CSO staff in training to use software to aid in interviews

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Staff at the Central Statistical Office (CSO) are expected to benefit from training in the use of the Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI) software.

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is partnering with the CSO to conduct the training.

The software uses tablets and other electronic devices as a data collection method.

A statement from the Planning Ministry said the need for training of Continuous Sample Survey of the Population (CSSP) and field staff is important given that the sampling design for the CSSP Labour Force Survey was recently upgraded.

The ministry said this redesign would empower the CSO to disseminate accurate, timely and relevant labour market information.

“Further, the modernized sampling design will facilitate a ranking of each community in the country according to the factors of social vulnerability,” the ministry added.

It said to bring this project out of the design stage and into full fruition, additional training, guidance and monitoring by a specialised survey statistician is required who has already been sourced .

The ministry said the CSSP is the largest inter-censal exercise currently undertaken by the CSO.

The CSO yesterday joined regional statistical institutions and Caribbean Statistical Offices in observing Caribbean Statistics Day .

On October 20, the CSO will also commemorate World Statistics Day with National Statistical Organisations all around the world.

The General Assembly of the United Nations designated this day as ‘World Statistics Day’ to acknowledge the importance of reliable, timely and impartial statistics in supporting evidence informed policy.

The ministry noted that in the midst of these observations, while much of the work of the CSO has been stymied by the COVID-19 pandemic, and some of the key surveys postponed, the CSO has been working on solutions.

It said over 100 officers have been trained in Computer-Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI) software, which will soon replace paper based surveys.