-For Local Multidimensional Poverty Indicator Survey
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has supported the conduct of an intensive data validation to address missing or truncated information from the local poverty index data collection process by the Liberia Institute for Statistics & Geo-Information Service (LISGIS).
This is part of Phase One of the Community-Based Local Multidimensional Poverty Indicator (CB-LMPI) survey. The validation aimed to identify and rectify data discrepancies and was used as an opportunity to share field experiences on data cleanup. It is a follow-up on engaging communities to address issues of incomplete or truncated data collected.
The exercise held in Nimba and Gbarpolu counties brought together over 25 participants from counties who participated in the recent survey at various locations. The primary aim was to lay a solid foundation for designing a robust household survey instrument for data collection across selected electoral districts in Bomi, Bong, Cape Mount, Gbarpolu, Lofa, Nimba, and Rivercess Counties.
It can be recalled that last year, UNDP supported LISGIS to collect qualitative data focusing on rural community poverty dimensions aligning with the development of local Multidimensional Poverty Indexes (MPIs) in Liberia, emphasizing a co-creation approach.
The process was designed to capture the subjective experiences and perspectives of individuals, households, and communities regarding the root causes and dynamics of poverty. It was followed by a validation and training workshop in January this year on Local Poverty Measurement which facilitated the development of questionnaires for the field deployment of digital data collectors in selected communities.
During the data submission process, critical questions were found unanswered or answered incompletely, resulting in missing or truncated data. This issue, attributed to enumerator oversights, respondent non-responses, or technical glitches, poses a significant challenge to the completeness and accuracy of the collected information.
It is in this regard that the data validation workshop held March 11- 24, 2024 in Ganta and Gbarpolu became relevant. Speaking during the exercise, UNDP National Economic Specialist Stanley Kamara, explained that to address the data discrepancies, enumerators are tasked with revisiting forms, contacting respondents for missing information, and reviewing their notes and records to complete data entry.
