Sampling methodology and field work changes in the October Household Surveys and Labour Force Surveys

Abstract

The 1999 October Household Survey was the first time that Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) introduced a master sample of Enumeration Areas (Stats SA, 2000a). There were several important changes in sampling and field worker practice that accompanied the introduction of the master sample of EAs, which have not been systematically documented , and which make comparability of the surveys undertaken before and after this time difficult. We document these changes in this research note and provide evidence that these changes were partly responsible for the odd trends in the total number of single person households estimated from the October Household Surveys (OHSs) and Labour Force Surveys (LFSs), noted in Wittenberg and Collinson (2007) and Pirouz (2005), as well as rapid increases in employment, in the late 1990s.