The Census of April 2001: How will the enumerators work?

In the first half of April there will be a census in Albania, the first since the year 1989. In no more than two weeks all houses, apartments, and other abodes where people live will be visited. The inhabitants will be asked a certain number of questions, and forms will be filled out. The results ultimately will be processed in Tirana, to obtain detailed information about the total population, and its distribution over the more than 3.000 cities and villages of our country. Many tables concerning education, occupations, the housing situation, and more, will be produced. How does the Institute of Statistics make sure that nobody is overlooked?

Long before the Census, INST A T has begun collecting, comparing, and updating detailed maps for as many areas as possible. These maps need to be very detailed, since preferably they show every house and building. On these maps the Census cartographers draw the borders of areas that can be covered by a single enumerator. Preferably the areas have easy-to-find boundaries, such as roads or waterways. In each area there should be about 80 to loo households. Usually this number of households can be easily interviewed in the available time.

Before the interviews, the enumerators introduce themselves to village elders or other local authorities. They also meet with their neighbour enumerators, to decide, if in doubt, who will take care of this or that building. For each dwelling in their territory the enumerators ask the occupants permission to place a numbered sticker on or close to the dwelling. This will indicate which dwellings are being covered, and will immediately show a second enumerator that his colleague has already been there. If a dwelling has no sticker, while all neighbours carry one, the dwelling may have been missed. If you live in such a dwelling, please contact the enumerator or inform the Census office of your Municipality or Commune!

It has been impossible to obtain or produce detailed maps for some parts of Albania. These are mostly rural areas. In those cases INST AT has collected and reviewed Lists of households. The enumerator receives the list of households he or she has to take care of. An important task then is to locate those households where they live, and to place a sticker on the dwellings. Again, if you did not see an enumerator and your house has no sticker, please contact the Census staff.

It may be that none of the occupants of a dwelling is home when the enumerator calls. He will then try to leave a message saying when he intends to visit again. The enumerator will try at least three times to collect the information.

Despite all the efforts, some people will probably not be counted, and a few may be counted twice. INST A T makes every effort to keep the error rates as low as possible. Much depends on the willingness of every person in Albania to co-operate in this big task. Being enumerated, and enumerated correctly, is in everybody's interest. The single purpose of the census is for all concerned to know the conditions in the country better, so that policies and planning can become more effective, and assist the people where they are. This concerns schools, roads, electricity, telephone, medical facilities as well as many other services from government and private sources.