2007 October Labour Force Survey Starts

The Economics and Statistics Office is seeking the public's co-operation in the twice-yearly labour force survey which gets underway on Sunday, 7 October 2007, in Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac. The survey, which will be conducted over a six-week period, provides government with important data on labour market trends.

"For the analysis of the labour force, the survey is conducted during the same period each year. One of the major benefits of repeating the survey is the ability to look at trends," explained Director of the Economics and Statistics Office Maria Zingapan. The labour force survey was first done in 1991.

The survey is carried out by random sampling of households, meaning that only a certain percentage of households will be surveyed, and those selected to participate will be picked via a computer purely by chance.

Miss. Zingapan said that interviews will be carried out by 12 interviewers deployed in Grand Cayman and two in Cayman Brac. Interviewers will be contacting members of the public mostly in the evenings and on weekends, and can be identified by a photo identification card, she said.

"Most of the interviewers are employed during the day, and as such make the majority of their calls in the evenings and on weekends, as this is often the best time to find persons at home," she said.

In encouraging the participation of the public, Miss. Zingapan underscored that "the Economics and Statistics Office has always placed a high priority on confidentiality and is committed to continuing this tradition."

"Most of the interviewers have had previous experience conducting surveys in the Cayman Islands and will have completed additional training prior to the start of field work," she said.

All interviewers are required to take an oath or make an affirmation under the Statistics Law regarding confidentiality, she said. Further underscoring the premium on confidentiality, she noted that questionnaires are destroyed after the data is entered into a computer program, and no information is ever entered which would allow someone to be able to link the data with the individual respondent.

"The Economics and Statistics Office has always had a good response rate to this survey and we hope this tradition will continue," Miss. Zingapan concluded.

2007 October LFS Questionnaire