TOOL NO 5: SURVEY-DESIGN⁵³, DATA COLLECTION⁵⁴ & SAMPLING METHOD: CASE EXAMPLE FROM UNDP UKRAINE

This tool is provided by UNDP Ukraine. The Autonomous Republic of Crimea is the region where the surveys were conducted. It is a multi-ethnic region of the Ukraine, comprised primarily of ethnic Russians, Ukrainians, Crimean Tatars and of numerous other minorities.

Using this tool:

This tool provides a useful example of the rationale, processes and outputs of data collection on ethnic groups. It complements Tool 4 by demonstrating the application of many of the principles of good practice in ethnic data collection and how to operationalize them.

If current public records and statistics do not provide reliable data based on ethnic demographic divisions, statistical evidence drawing on existing data cannot be an option. Since ethnicity is a key demographic category within the Crimean region, it would be beneficial for ongoing monitoring of social inclusion and cohesion at the structural level to ensure that future public statistical data includes an ethnic profile.

Priority needs to be given to the collection of comparable and concrete data on social conditions linked to economics, land/housing/living and education issues. These are currently pressing areas of concern and at the forefront of general discourse. The data collection needs to occur once and be repeated following a period of 1-1.5 years to compare changes in the socio-economic situation. This data will only be useful if the initial preliminary results are examined thoroughly and strategic plans and objectives are devised and rolled out to address the potential disparities and inequalities observed in the data collected. The scale of data collection would need to be across Crimea’s population, including all districts and cities. As the aim is to understand differences between various key demographic subgroups and ensure an overview of the general population of the region, the use of a stratified random sampling method⁵⁵ is advised.

To allow for a margin of error of 2% and a confidence rate of 95% with regard to the comparable data collected, the following steps are advised:

1. Outline the population size within each district/city (“Area unit”) stratified according to the 3 majority ethnic subgroups with percentage of population size above 0.4 % of total country population size.

2. Calculate 0.97% of total population in each ethnic subgroup of every district. This is the size sample group you would need to randomly select.

3. To ensure that the data collection adds up to 0.97%, estimate the respond rate and based on that, increase the number of each sample size.

A Multi-Subject Household Survey design approach is proposed, dealing with a number of subject matters in one survey. A representative adult parent/guardian within the household could be requested to participate in the survey. In order to ensure a gender balance among participants in the survey, the individuals responsible for administering the surveys will have to ensure that, ideally, 50% of those representative adult parents/guardians approached within the randomly selected households be female and 50% male. This may be an essential guideline given during roll-out in each area unit. As long as the results show balanced representation of both genders that would be sufficient to ensure both female and male respondents.

Since every district would need to be involved in the implementation of this plan, the approach for the collection of data may differ in each locality depending on the conditions. It is essential that the government institutions at the city and district levels including all Local Councils and identified civil servants in each region be fully involved in the implementation of this monitoring plan. UNDP’s Crimean Integration and Development Programme (CIDP) would need to function as a facilitator to ensure its effective roll-out and provide guidance and orientation. In order to ensure local ownership and practical applicability, government institutions must be consulted to determine the final approach. The proposed approach for the collection of the data involves a combination of the following, which may vary according to area unit:

• Delivery of surveys by post or hand delivery to be filled out in written form (in cities/urban areas)
• House visits and one-on-one interviews (rural areas)

It is essential to note that this process will not be effectively implemented unless an officially authorized individual representing a state institution (i.e. Village District Council, etc.) is involved in administering and collecting the data. No UNDP-CIDP field officer should be solely involved in any district unless absolutely deemed appropriate. As it is out of the cultural norm for sensitive issues to be discussed publicly, the necessity to engage the government institutions in every step of consultation and implementation cannot be overemphasised.

Preparatory Phase

To ensure an effective and quality survey collection plan, it would be beneficial for the following steps to be put into effect:

1) Thorough review and finalization of the survey design and data collection plan by an identified Working Group composed of UNDP-CIDP Team and key representatives among stakeholders and Government representatives. The mandate of the Working Group is:

• To ensure that the finalized design and plan is fully applicable and appropriate to the Crimean context
• To devise and launch an operational plan in partnership with relevant authorities at the district/City Councils

2) Conducting a field pre-test of the draft survey questionnaire involving 10 family units to test its usability

Structural Indicators for Assessing Discrimination

In order to assess discrimination at the structural level, indicators of social cohesion and inclusion need to be defined. Discrimination and exclusion towards any demographic subgroup can be measured when an unequal treatment is observed in the results of comparable data within various population subgroups.

In the Crimean context, indicators of social inclusion and cohesion may be outlined as follows:

Economic Issues:

a. Free open private entrepreneurship – equal opportunity to register and run a private enterprise.

Comparison among ethnic and economic subgroups and within various localities measuring:

• Equal treatment in relation to time-span and requirements for registering private businesses
• Equal treatment within a sector in relation to frequency and nature of inspection of private business (note: variation may naturally be observed among various sectors, for example, the agricultural sector might be more often inspected than the industry sector)
  

Data Collection Tool: Multi-Subject House-hold Survey Design

b. Equal ethnic representation in labour force proportional to ethnic population with qualified professional skills

Comparison among ethnic populations, mea-suring:

• Equal treatment in relation to job opportunities for skilled professionals in various institutions in the public and private sectors
  

Land Issues:

a. Similar processing times for land requests among all ethnic groups

b. Equal access to basic housing conditions

Comparison among ethnic and economic subgroups, measuring:

• Equal treatment in processing land requests
• Differences in relation to distribution of land location
• Equal treatment in providing basic access to heat, water, electricity and adequate roads
  

Data Collection Tool: Multi-Subject Survey Design

Education Issues:

a. Universal access to primary education

b. Equal access proportional to ethnic population in relation to native language textbook materials and classes

c. Equal access proportional to all ethnic populations in relation to pre-service and in-service training resources in all native language groups in Crimea

d. Cross-curricular formal integration of a “Culture of Peace” dialogue in the school curriculum and programme

Comparison among ethnic populations, measuring:

• Equal treatment in the production of native language textbooks and inclusion of native language classes within an extent proportional to needs of each ethnic population
• Equal treatment in the development of native language pre-service and in-service training resources to an extent proportional to the needs of each ethnic population
• Equal treatment in relation to access to education

Data Collection Tool: Existing public records/reports and Multi-Subject Survey Design

Governance Issues:

a. Equal representation proportional to ethnic populations at the state, district and local levels

Comparison among ethnic populations, mea suring:

• Equal representation in professional and political appointments within government institutions
  

Data Collection Tool: Existing public records/reports

Social Security Issues:

a. Equal access to social security and governmental programmes

Comparison among ethnic populations, measuring:

• Equal treatment in relation to access to social security, health, government subsidies, etc.
  

Data Collection Tool: Multi-Subject House hold Survey

Religious Rights Issues:

a. Return of old confiscated sites for places of worships as claimed by all represented religious communities

b. Inclusion of law that ensures the right of any religious community to openly worship while respecting the rights of other communities

Data Collection Tool: Existing public records/reports