Statisticians can find themselves in dangerous places. Kim Bradford Smith shares her experience working on population surveys in Afghanistan. As a government statistician, I have overseen population surveys and censuses in many countries during my career. Invariably this includes observing the work of interviewers out in the field – checking that the right doors are knocked on, that interviews have taken place and that they have been conducted in the correct way. But, before arriving in Afghanistan in July 2013 to provide support to the country's Central Statistical Office (CSO), I had never had to observe the fieldwork process from the inside of a four-tonne armoured vehicle.

That is a challenge in itself, certainly, but only one of many that are present when attempting to count the population of a country that has spent several decades in the grip of conflict, where security in many provinces cannot be guaranteed, and where attempts to govern are often hamstrung by various competing factions or tribal interests.