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Code of Practice for Household Surveys

Lack of coordination among survey producers and sponsors has resulted in inefficiencies (duplication of activities, lack of support in some countries) and other issues (poor comparability of data, quality issues, conflicting technical advice, etc).

Improving survey coordination is one of the objectives of the IHSN.. Coordination must be driven by a commonly agreed set of rules and an associated enforcement mechanism. Observance of a common Code of Practice by all stakeholders involved in the implementation of national and international survey programs would foster a more coherent and effective statistical systems that meet the needs of governments and society.

A Code of Practice is not a guarantee of data quality and availability, but adherence would contribute to making system more efficient and cost-effective. Problems of under-funding of survey programs, provision of contradictory technical advice, low technical capacity, low perceived integrity, etc. are problems that will be better solved within the framework that a key set of principles and agreed practice would provide.

Project status: Open
Sponsor(s): DFID Trust Fund No TF011722 administered by the World Bank
Implemented by: World Bank and IHSN partner agencies (coordinated by the IHSN Secretariat)
Type of output: Code of Practice (on-line document) endorsed by IHSN member agencies and others, with related guidelines
Activities: The IHSN Secretariat has drafted a tentative list of Core Principles and associated survey practices, based on a comparison of multiple existing Codes. This DRAFT document is shared below. The IHSN Secretariat welcomes comments and suggestions.
Expected completion date: 2016

The document proposes a list of 15 core principles and associated practices that would form a Code of Practice for Household Surveys. The objective of such a Code would be to establish a better environment for coordination and coordination of survey sponsors and producers in developing countries. This document is a DRAFT for discussion.
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