Quick Dips

Computer Queries

Interviewers from Statistics New Zealand may soon be armed with computer notebooks rather than the customary clipboard. The department is investigating the use of small computers and communications technology to speed up the gathering of statistics and make the process more accurate.

At present, there are some 200 field interviewers who undertake a host of surveys, some with as many as 1,000 individual questions. Huge quantities of paper are generated by each survey, from the initial question development and interview management through to the checking of results once interviews have been completed.

Debra Taylor, a senior mathematical statistician, says that the new technology will enable interviewers to enter the data and run it through a checking routine as the interview progresses. Sophisticated software will cross-check responses and alert the interviewer if it spots possible inconsistencies -- a married 14-year-old, for example.

New or amended questions could be sent to each interviewer via floppy disk or through a modem, and results could be returned the same way. This would be quicker and more secure than physically transporting pieces of paper. It also gives the department the means to change questions more easily, says Taylor.

The main thing holding back implementation is balancing the costs of the new technology against all the other demands on the department's budget. To avoid any possibility of introducing data biases, all staff would need to be equipped at once.