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There were intensive and extensive communications about the 2019 Census among the population, armed forces, and political system. The Provincial Party Committee, People's Committee, all levels of Steering Committees, and relevant ministries and agencies issued and disseminated the Directive and Decision of the Prime Minister, Provincial Party Committee, and People's Committee at all levels; the Census plan; and the Steering Committee communications plans at all levels. The communications emphasized the purpose, requirements, meaning, and importance of the 2019 Census.
The 2019 Census maximized various communication channels, including intensive use of IT, to convey information across the nation. The main communications channels of the 2019 Census included:
- Online channels including the GSO website (www.gso.gov.vn); the 2019 Census website (www.tongdieutradanso.vn); provincial websites (People's Committee, Provincial Statistics Office, Radio and Television Stations);
- Newspapers in various forms (written, audio, images) from the central to local level, particularly focused on subjects specific to the 2019 Census;
- Census trailer on VTV, talk shows on central and local television, radio interviews, electronic news articles and news banners on prime-time TV programs, social networks (GSO and UNFPA Facebook, Twitter, Zalo, etc.);
- Messages to mobile phone subscribers with information about the 2019 Census;
- Organizing neighborhood meetings and community meetings; translating Census communications materials into local ethnic languages; promoting information on radio systems and loudspeakers; hanging banners, slogans, and posters; placing logos in public places or other high-visibility high-traffic places; and using branded vehicles driving around main roads.
- Establishing a free hotline to support Census personnel with IT application and general Census issues, and to provide a platform for feedback the public regarding Census implementation.
The intensive communications efforts achieved the anticipated results; most people knew about the 2019 Census and responded to the information received. In the first days of data collection, the Census hotline received numerous calls and significant feedback from local people reporting absent enumerators and inconsistent information and survey forms with communicated regulations. Thus, the Central Steering Committee had access to more information and insight for correcting issues according to Census directives and regulations.
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2.3. Data collection and survey supervision 2.3.1. Census personnel
The 2019 Census convened 125,358 enumerators, 10,983 of which were teachers and students at educational and training institutions within the EAs (8.8%). The average age of enumerators was 35.8 years old.
The number of persons participating in the Census as team leaders and supervisors at all levels was 21,587. Specifically, 11,502 were team leaders, 1,823 were provincial supervisors and 8,262 were district supervisors.
2.3.2. Methods and forms of information collection
The 2019 Census used two methods of information collection simultaneously: face-to-face interviews and self-enumeration. Three further forms of information collection were applied as follows:
Paper-based questionnaire (PAPI): A form of traditional information collection whereby the enumerator visits the household and conducts a face-to-face interview and records information on a printed paper-based questionnaire.
Electronic questionnaire installed in mobile devices (computer-assisted personal interviewing [CAPI]): An information technology application whereby the questionnaire is designed for installation in a tablet or smartphone to facilitate the recording of information at the same time the enumerator conducts a face-to-face interview.
Online questionnaire via Internet (Webforms): A questionnaire that allows households to self-enumerate information online about population and housing. The households that registered to use Webforms were provided with an account name and password for logging on to the Census information system.
Among the aforementioned, CAPI was the major form of information collection of the 2019 Census with 99.9% of households surveyed using this approach. The percentage of households surveyed by PAPI and Webform was very small, accounting for just 0.05% of the total number of households nationwide respectively.
2.3.3. Data collection in the enumeration areas 2.3.3.1. Census Steering Committee in localities
Data collection in the EAs occurred concurrently across the country following the launching Ceremony, from 7.30 am on 1 April 2019 to 25 April 2019. In order to rectify and process feedback received about reported missing household interviews, supplementary data collection was carried out between 26 April 2019 and 2 May 2019.
The EA information collection process proved to be relatively convenient and high-quality. The Central Steering Committee worked with Steering Committees at local levels, Ministries and line-ministries to tackle obstacles that arose, including the following:
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- Some senior enumerators heading urban blocks or villages with convenient access to households were often confronted with professional technical requirements that inhibited their ability to operate smart devices efficiently. On the other hand, younger enumerators, despite their efficient technical proficiency, often faced difficulties in accessing EAs and households.
- The use of a variety of enumerator devices also caused difficulties in guiding users experiencing issues. During the survey, the CAPI program was updated on numerous occasions in response to an emerging variety of issues. These changes were compounded by overloaded information technology support systems operated by a technician team which was too small to cope with the total number of enumerator requests for assistance.
- The amount of data collected in the 2019 Census was large. In the final stage of fieldwork, when survey progress reached over 80%, the system experienced an overload. Further, the operational website was occasionally interrupted, impacting on the work of error monitoring and correction.
- During data collection, some localities faced risks that affected Census implementation, such as heavy rain and hail that impeded travel; traffic accidents among enumerators in transit to training courses and households; and lost or broken Census enumerator mobile devices.
- During the survey duration, some localities were affected by the African swine fever. This impeded access to respondents living in communities with pig farms. In addition, the work of personnel participating in the Census experienced interruptions because the affected locality mobilized them to help stamp out epidemics.
2.3.3.2. Census Steering Committee in Ministries
The Ministry of National Defense set up 1,092 enumeration teams with 3,672 enumerators to take part in information collection in 1,332 survey units and enterprises belonging to the military.
The Ministry of National Defense collaborated with all levels of Steering Committees to define their management enumeration areas to avoid duplication, regularly exchange and reach professional consensus with the Central Steering Committee’s Office, and to collect sufficient information to prevent population duplication.
As of 20 April 2019, the Ministry of National Defense completed their enumeration fieldwork, five days earlier than anticipated. Due to the specific characteristics of the Ministry of National Defense, the fieldwork data collection was conducted with paper-based questionnaires and with scanning technology and artificial intelligence to encode the questionnaires. Before transferring data, the Central Steering Committee’s Office checked data from the Ministry of National Defense and, if necessary, provided instructions for correcting and completing the data. Data collected by
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the Ministry of National Defense was then transferred to the Central Steering Committee’s Office on 10 June 2019.
The Steering Committee of the Ministry of Public Security directed the implementation of the 2019 Census, collecting information in survey units managed by the Ministry of Public Security from 1-10 April 2019, 15 days earlier than anticipated. Because of the specific characteristics of the armed forces, the Ministry of Public Security applied paper-based questionnaires to collect data at 3,164 EAs nationwide, and conducted data entry of all data collected. The implementation fully complied with Census regulations; respondents demonstrated a significant sense of responsibility, cooperated well with enumerators in providing complete and accurate information. Monitoring and supervision was implemented fully in line with regulations. Before completing the data, the Central Steering Committee’s Office coordinated with Ministry of Public Security to check and finalize data;
data collected by the Ministry of Public Security was transferred to the Central Steering Committee Office on 11 June 2019.
In addition to collecting population information under its management, the Ministry of Public Security successfully ensured security and safety for the 2019 Census nationwide.
The Steering Committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs directed 94 Vietnamese representative missions abroad to implement the 2019 Census. Data collection was carried out from 1-15 April 2019 (local time in Viet Nam), and completed 15 days earlier than anticipated. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs gathered data using electronic questionnaires, improving the quality of questionnaire checks. The 2019 Census data was then transferred to the Central Steering Committee on 25 April 2019. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was the first unit to complete its 2019 Census data.
2.4. Data monitoring, verifying, processing, and analyzing
The 2019 Census vigorously applied information technology in data collection within EAs. Data monitoring, checking, and processing was conducted parallel to EAs’ information collection and continued after the stage of information collection was completed.
With the application of the Operational Website in monitoring, the 2019 Census made a breakthrough in improving statistical surveys and particularly in monitoring and checking. This was the first statistical survey with full information on the progress, quantity, and quality of questionnaires of each EA available to each enumerator at the same time, thereby helping the Steering Committee and supervisors at all levels capture information in a timely fashion and with the ability to provide appropriate directions to guide Census quality and progress.
2.4.1. Monitoring and checking data during collection in enumeration areas
The 2019 Census applied two forms of monitoring: Direct monitoring through central and provincial missions and district supervisors in the EAs, and indirect monitoring through the Census Operational Website. Supervisory activities helped detect problems in EAs, directly support
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On the Operational Website, the software program automatically flagged errors to be checked and requested district supervisors to confirm team leaders and enumerators had completed the questionnaires for synchronizing with the data system. One error that required verification and correction in the early days was determining if time spent on household information collection was too short and whether households had the same geographic positioning system (GPS) information.
In addition to checking and processing data errors which were automatically flagged by the system on the Operational Website, supervisors at all levels performed checks on the Operational Website through the progress report features for each EA and enumerator schedule to urge and remind enumerators to stay on schedule. They were also able to check information through the local population preliminary statistics tables and by cross-tabulating tables on population, housing, and education to detect systematic errors and remind enumerators about survey processes.
Questionnaire error correction was undertaken in conjunction with EA information collection.
However, in some localities with larger numbers of households, there were difficulties in access to verification information. Error correction continued after data collection in the EAs.
2.4.2. Checking and finalizing database after information collection in the enumeration areas Due to the application of IT and following the completion of the EA collection period, sufficient data was available on the server to facilitate a final verification and finalization of the Census database. The verification and finalization process was conducted as follows:
Step 1: Steering Committees at all levels verified and finalized the data through the