Last Updated on October 31, 2020, 7:19 AM AST by Anthony Morris
The 2021 Population and Housing Census in the Federation of St Kitts and Nevis would be made more accessible because of the introduction of digital tools.
Corneil Williams, Social Statistician in the Ministry of Sustainable Development, said that they are fortunate that they are shifting to a paperless system. He added that next year, they would use CAPI- Computer-Assisted Personal Interviews and tablets. So, the Samsung tablets would be the instrument that they would utilize.
He informed that the questionnaires are electronic, and it is in software named Service Solution where it is dynamic.
A paper-based system named Paper-Assisted Personal Interviews (PAPI) was used in past censuses. Interviewers used thick sheets of paper to collect data manually. He said that the introduction of CAPI is welcomed.
Mr Williams noted that one of the issues in the past involved the tedious task of having to take data manually and having to make a note of changes.
He used the examples of age and gender, noting that the question differs if you are a female or a male, 15 years and under or older.
Once the process was done manually, the interviewer had to identify the questions for the relevant gender and ask accordingly. However, the introduction of CAPI would solve these issues easily.
Mr Williams said that now with CAPI, this would be solved easily.
Once someone indicates male, CAPI streamlines down to male-oriented questions, and after the age is indicated as 15 and under or 15 plus, the CAPI streamlines further and guides the persons accordingly based on each response which they get.
He added that what CAPI does for us is that it reduces errors drastically. Not only that, CAPI increases the speed at which we can go from collecting data to providing information to people exponentially.
Mr Williams also said that there is a process which takes place before the data is collected.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
