Assistant Director of the Department of Censuses, Surveys and Statistical Methods at the Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA) Saud Matar Al Shammari, expected the final results for the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS), which is currently being conducted, to be announced by the end of the fourth quarter of the year 2023.
In an interview with the Qatar News Agency , Al Shammari explained that the survey aims to collect accurate data on the main indicators that are used to assess the situation of children and women in the State of Qatar, as a major source of data on child protection issues, maternal and child health, early childhood education, and child nutrition.
In the same context, Al Shammari pointed out that the survey also contributes to providing valuable data to monitor the progress made towards achieving the sustainable development goals, which are based on the household survey.
On aspects of cooperation and coordination with the concerned authorities in the country and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to achieve it, he said that a steering committee for the survey was formed, represented by the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MOEHE) and the Qatar Foundation for Social Work, where it supervises its implementation, approves its action plan, and undertakes the task of forming and following up the work of the technical committee, which in turn undertakes the responsibility of preparing and preparing for the implementation of the survey.
He indicated that the Planning and Statistics Authority had signed a cooperation agreement with UNICEF to implement it, according to which the organization would provide the necessary technical support for the various stages of implementation in order to make the project a success.
In terms of the steps taken by the agency to accomplish the task efficiently and competently, he confirmed the completion of all preparatory stages for the survey in terms of preparing the final survey form, programming its systems, the implementation of workshops for the technical teams participating in it, and the training of researchers in the data collection phase. A pre-experiment was also carried out to test the systems used in the survey, and the field visit phase is currently being implemented to collect data from families.
Regarding the specificity of the field work stage, which started on June 20, Al Shammari described it as one of the most important stages of the cluster survey project, which is implemented by the agency according to the UNICEF methodology. It relies on conducting personal interviews with the households participating in the survey sample to collect the required data.
He stressed that the agency’s commitment to implementing the survey in accordance with this methodology would contribute to extracting reliable results comparable to the results of the survey in its previous version, carried out in 2012, as well as with the results of other countries that carried out the same survey.
He pointed out that the percentage of completion monitored by the device from the total target sample is high, accordingly, the authority praises the remarkable cooperation of households with researchers during the current version of the 2023 survey.
With regard to the work of the field teams and the mechanism for monitoring their progress, Al Shammari indicated that an operations room was equipped to review and audit the data received from the field, to ensure its rationality and comprehensiveness, and to control the quality of work. The results and reports are then extracted on a daily basis, in the form of tables, graphs and geographical maps.
Assistant Director of the Department of Censuses, Surveys and Statistical Methods added that the statistical work is being audited in all its stages. The coordinates of the data received from the field from researchers and supervisors are also checked with the coordinates of the geographical database, in addition to directing field workers about their performance and correcting errors to complete deficiencies in the collected data.
On his evaluation of previous surveys, and the extent of household response to the teams assigned to complete them, Al Shammari pointed out that the agency follows, when preparing and implementing statistical surveys, the methodologies approved by specialized international organizations, and this is reflected positively on the response rates observed when conducting interviews with families, and on the quality of the results drawn.
At the end of his interview with QNA, the Assistant Director of the Department of Censuses, Surveys and Statistical Methods thanked all the families participating in the survey for their cooperation with the field work teams, emphasizing that all data obtained will be treated with strict confidentiality, and will only be used for the purposes of survey and statistical study, according to Amiri Decision No. 2 of 2011 regarding official statistics, noting that field female researchers carry an official identification card issued by the Planning and Statistics Authority, and the identity of the researcher can be verified by calling the toll-free number 8000800.
Source: Qatar News Agency