Sampling Procedure
For all four Central Asian countries in this survey, the sampling procedure is a three-stage stratified clustered one. Census data on the territorial dispersion of the population is used as the base to start the sampling methodology. The sampling procedure takes the total population of the country, considers geographic units within the country as either urban or rural, and then develops random procedures to select who to survey in three stages: first by randomly selected smaller geographic urban and units in each province (the primary sampling units or PSUs), second randomly chosing households within these units, and third, to randomly select which household member to interview in each household.
The sampling frame used to divide these four countries into smaller geographic units to randomly sample from differs slightly for each Central Asian country, based on differences in data availability on the population of the country and its dispersion. Subsequent sections explain the sampling methodology used and how this sampling frame differs in each country. Then all four countries have PSUs, random selection of households, and random sampling of individuals within households using the same methods.
Tajikistan has 4 provinces, with the city of Dushanbe then considered a separate fifth province. These provinces have 58 districts, with 17 cities and 7 settlements ("posyolok") of provincal submission. Districts incorporate rural settlements or villages, which are incorporated into rural districts ("djamoat dekhot" and "poselkovyi djamoat"). In total there are 23 cities (17 cities of provincal submission and 6 cities of district submission), 47 settlements (7 settlements of provincal submission and 40 settlements of district submission), 356 djamoat and 3,803 villages. The population of Tajikistan was 6,187,561 people, of whom 1,686,095 (27%) were urban, and 4,501,466 (73%) were rural as of January 20, 2000.
Several remote or inaccessible districts were excluded from the sample from since they are practically impossible to get to due to their remote location or absence of transportation. These are three districts in Sogd province, that have a population of 248,290 people, which is 0.1% o f the urban population of the country and 5.5% of the rural population - a total of 4.01% percent of the country.
The sampling frame for Tajikistan is based on the list of small territorial units (primary sampling units - PSUs) of three types:
- Villages - rural settlements subordinate to djamoats, each is a separate PSU.
- Parts of large rural settlements, divided into populations of between 2,504 and 4,835 inhabitants as separate PSUs.
- Parts of large urban settlements, divided into populations of between 2,450 and 4,903 inhabitants as separate PSUs.
- Like Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, the sampling is three-stage stratified clustered sampling for Tajikistan. First, proportionate stratification is done by the population of provinces, with proportionate stratification by urban/rural population within provinces (except the city of Dushanbe which is all urban) and then a PPS-sampling of PSUs within these urban and rural strata. Second, sequential random sampling of households (Secondary Sampling Units - SSUs) is done in selected PSUs. Third, Kish grids are used to sample respondents within households.
For Tajikistan, 56 PSUs are randomly selected from the sampling frame, and between 7 people (for urban areas in Gorno-Badakhshan, which is a tiny proportion of the urban population of the country) and 29 respondent interviewed in each.
The sample distribution of the main demographic characteristics can be compared with census data from 1989 (with data from 2000 used instead in the nationality section). These data have changed substantially over fifteen years and the dramatic change in the economy, society, and polity with the civil war and other changes that have accompanied independence. The data are weighted, which somewhat reduces the typical disproportionate probability of selection of men and youth.
In comparison with the 2000 census nationality data, the number of Uzbeks has grown and the number of people of other nationalities (especially Russians) has appreciably diminished. This is due to high levels of unemployment and increased migration of Tajik men to Russia for work and, on the contrary, the settled way of life of many Uzbeks who have remained in agriculture. Second, census data overestimates the proportion of the titular nationality since belonging to this nation provides advantages in employment, careers, and education. In opinion polls, when no supporting documentation is required, respondents preferred to name their ethnicity as that which they actually identify themselves.