Introduction Stakeholder involvement ALCS 2013 14 Main Report English 20151222

3 2 SURVEY METHODOLOGY AND OPERATIONS

2.1 Introduction

The Afghanistan Living Conditions Survey 2013-14 continues the series of National Risk and Vulnerabilities Assessments NRVAs that were conducted since 2003. The name NRVA was changed to ALCS in order to reflect the full scope of development information that is covered by the survey. The methodologies applied in the ALCS 2013-14 – in terms of questionnaire and sampling design, analysis, and procedures for data collection, data capture and data processing – took into account the specific circumstances of Afghanistan. These refer to issues such as fieldwork challenges, stakeholder information needs, socio-cultural specificities, the statistical infrastructure and the implementation capacity at various levels of the survey hierarchy. At the same time, methodologies were designed as to comply with international survey recommendations and best practices. Experience gained from the previous rounds of NRVA and application of international standards resulted in some methodological changes, but as much as possible the rigour of previous achievements was maintained in order to ensure comparability over time. This chapter provides an introduction to different methodology dimensions adopted in the present round of ALCS for a better understanding of the survey results that are presented in the subject matter chapters 3 to 12. In this respect, the different sections will also highlight methodological changes compared with previous rounds.

2.2 Stakeholder involvement

As the primary aim of ALCS is to serve the information needs of data users, consultation with stakeholders has been carried out in several crucial stages of the survey to identify these needs. The stakeholders that participated in the meetings organised by CSO included line ministries and government agencies, 1 UN and other international organisations, 2 bilateral donors, 3 and academic and research bodies. These meetings also dealt with the sustainability and long-term perspective of the ALCS as Afghanistan’s most important instrument for producing socio-economic information see Section 2.3. Further stakeholder meetings were organised to discuss the ALCS tabulation and analysis plan and the outline of this final report January 2015. In addition to these meetings, a number of key stakeholders were present in the ALCS Steering Committee to supervise the work progress and recommend specific actions. Similarly, relevant stakeholders participated in the Technical Advisory Committee TAC to scrutinise methodological and technical matters and provide input if and when required. Members of the Steering Committee and TAC are mentioned in Annex I. 1 MRRD, MAIL, MoPH, MoE, MoLSAMD, MoWA, MoEW, MoEc, MoF, MoUDA, AUWSSC 2 WFP, WB, UNICEF, UNFPA, UNDP, ILO, UNDP, UNHCR, WHO, FAO, ADB 3 EU, DfID, GIZ 4

2.3 Questionnaire design