office checks were also done by ASIIs. There were some EDs, for example, Little Belize in Corozal district, Indian Creek/Indian Church/San Carlos/ Kakabish in Orange Walk district, Calla Creek in Cayo district, Burrel Boom Road/Hattieville/Western Paradise and Mahogany Heights/Mile 25 in Belize district, and Trio/San Pablo/Farm 21 and 22, San Miguel/Silver Creek, Jalacte and Santa Teresa/Mahbilha in Toledo district, that were completed in teams due to far distances needed to be travelled or wide coverage.

Table 7 Distribution of interviewers and households by district and Urban/Rural

Data Processing and Editing and Coding:

In April 2013, data was collected using paper administered questionnaires. The information collected was scanned into a database with a software called Teleform. With the use of this software, precision and legibility were crucial in capturing accurate data, so interviewers were asked to use only 2B pencils to fill out questionnaires. The design of the questionnaires incorporated bubbles (to be properly shaded) and lines where necessary descriptions and specifications were needed. Interviewers were trained to write responses clearly and shade bubbles accordingly, otherwise the scanner would not pick up the responses.

After the questionnaire was checked thoroughly by the interviewer, it was checked by field supervisor, then by an editor/coder, then by an ASII, until it was scanned and verified by data entry staff. A check list was prepared for interviewers and editors/coders to follow in order to minimize errors. Eight editors/coders were stationed in each district and their role was to check the consistency of each paper questionnaire, code occupations and industries at the first digit level and advise the ASIIs of any inaccuracies. If the occupations/industries could not be coded, then questionnaires were sent back to the field for clarifications. Questionnaires that were signed by ASIIs or HQ staff were then sent to HQ to be scanned and processed through the Teleform reader. Editors/coders started the week after data collection and ended a week or two after. On average, editing/coding of questionnaires was completed in 5 weeks.

Temporary verifiers were also recruited to verify the data that had been processed by Teleform. About 2 verifiers were stationed in Belmopan and were supervised by a headquarter staff in the IT section. IT staff was responsible for trimming the edges of each questionnaire and prepare these to be processed through the scanner. Once these were processed, the software highlighted areas of the questionnaire which could not be read, so the verifiers’ role was to go through the scanned images and make necessary corrections. Verifiers worked during and after the data collection period, taking them a maximum of two weeks after data collection.

Further to the verification process, a data cleaning phase followed where excel error sheets were produced by the IT department whereby inconsistencies were captured and needed to be corrected and updated by ASIIs. This was a manual process with the use of images and cross-referenced with an Access LFS database.

There were many drawbacks to using this software since smudges or pencil marks or improper erasing would be read by the scanner. Interviewers were also strongly advised to keep questionnaires intact and avoid folding the edges. However, it was difficult for the interviewer to return a crispy and smudge free questionnaire due to the obvious working conditions: rain, mosquito swatting, walking through unavoidable mud, etc. Also, there were inconsistencies in data processing where description for a ‘main job’ spilled over the section for ‘other job’ when an individual only had one job. There were also few cases where individual questionnaires could not be tracked, even though each individual questionnaire had a barcode.

Access Authority

"Statistical Institute of Belize, Labour Force Survey April 2013 of the public use dataset (April 2013), provided by the Statistical Institute of Belize."