STEP Skills Measurement Household Survey 2012 (Wave 1) - Lao PDR

Abstract
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The STEP (Skills Toward Employment and Productivity) Measurement program is the first ever initiative to generate internationally comparable data on skills available in developing countries. The program implements standardized surveys to gather information on the supply and distribution of skills and the demand for skills in labor market of low-income countries.

The uniquely-designed Household Survey includes modules that measure the cognitive skills (reading, writing and numeracy), socio-emotional skills (personality, behavior and preferences) and job-specific skills (subset of transversal skills with direct job relevance) of a representative sample of adults aged 15 to 64 living in urban areas, whether they work or not. The cognitive skills module also incorporates a direct assessment of reading literacy based on the Survey of Adults Skills instruments. Modules also gather information about family, health and language.

Geographic coverage
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The STEP target population is the urban population aged 15 to 64 included. Lao PDR sampled both urban and rural areas (with road) of the country.
Areas are classified as rural or urban based on each country's official definition.

Analysis unit
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The units of analysis are the individual respondents and households. A household roster is undertaken at the start of the survey and the individual respondent is randomly selected among all household members aged 15 to 64 included. The random selection process was designed by the STEP team and compliance with the procedure is carefully monitored during fieldwork.

Universe
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The STEP target population is the population aged 15 to 64 included, living in urban areas, as defined by each country's statistical office.
Are excluded from the sample:
- Residents of institutions (prisons, hospitals, etc)
- Residents of senior homes and hospices
- Residents of other group dwellings such as college dormitories, halfway homes, workers' quarters, etc
- Persons living outside the country at the time of data collection

Laos' Target Population Description
The target population comprises all non-institutionalized persons 15 to 64 years of age (inclusive) living in urban and rural areas of the country at the time of data collection. This includes all residents except foreign diplomats and non-nationals working for international organizations. There will be no exclusions for the target population. The survey tool is designed for Lao language only (the sole national language). IRL will make every effort to interview non-Lao speaking persons through the use of local translators. In most such cases, the household and individual modules will be carried out with the assistance of a translator when available. However, Modules 6 and 9 will not be administered to those respondents who do not speak or read Lao as per STEP technical standards.

Kind of data
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Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure
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The Laos sample design is a 3 stage stratified sample design. The stratification variable is urban-rural indicator.

First Stage Sample
The primary sample unit (PSU) is a village. The sampling objective was to conduct interviews in 134 urban villages and 54 rural villages.
The villages were selected with probability proportional to size (PPS), where the measure of size was the number of households in a village.

Second Stage Sample
The second stage sample unit (SSU) is a household. In the second stage, the number of households selected in each selected PSU was proportional to the size of the selected PSUs. The households were selected from a list of households in each selected PSU by systematic equal probability sampling. At the same time, a reserve sample of the same number of households as the target sample in each PSU was selected for use when needed to ensure that the target sample size is achieved.

Third Stage Sample
The third stage sample unit was an individual aged 15-64 (inclusive). The sampling objective was to select one individual with equal probability from each selected household.

Mode of data collection
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Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument
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The STEP survey instruments include:
- a Background Questionnaire developed by the WB STEP team
- a Reading Literacy Assessment developed by Educational Testing Services (ETS).

All countries adapted and translated both instruments following the STEP Technical Standards: 2 independent translators adapted and translated the Background Questionnaire and Reading Literacy Assessment, while reconciliation was carried out by a third translator.
The WB STEP team and ETS collaborated closely with the Lao PDR survey firm during the process and reviewed the adaptation and translation to Lao using a back translation.

The survey instruments were both piloted as part of the survey pre-test.

The adapted Background Questionnaires are provided in English as external resources. The Reading Literacy Assessment is protected by copyright and will not be published.

Cleaning operations
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STEP data management process:

1) Raw data is sent by the survey firm
2) The World Bank (WB) STEP team runs data checks on the background questionnaire data. Educational Testing Services (ETS) runs data checks on the Reading Literacy Assessment data. Comments and questions are sent back to the survey firm.
3) The survey firm reviews comments and questions. When a data entry error is identified, the survey firm corrects the data.
4) The WB STEP team and ETS check if the data files are clean. This might require additional iterations with the survey firm.
5) Once the data has been checked and cleaned, the WB STEP team computes the weights. Weights are computed by the STEP team to ensure consistency across sampling methodologies.
6) ETS scales the Reading Literacy Assessment data.
7) The WB STEP team merges the background questionnaire data with the Reading Literacy Assessment data and computes derived variables.

Detailed information on data processing in STEP surveys is provided in “Guidelines for STEP Data Entry Programs” document, available in external resources. The template do-file used by the STEP team to check raw background questionnaire data is provided as an external resource, too.

Response rate
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An overall response rate of 95% was achieved in the Lao PDR STEP Survey.

Sampling error estimates
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A weighting documentation was prepared for each participating country and provides some information on sampling errors.
All country weighting documentations are provided as an external resource.

摘要
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STEP（就业与生产力技能测量）项目是首个旨在生成发展中国家技能可用性国际可比数据的计划。该项目通过实施标准化调查，收集有关低收入国家劳动力市场中技能的供给、分布以及技能需求的信息。

该独特设计的家庭调查包括测量认知技能（阅读、写作和算术）、社会情感技能（个性、行为和偏好）以及特定职业技能（与工作直接相关的横跨技能子集）的模块，调查对象为生活在城市地区的15至64岁成年人的代表性样本，无论他们是否工作。
认知技能模块还结合了基于成人技能调查工具的直接阅读素养评估。
模块还收集有关家庭、健康和语言的信息。

地理覆盖范围
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STEP的目标人口包括15至64岁的城市人口。老挝对国家的城市和农村地区（含道路）进行了抽样。
地区根据每个国家的官方定义被划分为农村或城市。

分析单位
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分析单位为个人受访者和家庭。在调查开始时进行家庭花名册登记，并在所有15至64岁的家庭成员中随机选择个人受访者。随机选择过程由STEP团队设计，并在实地调查过程中仔细监控程序是否符合规定。

总体
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STEP的目标人口是15至64岁的居住在城市地区的人口，其定义由各国的统计办公室确定。
以下人员被排除在样本之外：
- 机构居民（监狱、医院等）
- 养老院和安宁屋的居民
- 其他集体住所的居民，如大学宿舍、中途之家、工人宿舍等
- 数据收集时居住在国外的人员

老挝的目标人口描述
目标人口包括在数据收集时居住在国家城市和农村地区的所有非机构化15至64岁（含）人员。这包括所有居民，除外国外交官和国际组织工作人员外。目标人口将没有任何排除。
调查工具仅设计为老挝语（唯一的国家语言）。IRL将尽一切努力通过当地翻译员对不说法语的人进行访谈。在大多数此类情况下，如果有翻译员可用，家庭和个人模块将在翻译员的协助下进行。
然而，根据STEP技术标准，6模块和9模块将不对不说法语或阅读法语的人进行实施。

数据类型
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样本调查数据 [ssd]

抽样程序
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老挝的样本设计是一个三阶段分层样本设计。分层变量是城乡指标。

第一阶段样本
一级样本单位（PSU）是村庄。抽样目标是访谈134个城市村庄和54个农村村庄。
村庄根据村庄内的家庭数量按比例抽样（PPS），家庭数量是规模衡量标准。

第二阶段样本
第二阶段样本单位（SSU）是家庭。在第二阶段，每个选定的PSU中选定的家庭数量与选定的PSU规模成比例。
家庭从每个选定的PSU的家庭名单中通过系统等概率抽样选定。
同时，为每个PSU选定与目标样本数量相同的家庭储备样本，以便在需要时使用，以确保达到目标样本量。

第三阶段样本
第三阶段样本单位是15至64岁（含）的个人。抽样目标是从每个选定的家庭中按等概率选择一个个人。

数据收集方式
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面对面 [f2f]

研究工具
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STEP调查工具包括：
- 由世界银行STEP团队开发的背景问卷
- 由教育测试服务公司（ETS）开发的阅读素养评估。
所有国家在遵循STEP技术标准的情况下对这两种工具进行了适应和翻译：2名独立翻译员对背景问卷和阅读素养评估进行了适应和翻译，而协调工作由第三位翻译员完成。
世界银行STEP团队和ETS在过程中与老挝PDR调查公司紧密合作，并使用回译审查了老挝语的适应和翻译。
调查工具作为调查预测试的一部分进行了试点。
适应后的背景问卷以英语作为外部资源提供。
阅读素养评估受版权保护，将不会发表。

数据清理操作
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STEP数据管理流程：
1) 原始数据由调查公司发送
2) 世界银行（WB）STEP团队对背景问卷数据进行数据检查。教育测试服务公司（ETS）对阅读素养评估数据进行数据检查。将评论和问题发送回调查公司。
3) 调查公司审查评论和问题。当识别出数据录入错误时，调查公司纠正数据。
4) WB STEP团队和ETS检查数据文件是否干净。这可能需要与调查公司进行额外的迭代。
5) 数据经过检查和清理后，WB STEP团队计算权重。权重由STEP团队计算，以确保抽样方法之间的一致性。
6) ETS缩放阅读素养评估数据。
7) WB STEP团队将背景问卷数据与阅读素养评估数据合并，并计算衍生变量。
详细的数据处理信息在“STEP数据录入程序指南”文档中提供，该文档可在外部资源中找到。STEP团队用于检查原始背景问卷数据的模板do-file也作为外部资源提供。

响应率
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老挝PDR STEP调查实现了95%的整体响应率。

抽样误差估计
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为每个参与国家准备了一份加权文件，其中提供了一些关于抽样误差的信息。
所有国家的加权文件都作为外部资源提供。