World Bank and OECS conduct Regional Microdata Documentation Workshop

The World Bank, in collaboration with the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Commission, conducted an OECS Microdata Documentation Regional Workshop during the week 13-17 February, 2017. The workshop was organised to support the implementation of the OECS Regional Strategy for Development in Statistics (RSDS) and to respond to requests of OECS Member States expressed at the Eighth Living Standards Measurement Committee (8th LSMC) Meeting.

The main objective of the five-day workshop was to provide training on the international standards used for the preservation and documentation of survey and census data. The training utilised a Metadata Editor to prepare documentation according to the Data Documentation International (DDI). The DDI is an international standard used in survey archives around the world and involves sessions of instruction by facilitators, as well as practical sessions, where participants have an opportunity to document surveys from their various agencies.

It is the hope of the planning committee that, after the week-long session, participants would have gained the skills needed to document and preserve survey microdata according to international standards and subsequently produce documentation for surveys from their agencies.

The workshop, held at the Coco Palm Resort in Gros Islet, Saint Lucia, was facilitated by a team from the World Bank who manage the World Bank’s Microdata Library and the International Household Survey Network survey catalog. Participants included a four-member delegation from the OECS Commission and representatives from National Statistics Offices (NSOs) within the OECS Region with responsibility for the preservation and dissemination of survey data and results.