Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
General FAQs
- Production & Sales Survey
- National Accounts Surveys
- Export-Import Price Index Survey
- Continuous Labour Force Survey
- Damage Assessment Surveys
- Household Budget Survey
- Price Collection Survey
- Ad Hoc Surveys
Barbados Statistical Service’s surveys are conducted in person, online, or by telephone. You can verify that the survey is indeed conducted by the Barbados Statistical Service:
- by looking up the name of your survey in the list of surveys in collection
- by verifying that the interviewer carries a photo identification card issued by Barbados Statistical Service
- by contacting Barbados Statistical Service:
- Telephone: (246) 535-2600
- FAX: (246) 421-8294
- Email: director@barstats.gov.bb
Do not be surprised if a Barbados Statistical Service interviewer shows up at your door or contacts you by telephone in the evening or on weekends. To accommodate the respondents’ busy schedules, Barbados Statistical Service interviewers work at different times of the day, seven days a week and sometimes on holidays.
All Barbadian households receive a Population & Housing Census questionnaire. The majority of Barbados Statistical Service surveys are sample surveys. Participants for a sample survey are selected randomly to avoid bias. Once you have been selected for a survey sample, Barbados Statistical Service cannot replace you with anyone else because the sample would no longer be random.
This can happen because survey participants are randomly selected. Sometimes, the characteristics we seek from one survey to another can overlap.
In some instances, some participants in one survey may be contacted again for a related survey. This practice helps to reduce the time and costs it would take to conduct a new survey each time.
The majority of Barbados Statistical Service business surveys are sample surveys. This means that only a certain number of businesses are selected to complete the survey questionnaire. Together, the sampled businesses represent all the businesses in the industry in question. Most businesses in a sample are randomly selected to represent other businesses with similar characteristics, such as revenue or number of employees. Some businesses must be included in the sample because they contribute significantly to their particular industry or area.
A small number of our business surveys are census surveys, which include all businesses of significant size in a particular industry. A census is used when the industry in question comprises only a small number of businesses or agricultural operations that are very different from one another. In such cases, a sample would not accurately reflect the entire industry in question.
All Barbadian households must complete a Population & Housing Census questionnaire. If the Barbados Statistical Service contacts you for the Labour Force Survey, or a business survey, you are also obligated to participate pursuant to the Statistics Act. For surveys conducted in partnership with other government ministries, the Statistics Act is not enforced.
To ensure the most complete results, it is very important that the people, households, and businesses selected answer the survey questions. Without your co-operation, the Barbados Statistical Service could not produce reliable, essential data. The information gathered in our surveys has a direct impact on the lives of Barbadians. Moreover, all of your responses are equally important.
Barbados need accurate and reliable information—the cornerstone for democratic decision making. Through the Statistics Act, Parliament has mandated the Barbados Statistical Service, as the national statistical agency, to produce such information. Business surveys collect important economic information that is used by businesses, unions, non-profit organizations and all levels of government to make informed decisions in many areas. Because most business surveys feed directly or indirectly into legally mandated programs, such as the Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) program, mandatory participation is required to ensure an adequate response rate as well as reliable results.
All interviewers carry photo identification issued by Barbados Statistical Service. To verify an interviewer’s identity, you can contact the Barbados Statistical Service by calling (246) 535-2600.
Barbados Statistical Service takes your confidentiality very seriously. Under the Statistics Act, all information provided to Barbados Statistical Service will be kept confidential and used only for statistical purposes. Information is always disseminated in an aggregated format.
Barbados Statistical Service also cares about the privacy of its respondents. If a respondent knows the interviewer and is uneasy about giving personal information to that person, he or she can be interviewed by another Barbados Statistical Service employee.
The Statistics Act protects respondents’ information. Barbados Statistical Service does not release any information that could identify individuals, households, businesses or agricultural operations without their consent, or as authorized by the Statistics Act. We carefully screen final results before releasing them to prevent published statistics from being used to derive information.
The Statistics Act contains very strict confidentiality provisions that protect collected information from unauthorized access. For example, agencies such as the Barbados Revenue Authority (BRA), the Royal Barbados Police Force (RBPF) and the courts do not have access to individual survey responses.
All Barbados Statistical Service employees take an oath of secrecy and face severe penalties for any breach of confidentiality.
All Barbados Statistical Service employees are responsible for ensuring the security of confidential information. Only employees who need to view confidential files as part of their duties are authorized to access them. A network of physical security systems and procedures protects confidential information against unauthorized access.
The business sector benefits directly from the information businesses provide Barbados Statistical Service. Survey responses are used to compile complete and accurate statistics on many industries and commodities.
Businesses use industry statistics to:
- track their performance against industry averages;
- prepare business plans for investors;
- adjust inflation-indexed contracts;
- plan marketing strategies and evaluate expansion plans.
Industry associations, business analysts and investors use the data to:
- establish benchmarks to analyse the economic performance of various industries;
- understand evolving business environments, such as global communications networks, free trade and new technologies.
The government use the data when making decisions about:
- infrastructure investments to promote domestic and international competitiveness;
- fiscal, monetary and foreign exchange policies;
- programs and policies to assist businesses.
The data collected by Barbados Statistical Service is used by a number of people such as:
- various levels of government;
- community organizations, educators and researchers;
- planners and policymakers.
You will find results under the following sections of the website.
- Subjects: This section gives you access to statistical products by topic.
- Data: In this section you will find data tables.
- Publications: This section provides a number of statistical publications.
- Infographics: This section has a number of infographics in various topics.
- Maps: Thematic maps are located in this section.
- Graphs: This section has a number of graphs from various publications.
A large number of statistical products can be downloaded from the website free of charge. For more information about publications and products:
- Telephone: (246) 535-2600
- Fax: (246) 421-8294
- E-mail: director@barstats.gov.bb
Listing Exercise FAQs
The recording of information about all buildings (residential or other) in the island and the households/individuals who live in them.
It captures the housing stock of the island and the size of the population that lives here. This is important as a guide for the Census enumeration, to ensure complete coverage of all households/individuals who usually live here.
It facilitates the linking of individuals to the dwelling units/ buildings in which they live, and it provides a check on the building codes assigned to each building (by the Lands & Surveys Department).
To contribute to an accurate count of the resident population on the island. Accurate data is needed for good policy and decision making, by the government and the private sector.
It serves as a frame against which the completeness of the subsequent Census enumeration can be checked by the Census Office staff. It will provide a preliminary count of the usual population of the island and basic information on the housing stock.
The Barbados Statistical Service takes your confidentiality very seriously. Under the Statistics Act, all information provided will be kept confidential and used only for statistical purposes. The Barbados Statistical Service does not release any information on individual persons, households or businesses.
All Barbados Statistical Service interviewers take an oath of secrecy and face penalties for breach of confidentiality.
Census FAQs
A population and housing census refers to the complete process of planning, collecting, compiling, analyzing, evaluating and disseminating data of all persons in a country or well delimited part of a country and the number and condition of housing units and facilities at a specified time in Barbados.
“Census Day” is a term used by Statistical Offices linked to the Population and Housing Census. It is a reference date used to guide respondents as to where they were at the time of the Census and it is usually tied to some other date that would be memorable to respondents. This Census round, Census day will be August 1st-Emancipation Day.
All interviewers will carry photo identification issued by the Barbados Statistical Service. To verify an interviewer’s identity, you can contact the Barbados Statistical Service by calling the following telephone number: 535-2600.
The Barbados Statistical Service takes your confidentiality very seriously. Under the Statistics Act, all information provided will be kept confidential and used only for statistical purposes. The Barbados Statistical Service does not release any information on individual persons, households or businesses.
All Barbados Statistical Service interviewers take an oath of secrecy and face penalties for breach of confidentiality.
Continuous Labour Force Sample Survey FAQs
An inquiry of a sample of households, carried out each quarter to collect national data on employment, unemployment and other characteristics of the adult population.
It began in October 1975.
- To determine on a regular basis:
- Employment and unemployment levels on the island
- The distribution of skills/professions in the different sectors of the economy
- To provide statistics to users for social and economic planning and for the determination of related national needs and targets.
- Government ministries and agencies, businesses, trade unions, researchers, universities, interested groups and individuals
- Regional and international organisations
If your house is included in the sample of the households selected:
- You will be required to give information on each household member
- Your information is needed to generate reliable national estimates for the characteristics of the adult population
YES!
The survey is conducted under the provisions of the Statistics Act CAP 192 of the laws of Barbados.
It requires that:
- Information be provided on request to sworn officers of the Department
- All information received on individuals will be treated as CONFIDENTIAL.
The questions canvassed by the Field Officers of the Department cover the following areas:
- Household consumption
- Individual details – these include education, marital status, household occupancy, occupation, employment and unemployment, source of livelihood
- At most, 4 times over two consecutive years.
- Your household will be excluded for at least the following two years.
To improve the reliability and comparability of national estimates of the Labour Force, generated from the data which you provide?
