Household Survey 2004

Upon developing the target number of households to be interviewed, interviewers were then dispersed to their respective municipality to interview households. Subsequent to receiving the actual listing of MVP registrants, within each municipality, a random set of individuals whose households should be interviewed was pulled from the listing using a computer program. This random list was then assigned to interviewers in each municipality. In addition to the list of target sample households, interviewers were given a random list of replacement households in the event of non-response (due to refusal, poor address information, or migration of the household).

The data is collected in face-to-face interviewers by a core set of interviewers, about 36, who are in most cases from the municipality in which they work. Given that ISSP retain a large share of interviewers, the majority of interviewers now have considerable experience in fielding the questionnaire. For approaching Roma community, Roma interviewers were hired. The field work lasted about 2-3 weeks starting from May 4 till May 22, 2004.

Pilot Test
The questionnaire was field tested in mid April 2004 in Podgorica, Bijelo Polje and Kotor by the core ISSP team and the local teams. The pilot testing covered all sections. The pilot was done by three teams, one per region. The north team tested the agricultural/environment module, the south team the employment module, and the team in central part the labor and health module including remaining parts (food and non-food consumption, and household roster). The questionnaire was then updated following the results of the testing.
Training
The interviewer training began on April 15 and finished on April 18, and it took place in Podgorica, capital of Montenegro. Training was organized with three days of classroom training and one day of hands-on fieldwork practice. Both the classroom training and the fieldwork practice served also as pilot tests for the questionnaires that were revised as the training proceeded.

Approximately 40 people took part in the training. The training also covered logistics, and the plans for the fieldwork, including lists of the households, and instructions on visiting households. The supervisors received an additional 30 minute specific training session each day, plus and extra day of training shortly before the beginning of the survey work in the field on May 4.

Fieldwork
Teams of interviewers have been created per municipality. Each team had one supervisor and, generally, three to eight interviewers. The supervisors were all chosen from permanent ISSP staff, and almost all had experience in supervising surveys on the field.
The monitoring of the entire fieldwork process was ensured by the core team in Podgorica, maintaining constant contact with the supervisors by telephone, tracking the progress and keeping apprised of any problems, and traveling to the field as necessary.
The fact that ISSP has good reputation in Montenegro and has been engaged in data collection on households in last 3 years, in addition to the staff of well-trained interviewers, resulted in low rate of refusal. Less then 5% of approached households refused to participate in this exercise.