In a nutshell

GOPA mbH is proud to support the Institute of Statistics of Albania (INSTAT) in conducting its next Population and Housing Census (PHC) in October 2020, a project funded by the European Union under IPA2014.

INSTAT has opted to conduct a traditional door-to-door census, counting all individuals, building and dwellings, for the last time in 2020 in order to align with Acquis Communautaire in European Statistics and move towards registered based Censuses from hereon. Still, the PHC 2020 brings into play several innovations, notably data capture via computer-assisted interviews (CAPI) and the use of geospatial information for data collection, fieldwork monitoring and data analysis. Furthermore, the PHC 2020 will provide further directions for the implementation of a register-based census in 2030. INSTAT and GOPA are joining efforts to make this massive statistical operation a success.

Our approach

Drawing from a long-standing experience in the Balkan region and our huge network of experts in the field of large-scale surveys and census, GOPA’s department of statistics is in charge of managing and monitoring this four-year project. The first phase of this project currently focusses on preparing the pilot census. GOPA provides technical expertise for the development of a data collection application, the tailoring of the IT infrastructure, the monitoring system as well as methodological support for the preparation of the fieldwork. Afterwards, GOPA will contribute to the evaluation of this comprehensive test of all census procedures and provide further technical assistance to INSTAT to ensure the successful implementation of the PHC 2020.

GOPA is implementing the technical assistance project through the following six key activities:

Census methodology and activities implemented and monitored successfully, and project management documentation developed and updated

Census questionnaire finalized and other Census materials (instruction manuals, training materials) prepared

Census mapping and geospatial activities for pre-enumeration phase, enumeration and post-enumeration phase prepared and finalized

Tabulation, analysis and dissemination of Census results is successfully conducted

Data collection using electronic questionnaire (CAPI) developed, tested and finalized

A communication strategy is developed, implemented and monitored

Success stories

On 20 September 2019, GOPA organized a high-level conference to launch the PHC 2020 with more than 100 participants.

The pilot census, covering 100 enumeration areas, representing around 12 500 households and two  collective institutions, started on 21 October 2019. The pilot is a six weeks real-life test of the modern data collection tools and the monitoring system with geospatial information that INSTAT and GOPA have been jointly developing since June 2019.