The survey involved the collection of data on the demographic and economic characteristics of the population. It covered 500 sample villages or a total of 5000 sample households nationwide.

The scope of the survey with respect to items of information is as follows:

1. Part I - For all persons

a) Relationship to Household Head
b) Age
c) Sex

2. Part II - For Persons 10 Years and Over

a)  Education (Current School Attendance and Highest  Educational
     Attainment)       
b)  Current Activity (Past Week)
c)  Primary Occupation
d)  Economic Activity or Industry
e)  Nature and Status of Employment
f)   Remuneration, Earnings and Commissions Received
g)  Hours Worked
h)  Availability for /Seeking Additional Work
i)   Reasons for not Being Available for Work

The sample consisted of 500 villages sampled from 12,739 villages in Cambodia. Then from each sample village, a fix sample of 10 households was taken using circular systematic sampling with a random start. Table  showed the number of villages from the 1999 CSES truncated frame and the number of sample villages by province.

Fieldwork was conducted for two weeks from November 12 to November 26, 2001. Data collection involved the following activities: mapping, canvassing, plotting, listing and enumeration. Mapping entailed drawing of a sketch map of the enumeration area, which may be an entire village or a segment of a village randomly selected, taking into account the boundaries and physical features of the area. Canvassing was a door-to-door visit in the entire enumeration area to look for enumeration units (households) to be listed to ensure a complete coverage of the area. Plotting involved listing or drawing of buildings and households on the map using specified symbols. Listing involved the listing of all households -recording the name of household head, address and number of members by sex - in the village or a village segment using a specified form (LFS Form 1). Enumeration involved the interview of 10 sample households selected systematically from the list drawn using the LFS questionnaire (LFS Form 2).

Data processing involved manual and machine processing. Manual processing involved organizing of questionnaires into folios, checking for the correctness of entries in the forms and consistency between responses and assigning of numeric codes. For industrial and occupational classifications, the UN International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC) 1990 version and the International Standard Classification of Occupation (ISCO) were used.

Machine processing involved data entry, processing, editing and tabulation using microcomputers. For this survey, 4 manual processors and 5 machine encoders including supervisor were involved.

Limitations of the Data

The data were gathered through a sample survey and are therefore subject to sampling and non-sampling errors. Sampling errors are those that are related to the size of the sample and the kind of samples selected. Non-sampling errors are those such as arising from errors committed by the interviewers in recording information, response errors and encoding or processing errors.