Labor Force Survey 2012

The sampling design of the Labor Force Survey (LFS) uses the sampling design of the 2003 Master Sample (MS) for Household Surveys that started July 2003.

Sampling Frame

As in most household surveys, the 2003 MS used an area sample design. The Enumeration Area Reference File (EARF) of the 2000 Census of Population and Housing (CPH) was utilized as sampling frame. The EARF contains the number of households by enumeration area (EA) in each barangay. This frame was used to form the primary sampling units (PSUs). With consideration of the period for which the 2003 MS will be in use, the PSUs were formed/defined as a barangay or a combination of barangays with at least 500 households.

Stratification Scheme

Startification involves the division of the entire population into non-overlapping subgroups called starta. Prior to sample selection, the PSUs in each domain were stratified as follows:

1. All large PSUs were treated as separate strata and were referred to as certainty selections (self-representing PSUs). A PSU was considered large if it has a large probability of selection.
2. All other PSUs were then stratified by province, highly urbanized city (HUC) and independent component city (ICC).
3. Within each province/HUC/ICC, the PSUs were further stratified or grouped with respect to some socio-economic variables that were related to poverty incidence. These variables were: (a) the proportion of strongly built houses (PSTRONG); (b) an indication of the proportion of households engaged in agriculture (AGRI); and (c) the per-capita income (PERCAPITA).

Sample Selection

To have some control over the subsample size, the PSUs were selected with probability proportional to some estimated measure of size. The size measure refers to the total number of households from the 2000 CPH. Because of the wide variation in PSU sizes, PSUs with selection probabilities greater than 1 were identified and were included in the sample as certainty selections.

At the second stage, enumeration areas (EAs) were selected within sampled PSUs, and at the third stage, housing units were selected within sampled EAs. Generally, all households in sampled housing units were enumerated, except for few cases when the number of households in a housing unit exceeds three. In which case, a sample of three households in a sampled housing unit was selected at random with equal probability.

An EA is defined as an area with discernable boundaries within barangays, consisting of about 150 contiguous households. These EAs were identified during the 2000 CPH. A housing unit is a structurally separate and independent place of abode which, by the way it has been constructed, converted, or arranged, is intended for habitation by a household

Sample Size

The 2003 Master Sample consist of a sample of 2,835 PSUs of which 330 were certainty PSUs and 2,505 were non certainty PSUs. The number of households for the 2000 CPH was used as measure of size. The entire MS was divided into four sub-samples or independent replicates, such as a quarter sample contains one fourth of the PSUs found in one replicate; a half-sample contains one-half of the PSUs in two replicates. Thus, the survey covers a nationwide sample of about 51,000 households deemed sufficient to measure the levels of employment and unemployment at the national and regional levels.

Strategy for non-response

Replacement of sample households within the sample housing units is allowed only if the listed sample households had moved out of the housing unit. Replacement should be the household currently residing in the sample housing unit previously occupied by the original sample.