Abstract

THE CLEANED AND HARMONIZED VERSION OF THE SURVEY DATA PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED BY THE ECONOMIC RESEARCH FORUM REPRESENTS 100% OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY DATA COLLECTED BY THE PALESTINIAN CENTRAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) carried out four rounds of the Labor Force Survey 2017 (LFS). The survey rounds covered a total sample of about 23,120 households (5,780 households per quarter).

The main objective of collecting data on the labour force and its components, including employment, unemployment and underemployment, is to provide basic information on the size and structure of the Palestinian labour force. Data collected at different points in time provide a basis for monitoring current trends and changes in the labour market and in the employment situation. These data, supported with information on other aspects of the economy, provide a basis for the evaluation and analysis of macro-economic policies.

The raw survey data provided by the Statistical Agency were cleaned and harmonized by the Economic Research Forum, in the context of a major project that started in 2009. During which extensive efforts have been exerted to acquire, clean, harmonize, preserve and disseminate micro data of existing labor force surveys in several Arab countries.

Geographic coverage

Covering a representative sample on the region level (West Bank, Gaza Strip), the locality type (urban, rural, camp) and the governorates.

Analysis unit

1- Household/family. 2- Individual/person.

Universe

The survey covered all Palestinian households who are a usual residence of the Palestinian Territory.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

THE CLEANED AND HARMONIZED VERSION OF THE SURVEY DATA PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED BY THE ECONOMIC RESEARCH FORUM REPRESENTS 100% OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY DATA COLLECTED BY THE PALESTINIAN CENTRAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS

The methodology was designed according to the context of the survey, international standards, data processing requirements and comparability of outputs with other related surveys.

---> Target Population: It consists of all individuals aged 10 years and Above and there are staying normally with their households in the state of Palestine during 2017.

---> Sampling Frame: The sampling frame consists of the master sample, which was updated in 2011: each enumeration area consists of buildings and housing units with an average of about 124 households. The master sample consists of 596 enumeration areas; we used 494 enumeration areas as a framework for the labor force survey sample in 2017 and these units were used as primary sampling units (PSUs).

---> Sampling Size: The estimated sample size is 5,780 households in each quarter of 2017.

---> Sample Design The sample is two stage stratified cluster sample with two stages : First stage: we select a systematic random sample of 494 enumeration areas for the whole round ,and we excluded the enumeration areas which its sizes less than 40 households. Second stage: we select a systematic random sample of 16 households from each enumeration area selected in the first stage, se we select a systematic random of 16 households of the enumeration areas which its size is 80 household and over and the enumeration areas which its size is less than 80 households we select systematic random of 8 households.

---> Sample strata: The population was divided by: 1- Governorate (16 governorate) 2- Type of Locality (urban, rural, refugee camps).

---> Sample Rotation: Each round of the Labor Force Survey covers all of the 494 master sample enumeration areas. Basically, the areas remain fixed over time, but households in 50% of the EAs were replaced in each round. The same households remain in the sample for two consecutive rounds, left for the next two rounds, then selected for the sample for another two consecutive rounds before being dropped from the sample. An overlap of 50% is then achieved between both consecutive rounds and between consecutive years (making the sample efficient for monitoring purposes).

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The survey questionnaire was designed according to the International Labour Organization (ILO) recommendations. The questionnaire includes four main parts:

---> 1. Identification Data: The main objective for this part is to record the necessary information to identify the household, such as, cluster code, sector, type of locality, cell, housing number and the cell code.

---> 2. Quality Control: This part involves groups of controlling standards to monitor the field and office operation, to keep in order the sequence of questionnaire stages (data collection, field and office coding, data entry, editing after entry and store the data.

---> 3. Household Roster: This part involves demographic characteristics about the household, like number of persons in the household, date of birth, sex, educational level…etc.

---> 4. Employment Part: This part involves the major research indicators, where one questionnaire had been answered by every 15 years and over household member, to be able to explore their labour force status and recognize their major characteristics toward employment status, economic activity, occupation, place of work, and other employment indicators.

Cleaning operations

---> Raw Data PCBS started collecting data since 1st quarter 2017 using the hand held devices in Palestine excluding Jerusalem in side boarders (J1) and Gaza Strip, the program used in HHD called Sql Server and Microsoft. Net which was developed by General Directorate of Information Systems. Using HHD reduced the data processing stages, the fieldworkers collect data and sending data directly to server then the project manager can withdrawal the data at any time he needs. In order to work in parallel with Gaza Strip and Jerusalem in side boarders (J1), an office program was developed using the same techniques by using the same database for the HHD.

---> Harmonized Data - The SPSS package is used to clean and harmonize the datasets. - The harmonization process starts with a cleaning process for all raw data files received from the Statistical Agency. - All cleaned data files are then merged to produce one data file on the individual level containing all variables subject to harmonization. - A country-specific program is generated for each dataset to generate/ compute/ recode/ rename/ format/ label harmonized variables. - A post-harmonization cleaning process is then conducted on the data. - Harmonized data is saved on the household as well as the individual level, in SPSS and then converted to STATA, to be disseminated.

Response rate

The survey sample consists of about 30,230 households of which 23,120 households completed the interview; whereas 14,682 households from the West Bank and 8,438 households in Gaza Strip. Weights were modified to account for non-response rate. The response rate in the West Bank reached 82.4% while in the Gaza Strip it reached 92.7%.

Sampling error estimates

---> Sampling Errors Data of this survey may be affected by sampling errors due to use of a sample and not a complete enumeration. Therefore, certain differences can be expected in comparison with the real values obtained through censuses. Variances were calculated for the most important indicators: the variance table is attached with the final report. There is no problem in disseminating results at national or governorate level for the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

---> Non-Sampling Errors Non-statistical errors are probable in all stages of the project, during data collection or processing. This is referred to as non-response errors, response errors, interviewing errors, and data entry errors. To avoid errors and reduce their effects, great efforts were made to train the fieldworkers intensively. They were trained on how to carry out the interview, what to discuss and what to avoid, carrying out a pilot survey, as well as practical and theoretical training during the training course. Also data entry staff were trained on the data entry program that was examined before starting the data entry process. To stay in contact with progress of fieldwork activities and to limit obstacles, there was continuous contact with the fieldwork team through regular visits to the field and regular meetings with them during the different field visits. Problems faced by fieldworkers were discussed to clarify any issues. Non-sampling errors can occur at the various stages of survey implementation whether in data collection or in data processing. They are generally difficult to be evaluated statistically.

They cover a wide range of errors, including errors resulting from non-response, sampling frame coverage, coding and classification, data processing, and survey response (both respondent and interviewer-related). The use of effective training and supervision and the careful design of questions have direct bearing on limiting the magnitude of non-sampling errors, and hence enhancing the quality of the resulting data. The implementation of the survey encountered non-response where the case ( household was not present at home ) during the fieldwork visit and the case ( housing unit is vacant) become the high percentage of the non response cases. The total non-response rate reached14.2% which is very low once compared to the household surveys conducted by PCBS , The refusal rate reached 3.0% which is very low percentage compared to the

Abstract

THE CLEANED AND HARMONIZED VERSION OF THE SURVEY DATA PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED BY THE ECONOMIC RESEARCH FORUM REPRESENTS 100% OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY DATA COLLECTED BY THE PALESTINIAN CENTRAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) carried out four rounds of the Labor Force Survey 2020 (LFS). The survey rounds covered a total sample of about 23,915 households (about 5,980 households per quarter).

The main objective of collecting data on the labour force and its components, including employment, unemployment and underemployment, is to provide basic information on the size and structure of the Palestinian labour force. Data collected at different points in time provide a basis for monitoring current trends and changes in the labour market and in the employment situation. These data, supported with information on other aspects of the economy, provide a basis for the evaluation and analysis of macro-economic policies.

The raw survey data provided by the Statistical Agency were cleaned and harmonized by the Economic Research Forum, in the context of a major project that started in 2009. During which extensive efforts have been exerted to acquire, clean, harmonize, preserve and disseminate micro data of existing labor force surveys in several Arab countries.

Geographic coverage

Covering a representative sample on the region level (West Bank, Gaza Strip), the locality type (urban, rural, camp) and the governorates.

Analysis unit

1- Household/family. 2- Individual/person.

Universe

The survey covered all Palestinian households who are a usual residence of the Palestinian Territory.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

THE CLEANED AND HARMONIZED VERSION OF THE SURVEY DATA PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED BY THE ECONOMIC RESEARCH FORUM REPRESENTS 100% OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY DATA COLLECTED BY THE PALESTINIAN CENTRAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS

The methodology was designed according to the context of the survey, international standards, data processing requirements and comparability of outputs with other related surveys.

---> Target Population: It consists of all individuals aged 10 years and Above and there are staying normally with their households in the state of Palestine during 2020.

---> Sampling Frame: The sampling frame consists of a comprehensive sample selected from the Population, Housing and Establishments Census 2017: This comprehensive sample consists of geographical areas with an average of 150 households, and these are considered as enumeration areas used in the census and these units were used as primary sampling units (PSUs).

---> Sampling Size: The estimated sample size is 8,040 households in each quarter of 2020.

---> Sample Design The sample is two stage stratified cluster sample with two stages : First stage: we select a systematic random sample of 536 enumeration areas for the whole round. Second stage: we select a systematic random sample of 15 households from each enumeration area selected in the first stage.

---> Sample strata: The population was divided by: 1- Governorate (16 governorate) 2- Type of Locality (urban, rural, refugee camps).

---> Sample Rotation: Each round of the Labor Force Survey covers all of the 536 master sample enumeration areas. Basically, the areas remain fixed over time, but households in 50% of the EAs were replaced in each round. The same households remain in the sample for two consecutive rounds, left for the next two rounds, then selected for the sample for another two consecutive rounds before being dropped from the sample. An overlap of 50% is then achieved between both consecutive rounds and between consecutive years (making the sample efficient for monitoring purposes).

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The survey questionnaire was designed according to the International Labour Organization (ILO) recommendations. The questionnaire includes four main parts:

---> 1. Identification Data: The main objective for this part is to record the necessary information to identify the household, such as, cluster code, sector, type of locality, cell, housing number and the cell code.

---> 2. Quality Control: This part involves groups of controlling standards to monitor the field and office operation, to keep in order the sequence of questionnaire stages (data collection, field and office coding, data entry, editing after entry and store the data.

---> 3. Household Roster: This part involves demographic characteristics about the household, like number of persons in the household, date of birth, sex, educational level…etc.

---> 4. Employment Part: This part involves the major research indicators, where one questionnaire had been answered by every 15 years and over household member, to be able to explore their labour force status and recognize their major characteristics toward employment status, economic activity, occupation, place of work, and other employment indicators.

Cleaning operations

---> Raw Data PCBS started collecting data since 1st quarter 2020 using the hand held devices in Palestine excluding Jerusalem in side boarders (J1) and Gaza Strip, the program used in HHD called Sql Server and Microsoft. Net which was developed by General Directorate of Information Systems. From the beginning of March 2020, with the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and the home quarantine imposed by the government, the personal (face to face) interview was replaced by the phone interview for households who had phone numbers from previous rounds, and for those households that did not have phone numbers, they were referred to and interviewed in person (face to face interview). Using HHD reduced the data processing stages, the fieldworkers collect data and sending data directly to server then the project manager can withdrawal the data at any time he needs. In order to work in parallel with Gaza Strip and Jerusalem in side boarders (J1), an office program was developed using the same techniques by using the same database for the HHD.

---> Harmonized Data - The SPSS package is used to clean and harmonize the datasets. - The harmonization process starts with a cleaning process for all raw data files received from the Statistical Agency. - All cleaned data files are then merged to produce one data file on the individual level containing all variables subject to harmonization. - A country-specific program is generated for each dataset to generate/ compute/ recode/ rename/ format/ label harmonized variables. - A post-harmonization cleaning process is then conducted on the data. - Harmonized data is saved on the household as well as the individual level, in SPSS and then converted to STATA, to be disseminated.

Response rate

The survey sample consists of about 32,160 households of which 23,915 households completed the interview; whereas 15,490 households from the West Bank and 8,425 households in Gaza Strip. Weights were modified to account for non-response rate. The response rate in the West Bank reached 73.5% while in the Gaza Strip it reached 83.7%.

Sampling error estimates

---> Sampling Errors Data of this survey may be affected by sampling errors due to use of a sample and not a complete enumeration. Therefore, certain differences can be expected in comparison with the real values obtained through censuses. Variances were calculated for the most important indicators: the variance table is attached with the final report. There is no problem in disseminating results at national or governorate level for the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

---> Non-Sampling Errors Non-statistical errors are probable in all stages of the project, during data collection or processing. This is referred to as non-response errors, response errors, interviewing errors, and data entry errors. To avoid errors and reduce their effects, great efforts were made to train the fieldworkers intensively. They were trained on how to carry out the interview, what to discuss and what to avoid, carrying out a pilot survey, as well as practical and theoretical training during the training course. Also data entry staff were trained on the data entry program that was examined before starting the data entry process. To stay in contact with progress of fieldwork activities and to limit obstacles, there was continuous contact with the fieldwork team through regular visits to the field and regular meetings with them during the different field visits. Problems faced by fieldworkers were discussed to clarify any issues. Non-sampling errors can occur at the various stages of survey implementation whether in data collection or in data processing. They are generally difficult to be evaluated statistically.

They cover a wide range of errors, including errors resulting from non-response, sampling frame coverage, coding and classification, data processing, and survey response (both respondent and interviewer-related). The use of effective training and supervision and the careful design of questions have direct bearing on limiting the magnitude of non-sampling errors, and hence enhancing the quality of the resulting data. The implementation of the survey encountered non-response where the case ( household was not present at home ) during the fieldwork visit and the case ( housing unit is vacant) become the high percentage of the non response cases. The total non-response rate reached 23.2% which is very low once compared to the household surveys conducted by PCBS , The refusal rate reached

Abstract

THE CLEANED AND HARMONIZED VERSION OF THE SURVEY DATA PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED BY THE ECONOMIC RESEARCH FORUM REPRESENTS 100% OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY DATA COLLECTED BY THE PALESTINIAN CENTRAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) carried out four rounds of the Labor Force Survey 2016 (LFS). The survey rounds covered a total sample of about 23,884 households (5,971 households per quarter).

The main objective of collecting data on the labour force and its components, including employment, unemployment and underemployment, is to provide basic information on the size and structure of the Palestinian labour force. Data collected at different points in time provide a basis for monitoring current trends and changes in the labour market and in the employment situation. These data, supported with information on other aspects of the economy, provide a basis for the evaluation and analysis of macro-economic policies.

The raw survey data provided by the Statistical Agency were cleaned and harmonized by the Economic Research Forum, in the context of a major project that started in 2009. During which extensive efforts have been exerted to acquire, clean, harmonize, preserve and disseminate micro data of existing labor force surveys in several Arab countries.

Geographic coverage

Covering a representative sample on the region level (West Bank, Gaza Strip), the locality type (urban, rural, camp) and the governorates.

Analysis unit

1- Household/family. 2- Individual/person.

Universe

The survey covered all Palestinian households who are a usual residence of the Palestinian Territory.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

THE CLEANED AND HARMONIZED VERSION OF THE SURVEY DATA PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED BY THE ECONOMIC RESEARCH FORUM REPRESENTS 100% OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY DATA COLLECTED BY THE PALESTINIAN CENTRAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS

The methodology was designed according to the context of the survey, international standards, data processing requirements and comparability of outputs with other related surveys.

---> Target Population: It consists of all individuals aged 10 years and Above and there are staying normally with their households in the state of Palestine during 2016.

---> Sampling Frame: The sampling frame consists of the master sample, which was updated in 2011: each enumeration area consists of buildings and housing units with an average of about 124 households. The master sample consists of 596 enumeration areas; we used 494 enumeration areas as a framework for the labor force survey sample in 2016 and these units were used as primary sampling units (PSUs).

---> Sampling Size: The estimated sample size is 5,971 households in each quarter of 2016.

---> Sample Design The sample is two stage stratified cluster sample with two stages : First stage: we select a systematic random sample of 494 enumeration areas for the whole round ,and we excluded the enumeration areas which its sizes less than 40 households. Second stage: we select a systematic random sample of 16 households from each enumeration area selected in the first stage, se we select a systematic random of 16 households of the enumeration areas which its size is 80 household and over and the enumeration areas which its size is less than 80 households we select systematic random of 8 households.

---> Sample strata: The population was divided by: 1- Governorate (16 governorate) 2- Type of Locality (urban, rural, refugee camps).

---> Sample Rotation: Each round of the Labor Force Survey covers all of the 494 master sample enumeration areas. Basically, the areas remain fixed over time, but households in 50% of the EAs were replaced in each round. The same households remain in the sample for two consecutive rounds, left for the next two rounds, then selected for the sample for another two consecutive rounds before being dropped from the sample. An overlap of 50% is then achieved between both consecutive rounds and between consecutive years (making the sample efficient for monitoring purposes).

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The survey questionnaire was designed according to the International Labour Organization (ILO) recommendations. The questionnaire includes four main parts:

---> 1. Identification Data: The main objective for this part is to record the necessary information to identify the household, such as, cluster code, sector, type of locality, cell, housing number and the cell code.

---> 2. Quality Control: This part involves groups of controlling standards to monitor the field and office operation, to keep in order the sequence of questionnaire stages (data collection, field and office coding, data entry, editing after entry and store the data.

---> 3. Household Roster: This part involves demographic characteristics about the household, like number of persons in the household, date of birth, sex, educational level…etc.

---> 4. Employment Part: This part involves the major research indicators, where one questionnaire had been answered by every 15 years and over household member, to be able to explore their labour force status and recognize their major characteristics toward employment status, economic activity, occupation, place of work, and other employment indicators.

Cleaning operations

---> Raw Data PCBS started collecting data since 1st quarter 2016 using the hand held devices in Palestine excluding Jerusalem in side boarders (J1) and Gaza Strip, the program used in HHD called Sql Server and Microsoft. Net which was developed by General Directorate of Information Systems. Using HHD reduced the data processing stages, the fieldworkers collect data and sending data directly to server then the project manager can withdrawal the data at any time he needs. In order to work in parallel with Gaza Strip and Jerusalem in side boarders (J1), an office program was developed using the same techniques by using the same database for the HHD.

---> Harmonized Data - The SPSS package is used to clean and harmonize the datasets. - The harmonization process starts with a cleaning process for all raw data files received from the Statistical Agency. - All cleaned data files are then merged to produce one data file on the individual level containing all variables subject to harmonization. - A country-specific program is generated for each dataset to generate/ compute/ recode/ rename/ format/ label harmonized variables. - A post-harmonization cleaning process is then conducted on the data. - Harmonized data is saved on the household as well as the individual level, in SPSS and then converted to STATA, to be disseminated.

Response rate

The survey sample consists of about 30,438 households of which 23,884 households completed the interview; whereas 15,342 households from the West Bank and 8,542 households in Gaza Strip. Weights were modified to account for non-response rate. The response rate in the West Bank reached 83.9% while in the Gaza Strip it reached 92.2%.

Sampling error estimates

---> Sampling Errors Data of this survey may be affected by sampling errors due to use of a sample and not a complete enumeration. Therefore, certain differences can be expected in comparison with the real values obtained through censuses. Variances were calculated for the most important indicators: the variance table is attached with the final report. There is no problem in disseminating results at national or governorate level for the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

---> Non-Sampling Errors Non-statistical errors are probable in all stages of the project, during data collection or processing. This is referred to as non-response errors, response errors, interviewing errors, and data entry errors. To avoid errors and reduce their effects, great efforts were made to train the fieldworkers intensively. They were trained on how to carry out the interview, what to discuss and what to avoid, carrying out a pilot survey, as well as practical and theoretical training during the training course. Also data entry staff were trained on the data entry program that was examined before starting the data entry process. To stay in contact with progress of fieldwork activities and to limit obstacles, there was continuous contact with the fieldwork team through regular visits to the field and regular meetings with them during the different field visits. Problems faced by fieldworkers were discussed to clarify any issues. Non-sampling errors can occur at the various stages of survey implementation whether in data collection or in data processing. They are generally difficult to be evaluated statistically.

They cover a wide range of errors, including errors resulting from non-response, sampling frame coverage, coding and classification, data processing, and survey response (both respondent and interviewer-related). The use of effective training and supervision and the careful design of questions have direct bearing on limiting the magnitude of non-sampling errors, and hence enhancing the quality of the resulting data. The implementation of the survey encountered non-response where the case ( household was not present at home ) during the fieldwork visit and the case ( housing unit is vacant) become the high percentage of the non response cases. The total non-response rate reached10.5% which is very low once compared to the household surveys conducted by PCBS , The refusal rate reached 2.4% which is very low percentage compared to the

Abstract

THE CLEANED AND HARMONIZED VERSION OF THE SURVEY DATA PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED BY THE ECONOMIC RESEARCH FORUM REPRESENTS 100% OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY DATA COLLECTED BY THE PALESTINIAN CENTRAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) carried out four rounds of the Labor Force Survey 2019 (LFS). The survey rounds covered a total sample of about 24,478 households (about 6000 households per quarter).

The main objective of collecting data on the labour force and its components, including employment, unemployment and underemployment, is to provide basic information on the size and structure of the Palestinian labour force. Data collected at different points in time provide a basis for monitoring current trends and changes in the labour market and in the employment situation. These data, supported with information on other aspects of the economy, provide a basis for the evaluation and analysis of macro-economic policies.

The raw survey data provided by the Statistical Agency were cleaned and harmonized by the Economic Research Forum, in the context of a major project that started in 2009. During which extensive efforts have been exerted to acquire, clean, harmonize, preserve and disseminate micro data of existing labor force surveys in several Arab countries.

Geographic coverage

Covering a representative sample on the region level (West Bank, Gaza Strip), the locality type (urban, rural, camp) and the governorates.

Analysis unit

1- Household/family. 2- Individual/person.

Universe

The survey covered all Palestinian households who are a usual residence of the Palestinian Territory.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

THE CLEANED AND HARMONIZED VERSION OF THE SURVEY DATA PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED BY THE ECONOMIC RESEARCH FORUM REPRESENTS 100% OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY DATA COLLECTED BY THE PALESTINIAN CENTRAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS

The methodology was designed according to the context of the survey, international standards, data processing requirements and comparability of outputs with other related surveys.

---> Target Population: It consists of all individuals aged 10 years and Above and there are staying normally with their households in the state of Palestine during 2019.

---> Sampling Frame: The sampling frame consists of a comprehensive sample selected from the Population, Housing and Establishments Census 2017: This comprehensive sample consists of geographical areas with an average of 150 households, and these are considered as enumeration areas used in the census and these units were used as primary sampling units (PSUs).

---> Sampling Size: The estimated sample size is 7,800 households in each quarter of 2019.

---> Sample Design The sample is two stage stratified cluster sample with two stages : First stage: we select a systematic random sample of 536 enumeration areas for the whole round. Second stage: we select a systematic random sample of 15 households from each enumeration area selected in the first stage.

---> Sample strata: The population was divided by: 1- Governorate (16 governorate) 2- Type of Locality (urban, rural, refugee camps).

---> Sample Rotation: Each round of the Labor Force Survey covers all of the 536 master sample enumeration areas. Basically, the areas remain fixed over time, but households in 50% of the EAs were replaced in each round. The same households remain in the sample for two consecutive rounds, left for the next two rounds, then selected for the sample for another two consecutive rounds before being dropped from the sample. An overlap of 50% is then achieved between both consecutive rounds and between consecutive years (making the sample efficient for monitoring purposes).

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The survey questionnaire was designed according to the International Labour Organization (ILO) recommendations. The questionnaire includes four main parts:

---> 1. Identification Data: The main objective for this part is to record the necessary information to identify the household, such as, cluster code, sector, type of locality, cell, housing number and the cell code.

---> 2. Quality Control: This part involves groups of controlling standards to monitor the field and office operation, to keep in order the sequence of questionnaire stages (data collection, field and office coding, data entry, editing after entry and store the data.

---> 3. Household Roster: This part involves demographic characteristics about the household, like number of persons in the household, date of birth, sex, educational level…etc.

---> 4. Employment Part: This part involves the major research indicators, where one questionnaire had been answered by every 15 years and over household member, to be able to explore their labour force status and recognize their major characteristics toward employment status, economic activity, occupation, place of work, and other employment indicators.

Cleaning operations

---> Raw Data PCBS started collecting data since 1st quarter 2019 using the hand held devices in Palestine excluding Jerusalem in side boarders (J1) and Gaza Strip, the program used in HHD called Sql Server and Microsoft. Net which was developed by General Directorate of Information Systems. Using HHD reduced the data processing stages, the fieldworkers collect data and sending data directly to server then the project manager can withdrawal the data at any time he needs. In order to work in parallel with Gaza Strip and Jerusalem in side boarders (J1), an office program was developed using the same techniques by using the same database for the HHD.

---> Harmonized Data - The SPSS package is used to clean and harmonize the datasets. - The harmonization process starts with a cleaning process for all raw data files received from the Statistical Agency. - All cleaned data files are then merged to produce one data file on the individual level containing all variables subject to harmonization. - A country-specific program is generated for each dataset to generate/ compute/ recode/ rename/ format/ label harmonized variables. - A post-harmonization cleaning process is then conducted on the data. - Harmonized data is saved on the household as well as the individual level, in SPSS and then converted to STATA, to be disseminated.

Response rate

The survey sample consists of about 31,582 households of which 24,487 households completed the interview; whereas 15,574 households from the West Bank and 8,913 households in Gaza Strip. Weights were modified to account for non-response rate. The response rate in the West Bank reached 78.7% while in the Gaza Strip it reached 93.1%.

Sampling error estimates

---> Sampling Errors Data of this survey may be affected by sampling errors due to use of a sample and not a complete enumeration. Therefore, certain differences can be expected in comparison with the real values obtained through censuses. Variances were calculated for the most important indicators: the variance table is attached with the final report. There is no problem in disseminating results at national or governorate level for the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

---> Non-Sampling Errors Non-statistical errors are probable in all stages of the project, during data collection or processing. This is referred to as non-response errors, response errors, interviewing errors, and data entry errors. To avoid errors and reduce their effects, great efforts were made to train the fieldworkers intensively. They were trained on how to carry out the interview, what to discuss and what to avoid, carrying out a pilot survey, as well as practical and theoretical training during the training course. Also data entry staff were trained on the data entry program that was examined before starting the data entry process. To stay in contact with progress of fieldwork activities and to limit obstacles, there was continuous contact with the fieldwork team through regular visits to the field and regular meetings with them during the different field visits. Problems faced by fieldworkers were discussed to clarify any issues. Non-sampling errors can occur at the various stages of survey implementation whether in data collection or in data processing. They are generally difficult to be evaluated statistically.

They cover a wide range of errors, including errors resulting from non-response, sampling frame coverage, coding and classification, data processing, and survey response (both respondent and interviewer-related). The use of effective training and supervision and the careful design of questions have direct bearing on limiting the magnitude of non-sampling errors, and hence enhancing the quality of the resulting data. The implementation of the survey encountered non-response where the case ( household was not present at home ) during the fieldwork visit and the case ( housing unit is vacant) become the high percentage of the non response cases. The total non-response rate reached 16.6% which is very low once compared to the household surveys conducted by PCBS , The refusal rate reached 3.0% which is very low percentage compared to the household surveys conducted by PCBS, and the reason is the short and clear questionnaire .

Data appraisal

Concept of data quality covers many aspects, starting from the initial planning of the survey to the dissemination of the results and how well users understand and use the data. There are seven dimensions

Abstract

THE CLEANED AND HARMONIZED VERSION OF THE SURVEY DATA PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED BY THE ECONOMIC RESEARCH FORUM REPRESENTS 100% OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY DATA COLLECTED BY THE PALESTINIAN CENTRAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) carried out four rounds of the Labor Force Survey 2015 (LFS). The survey rounds covered a total sample of about 25,049 households (6,376 households per quarter).

The main objective of collecting data on the labour force and its components, including employment, unemployment and underemployment, is to provide basic information on the size and structure of the Palestinian labour force. Data collected at different points in time provide a basis for monitoring current trends and changes in the labour market and in the employment situation. These data, supported with information on other aspects of the economy, provide a basis for the evaluation and analysis of macro-economic policies.

The raw survey data provided by the Statistical Agency were cleaned and harmonized by the Economic Research Forum, in the context of a major project that started in 2009. During which extensive efforts have been exerted to acquire, clean, harmonize, preserve and disseminate micro data of existing labor force surveys in several Arab countries.

Geographic coverage

Covering a representative sample on the region level (West Bank, Gaza Strip), the locality type (urban, rural, camp) and the governorates.

Analysis unit

1- Household/family. 2- Individual/person.

Universe

The survey covered all Palestinian households who are a usual residence of the Palestinian Territory.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

THE CLEANED AND HARMONIZED VERSION OF THE SURVEY DATA PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED BY THE ECONOMIC RESEARCH FORUM REPRESENTS 100% OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY DATA COLLECTED BY THE PALESTINIAN CENTRAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS

The methodology was designed according to the context of the survey, international standards, data processing requirements and comparability of outputs with other related surveys.

---> Target Population: It consists of all individuals aged 10 years and Above and there are staying normally with their households in the state of Palestine during 2015.

---> Sampling Frame: The sampling frame consists of the master sample, which was updated in 2011: each enumeration area consists of buildings and housing units with an average of about 124 households. The master sample consists of 596 enumeration areas; we used 498 enumeration areas as a framework for the labor force survey sample in 2015 and these units were used as primary sampling units (PSUs).

---> Sampling Size: The estimated sample size is 6,376 households in each quarter of 2015.

---> Sample Design The sample is two stage stratified cluster sample with two stages : First stage: we select a systematic random sample of 494 enumeration areas for the whole round ,and we excluded the enumeration areas which its sizes less than 40 households. Second stage: we select a systematic random sample of 16 households from each enumeration area selected in the first stage, se we select a systematic random of 16 households of the enumeration areas which its size is 80 household and over and the enumeration areas which its size is less than 80 households we select systematic random of 8 households.

---> Sample strata: The population was divided by: 1- Governorate (16 governorate) 2- Type of Locality (urban, rural, refugee camps).

---> Sample Rotation: Each round of the Labor Force Survey covers all of the 494 master sample enumeration areas. Basically, the areas remain fixed over time, but households in 50% of the EAs were replaced in each round. The same households remain in the sample for two consecutive rounds, left for the next two rounds, then selected for the sample for another two consecutive rounds before being dropped from the sample. An overlap of 50% is then achieved between both consecutive rounds and between consecutive years (making the sample efficient for monitoring purposes).

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The survey questionnaire was designed according to the International Labour Organization (ILO) recommendations. The questionnaire includes four main parts:

---> 1. Identification Data: The main objective for this part is to record the necessary information to identify the household, such as, cluster code, sector, type of locality, cell, housing number and the cell code.

---> 2. Quality Control: This part involves groups of controlling standards to monitor the field and office operation, to keep in order the sequence of questionnaire stages (data collection, field and office coding, data entry, editing after entry and store the data.

---> 3. Household Roster: This part involves demographic characteristics about the household, like number of persons in the household, date of birth, sex, educational level…etc.

---> 4. Employment Part: This part involves the major research indicators, where one questionnaire had been answered by every 15 years and over household member, to be able to explore their labour force status and recognize their major characteristics toward employment status, economic activity, occupation, place of work, and other employment indicators.

Cleaning operations

---> Raw Data PCBS started collecting data since 1st quarter 2015 using the hand held devices in Palestine excluding Jerusalem in side boarders (J1) and Gaza Strip, the program used in HHD called Sql Server and Microsoft. Net which was developed by General Directorate of Information Systems. Using HHD reduced the data processing stages, the fieldworkers collect data and sending data directly to server then the project manager can withdrawal the data at any time he needs. In order to work in parallel with Gaza Strip and Jerusalem in side boarders (J1), an office program was developed using the same techniques by using the same database for the HHD.

---> Harmonized Data - The SPSS package is used to clean and harmonize the datasets. - The harmonization process starts with a cleaning process for all raw data files received from the Statistical Agency. - All cleaned data files are then merged to produce one data file on the individual level containing all variables subject to harmonization. - A country-specific program is generated for each dataset to generate/ compute/ recode/ rename/ format/ label harmonized variables. - A post-harmonization cleaning process is then conducted on the data. - Harmonized data is saved on the household as well as the individual level, in SPSS and then converted to STATA, to be disseminated.

Response rate

The survey sample consists of about 30,464 households of which 25,049 households completed the interview; whereas 16,339 households from the West Bank and 8,710 households in Gaza Strip. Weights were modified to account for non-response rate. The response rate in the West Bank reached 87.9% while in the Gaza Strip it reached 92.7%.

Sampling error estimates

---> Sampling Errors Data of this survey may be affected by sampling errors due to use of a sample and not a complete enumeration. Therefore, certain differences can be expected in comparison with the real values obtained through censuses. Variances were calculated for the most important indicators: the variance table is attached with the final report. There is no problem in disseminating results at national or governorate level for the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

---> Non-Sampling Errors Non-statistical errors are probable in all stages of the project, during data collection or processing. This is referred to as non-response errors, response errors, interviewing errors, and data entry errors. To avoid errors and reduce their effects, great efforts were made to train the fieldworkers intensively. They were trained on how to carry out the interview, what to discuss and what to avoid, carrying out a pilot survey, as well as practical and theoretical training during the training course. Also data entry staff were trained on the data entry program that was examined before starting the data entry process. To stay in contact with progress of fieldwork activities and to limit obstacles, there was continuous contact with the fieldwork team through regular visits to the field and regular meetings with them during the different field visits. Problems faced by fieldworkers were discussed to clarify any issues. Non-sampling errors can occur at the various stages of survey implementation whether in data collection or in data processing. They are generally difficult to be evaluated statistically.

They cover a wide range of errors, including errors resulting from non-response, sampling frame coverage, coding and classification, data processing, and survey response (both respondent and interviewer-related). The use of effective training and supervision and the careful design of questions have direct bearing on limiting the magnitude of non-sampling errors, and hence enhancing the quality of the resulting data. The implementation of the survey encountered non-response where the case ( household was not present at home ) during the fieldwork visit and the case ( housing unit is vacant) become the high percentage of the non response cases. The total non-response rate reached10.5% which is very low once compared to the household surveys conducted by PCBS , The refusal rate reached 2.4% which is very low percentage compared to the

Abstract

THE CLEANED AND HARMONIZED VERSION OF THE SURVEY DATA PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED BY THE ECONOMIC RESEARCH FORUM REPRESENTS 100% OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY DATA COLLECTED BY THE PALESTINIAN CENTRAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) carried out four rounds of the Labor Force Survey 2010 (LFS). The survey rounds covered a total sample of about 31,179 households, and the number of completed questionaire is 27,510, which amounts to a sample of around 116,439 individuals aged 10 years and over, including 95,067 individuals in the working-age population 15 years and above.

The importance of this survey lies in that it focuses mainly on labour force key indicators, main characteristics of the employed, unemployed, underemployed and persons outside labour force, labour force according to level of education, distribution of the employed population by occupation, economic activity, place of work, employment status, hours and days worked and average daily wage in NIS for the employees.

The survey main objectives are: - To estimate the labor force and its percentage to the population. - To estimate the number of employed individuals. - To analyze labour force according to gender, employment status, educational level, occupation and economic activity. - To provide information about the main changes in the labour market structure and its socio economic characteristics. - To estimate the numbers of unemployed individuals and analyze their general characteristics. - To estimate the rate of working hours and wages for employed individuals in addition to analyze of other characteristics.

The raw survey data provided by the Statistical Agency were cleaned and harmonized by the Economic Research Forum, in the context of a major project that started in 2009. During which extensive efforts have been exerted to acquire, clean, harmonize, preserve and disseminate micro data of existing labor force surveys in several Arab countries.

Geographic coverage

Covering a representative sample on the region level (West Bank, Gaza Strip), the locality type (urban, rural, camp) and the governorates.

Analysis unit

1- Household/family. 2- Individual/person.

Universe

The survey covered all Palestinian households who are a usual residence of the Palestinian Territory.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

THE CLEANED AND HARMONIZED VERSION OF THE SURVEY DATA PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED BY THE ECONOMIC RESEARCH FORUM REPRESENTS 100% OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY DATA COLLECTED BY THE PALESTINIAN CENTRAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS

The methodology was designed according to the context of the survey, international standards, data processing requirements and comparability of outputs with other related surveys.

---> Target Population: All Palestinians aged 10 years and over living in the Palestinian Territory, excluding persons living in institutions such as prisons or shelters.

---> Sampling Frame: The sampling frame consisted of a master sample of enumeration areas (EAs) selected from the population housing and establishment census 2007, the master sample consists of area units of relatively equal size (number of households), these units have been used as primary sampling units (PSUs).

---> Sample Design The sample is a two-stage stratified cluster random sample.

---> Stratification: Four levels of stratification were made: 1. Stratification by Governorates. 2. Stratification by type of locality which comprises: (a) Urban (b) Rural (c) Refugee Camps 3. Stratification by classifying localities, excluding governorate centers, into three strata based on the ownership of households of durable goods within these localities. 4. Stratification by size of locality (number of households).

---> Sample Size: The sample size was about 7,770 households in the 56th round and 7,818 households in the 57th round, and 7,819 households in the 58th round and 7,772 households in the 59th round. The total number of the households was about 31,179 households. The number of completed questionnaires was about 27,514 questionnaires and this was considered appropriate to provide estimations on main labour force characteristics in the Palestinian Territory. The sample size in 1st quarter, 2010 consisted of 7,770 households, which included 29,999 persons aged 10 years and over (including 24,395 aged 15 years and over). In the 2nd quarter, the sample consisted of 7,818 households, which included 29,483 persons aged 10 years and over (including 24,118 aged 15 years and over). In the 3rd quarter, the sample consisted of 7,819 households, which included 28,479 persons aged 10 years and over (including 23,260 aged 15 years and over). In the 4th quarter the sample consisted of 7,772 households; which included 28,478 persons aged 10 years and over (including 23,288 aged 15 years and over).

---> Sample Rotation: Each round of the Labor Force Survey covers all the 481 master sample areas. Basically, the areas remain fixed over time, but households in 50% of the EAs are replaced each round. The same household remains in the sample over 2 consecutive rounds, rests for the next two rounds and represented again in the sample for another and last two consecutive rounds before it is dropped from the sample. A 50 % overlap is then achieved between both consecutive rounds and between consecutive years (making the sample efficient for monitoring purposes). In earlier applications of the LFS (rounds 1 to 11); the rotation pattern used was different; requiring a household to remain in the sample for six consecutive rounds, then dropped. The objective of such a pattern was to increase the overlap between consecutive rounds. The new rotation pattern was introduced to reduce the burden on the households resulting from visiting the same household for six consecutive times.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The survey questionnaire was designed according to the International Labour Organization (ILO) recommendations. The questionnaire includes four main parts:

---> 1. Identification Data: The main objective for this part is to record the necessary information to identify the household, such as, cluster code, sector, type of locality, cell, housing number and the cell code.

---> 2. Quality Control: This part involves groups of controlling standards to monitor the field and office operation, to keep in order the sequence of questionnaire stages (data collection, field and office coding, data entry, editing after entry and store the data.

---> 3. Household Roster: This part involves demographic characteristics about the household, like number of persons in the household, date of birth, sex, educational level…etc.

---> 4. Employment Part: This part involves the major research indicators, where one questionnaire had been answered by every 15 years and over household member, to be able to explore their labour force status and recognize their major characteristics toward employment status, economic activity, occupation, place of work, and other employment indicators.

Cleaning operations

---> Raw Data Data editing took place at a number of stages through the processing including: 1. office editing and coding 2. during data entry 3. structure checking and completeness 4. structural checking of SPSS data files

---> Harmonized Data - The SPSS package is used to clean and harmonize the datasets. - The harmonization process starts with a cleaning process for all raw data files received from the Statistical Agency. - All cleaned data files are then merged to produce one data file on the individual level containing all variables subject to harmonization. - A country-specific program is generated for each dataset to generate/ compute/ recode/ rename/ format/ label harmonized variables. - A post-harmonization cleaning process is then conducted on the data. - Harmonized data is saved on the household as well as the individual level, in SPSS and then converted to STATA, to be disseminated.

Response rate

Errors due to non-response because households were away from home or refused to participate. The overall non response rate amounted to almost 11.8% which is relatively low; a much higher rates is rather common in an international perspective. The refusal rate was only 1.1% and the coverage rate was only 4.7%. It is difficult; however, to assess the amount of bias resulting from non response. PCBS has not yet undertaken any non-response study. Such a study may indicate, that non-response is more frequent in some population groups than in others. This is rather normal and such information is necessary to be able to compensate for bias resulting from non-response errors.

Sampling error estimates

---> Statistical Errors Since the data reported here are based on a sample survey and not on a complete enumeration, they are subjected to sampling errors as well as non-sampling errors. Sampling errors are random outcomes of the sample design, and are, therefore, in principle measurable by the statistical concept of standard error. A description of the estimated standard errors and the effects of the sample design on sampling errors are provided in the previous chapter. Data of this survey affected by statistical errors due to use the sample, Therefore, the emergence of certain differences from the real values expect obtained through censuses. It had been calculated variation of the most important indicators exists and the facility with the report and the dissemination levels of the data

Abstract

THE CLEANED AND HARMONIZED VERSION OF THE SURVEY DATA PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED BY THE ECONOMIC RESEARCH FORUM REPRESENTS 100% OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY DATA COLLECTED BY THE PALESTINIAN CENTRAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) carried out four rounds of the Labor Force Survey 2007 (LFS). The survey rounds covered a total sample of about 30,196 households, and the number of completed questionaire is 25,530, which amounts to a sample of around 113,246 individuals aged 10 years and over, including 89,870 individuals in the working-age population 15 years and above.

The importance of this survey lies in that it focuses mainly on labour force key indicators, main characteristics of the employed, unemployed, underemployed and persons outside labour force, labour force according to level of education, distribution of the employed population by occupation, economic activity, place of work, employment status, hours and days worked and average daily wage in NIS for the employees.

The survey main objectives are: - To estimate the labor force and its percentage to the population. - To estimate the number of employed individuals. - To analyze labour force according to gender, employment status, educational level , occupation and economic activity. - To provide information about the main changes in the labour market structure and its socio economic characteristics. - To estimate the numbers of unemployed individuals and analyze their general characteristics. - To estimate the rate of working hours and wages for employed individuals in addition to analyze of other characteristics.

The raw survey data provided by the Statistical Agency were cleaned and harmonized by the Economic Research Forum, in the context of a major project that started in 2009. During which extensive efforts have been exerted to acquire, clean, harmonize, preserve and disseminate micro data of existing labor force surveys in several Arab countries.

Geographic coverage

Covering a representative sample on the region level (West Bank, Gaza Strip), the locality type (urban, rural, camp) and the governorates.

Analysis unit

1- Household/family. 2- Individual/person.

Universe

The survey covered all Palestinian households who are a usual residence of the Palestinian Territory.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

THE CLEANED AND HARMONIZED VERSION OF THE SURVEY DATA PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED BY THE ECONOMIC RESEARCH FORUM REPRESENTS 100% OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY DATA COLLECTED BY THE PALESTINIAN CENTRAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS

The methodology was designed according to the context of the survey, international standards, data processing requirements and comparability of outputs with other related surveys.

Target Population:

All Palestinians aged 10 years or older living in the Palestinian Territory, excluding those living in institutions such as prisons or shelters.

Sampling Frame:

The sampling frame consisted of a master sample of Enumeration Areas (EAs) selected from the population housing and establishment census 1997. The master sample consists of area units of relatively equal size (number of households), these units have been used as Primary Sampling Units (PSUs).

Sample Design:

The sample is a two-stage stratified cluster random sample.

Stratification: Four levels of stratification were made:

1. Stratification by Governorates.
2. Stratification by type of locality which comprises: (a) Urban, (b) Rural, and (c) Refugee Camps
3. Stratification by classifying localities, excluding governorate centers, into three strata based on the ownership of households of durable goods within these localities.
4. Stratification by size of locality (number of households).

Sample Size

The sample size in the 1st round consisted of 7,552 households, which amounts to a sample of around 23,211 persons aged 15 years and over. In the 2nd round the sample consisted of 7,552 households, which amounts to a sample of around 22,969 persons aged 15 years and over, in the 3rd round the sample consisted of 7,546 households, which amounts to a sample of around 22,767 persons aged 15 years and over. In the 4th round the sample consisted of 7,546 households; which amounts to a sample of around 20,923 persons aged 15 years and over. The sample size allowed for non-response and related losses. In addition, the average number of households selected in each cell was 16.

Sample Rotation:

Each round of the Labor Force Survey covers all the 481 master sample areas. Basically, the areas remain fixed over time, but households in 50% of the EAs are replaced each round. The same household remains in the sample over 2 consecutive rounds, rests for the next two rounds and represented again in the sample for another and last two consecutive rounds before it is dropped from the sample. A 50 % overlap is then achieved between both consecutive rounds and between consecutive years (making the sample efficient for monitoring purposes). In earlier applications of the LFS (rounds 1 to 11); the rotation pattern used was different; requiring a household to remain in the sample for six consecutive rounds, then dropped. The objective of such a pattern was to increase the overlap between consecutive rounds. The new rotation pattern was introduced to reduce the burden on the households resulting from visiting the same household for six consecutive times.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The lfs questionnaire consists of four main sections: 1. Identification Data: The main objective for this part is to record the necessary information to identify the household, such as, cluster code, sector, type of locality, cell, housing number and the cell code.

1. Quality Control: This part involves groups of controlling standards to monitor the field and office operation, to keep in order the sequence of questionnaire stages (data collection, field and office coding, data entry, editing after entry and store the data.

3.Household Roster: This part involves demographic characteristics about the household, like number of persons in the household, date of birth, sex, educational level…etc.

1. Employment Part: This part involves the major research indicators, where one questionnaire had been answered by every 15 years and over household member, to be able to explore their labour force status and recognize their major characteristics toward employment status, economic activity, occupation, place of work, and other employment indicators.

Cleaning operations

Raw Data

Data editing took place at a number of stages through the processing including: 1. office editing and coding 2. during data entry 3. structure checking and completeness 4. structural checking of SPSS data files

Harmonized Data

• The SPSS package is used to clean and harmonize the datasets.
• The harmonization process starts with a cleaning process for all raw data files received from the Statistical Agency.
• All cleaned data files are then merged to produce one data file on the individual level containing all variables subject to harmonization.
• A country-specific program is generated for each dataset to generate/ compute/ recode/ rename/ format/ label harmonized variables.
• A post-harmonization cleaning process is then conducted on the data.
• Harmonized data is saved on the household as well as the individual level, in SPSS and then converted to STATA, to be disseminated.

Response rate

The overall response rate for the survey was 84.5%

More information on the distribution of response rates by different survey rounds is available in Page 12 of the data user guide provided among the disseminated survey materials under a file named "Palestine 2007- Data User Guide (English).pdf".

Sampling error estimates

Since the data reported here are based on a sample survey and not on a complete enumeration, they are subjected to sampling errors as well as non-sampling errors. Sampling errors are random outcomes of the sample design, and are, therefore, in principle measurable by the statistical concept of standard error.

Data appraisal

Non-sampling errors can occur at the various stages of survey implementation whether in data collection or in data processing. They are generally difficult to be evaluated statistically. They cover a wide range of errors, including errors resulting from non-response, sampling frame coverage, coding and classification, data processing, and survey response (both respondent and interviewer-related). The use of effective training and supervision and the careful design of questions have direct bearing on limiting the magnitude of non-sampling errors, and hence enhancing the quality of the resulting data. The following are possible sources of non-sampling errors:

• Errors due to non-response because households were away from home or refused to participate. The overall non response rate amounted to almost 15.5% which is relatively low; a much higher rates is rather common in an international perspective. The refusal rate was only 1.1%. It is difficult however to assess the amount of bias resulting from non response. The PCBS has not yet undertaken any non-response study. Such a study may indicate, that non-response is more frequent in some population groups than in others. This is rather normal and such information is necessary to be able to compensate for bias resulting from

Abstract

THE CLEANED AND HARMONIZED VERSION OF THE SURVEY DATA PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED BY THE ECONOMIC RESEARCH FORUM REPRESENTS 100% OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY DATA COLLECTED BY THE PALESTINIAN CENTRAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) carried out four rounds of the Labor Force Survey 2021 (LFS). The survey rounds covered a total sample of about 25,179 households (about 6,300 households per quarter).

The main objective of collecting data on the labour force and its components, including employment, unemployment and underemployment, is to provide basic information on the size and structure of the Palestinian labour force. Data collected at different points in time provide a basis for monitoring current trends and changes in the labour market and in the employment situation. These data, supported with information on other aspects of the economy, provide a basis for the evaluation and analysis of macro-economic policies.

The raw survey data provided by the Statistical Agency were cleaned and harmonized by the Economic Research Forum, in the context of a major project that started in 2009. During which extensive efforts have been exerted to acquire, clean, harmonize, preserve and disseminate micro data of existing labor force surveys in several Arab countries.

Geographic coverage

Covering a representative sample on the region level (West Bank, Gaza Strip), the locality type (urban, rural, camp) and the governorates.

Analysis unit

1- Household/family. 2- Individual/person.

Universe

The survey covered all Palestinian households who are a usual residence of the Palestinian Territory.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

THE CLEANED AND HARMONIZED VERSION OF THE SURVEY DATA PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED BY THE ECONOMIC RESEARCH FORUM REPRESENTS 100% OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY DATA COLLECTED BY THE PALESTINIAN CENTRAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS

The methodology was designed according to the context of the survey, international standards, data processing requirements and comparability of outputs with other related surveys.

---> Target Population: It consists of all individuals aged 10 years and Above and there are staying normally with their households in the state of Palestine during 2020.

---> Sampling Frame: The sampling frame consists of a comprehensive sample selected from the Population, Housing and Establishments Census 2017: This comprehensive sample consists of geographical areas with an average of 150 households, and these are considered as enumeration areas used in the census and these units were used as primary sampling units (PSUs).

---> Sampling Size: The estimated sample size is 8,040 households in each quarter of 2021.

---> Sample Design The sample is two stage stratified cluster sample with two stages : First stage: we select a systematic random sample of 536 enumeration areas for the whole round. Second stage: we select a systematic random sample of 15 households from each enumeration area selected in the first stage.

---> Sample strata: The population was divided by: 1- Governorate (17 governorates, where Jerusalem was considered as two statistical areas) 2- Type of Locality (urban, rural, refugee camps).

---> Sample Rotation: Each round of the Labor Force Survey covers all of the 536 master sample enumeration areas. Basically, the areas remain fixed over time, but households in 50% of the EAs were replaced in each round. The same households remain in the sample for two consecutive rounds, left for the next two rounds, then selected for the sample for another two consecutive rounds before being dropped from the sample. An overlap of 50% is then achieved between both consecutive rounds and between consecutive years (making the sample efficient for monitoring purposes).

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The survey questionnaire was designed according to the International Labour Organization (ILO) recommendations. The questionnaire includes four main parts:

---> 1. Identification Data: The main objective for this part is to record the necessary information to identify the household, such as, cluster code, sector, type of locality, cell, housing number and the cell code.

---> 2. Quality Control: This part involves groups of controlling standards to monitor the field and office operation, to keep in order the sequence of questionnaire stages (data collection, field and office coding, data entry, editing after entry and store the data.

---> 3. Household Roster: This part involves demographic characteristics about the household, like number of persons in the household, date of birth, sex, educational level…etc.

---> 4. Employment Part: This part involves the major research indicators, where one questionnaire had been answered by every 15 years and over household member, to be able to explore their labour force status and recognize their major characteristics toward employment status, economic activity, occupation, place of work, and other employment indicators.

Cleaning operations

---> Raw Data PCBS started collecting data since 1st quarter 2020 using the hand held devices in Palestine excluding Jerusalem in side boarders (J1) and Gaza Strip, the program used in HHD called Sql Server and Microsoft. Net which was developed by General Directorate of Information Systems. From the beginning of March 2020, with the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and the home quarantine imposed by the government, the personal (face to face) interview was replaced by the phone interview for households who had phone numbers from previous rounds, and for those households that did not have phone numbers, they were referred to and interviewed in person (face to face interview). Using HHD reduced the data processing stages, the fieldworkers collect data and sending data directly to server then the project manager can withdrawal the data at any time he needs. In order to work in parallel with Gaza Strip and Jerusalem in side boarders (J1), an office program was developed using the same techniques by using the same database for the HHD.

---> Harmonized Data - The SPSS package is used to clean and harmonize the datasets. - The harmonization process starts with a cleaning process for all raw data files received from the Statistical Agency. - All cleaned data files are then merged to produce one data file on the individual level containing all variables subject to harmonization. - A country-specific program is generated for each dataset to generate/ compute/ recode/ rename/ format/ label harmonized variables. - A post-harmonization cleaning process is then conducted on the data. - Harmonized data is saved on the household as well as the individual level, in SPSS and then converted to STATA, to be disseminated.

Response rate

The survey sample consists of about 32,160 households of which 25,179 households completed the interview; whereas 16,355 households from the West Bank and 8,824 households in Gaza Strip. Weights were modified to account for non-response rate. The response rate in the West Bank reached 79.8% while in the Gaza Strip it reached 90.5%.

Sampling error estimates

---> Sampling Errors Data of this survey may be affected by sampling errors due to use of a sample and not a complete enumeration. Therefore, certain differences can be expected in comparison with the real values obtained through censuses. Variances were calculated for the most important indicators: the variance table is attached with the final report. There is no problem in disseminating results at national or governorate level for the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

---> Non-Sampling Errors Non-statistical errors are probable in all stages of the project, during data collection or processing. This is referred to as non-response errors, response errors, interviewing errors, and data entry errors. To avoid errors and reduce their effects, great efforts were made to train the fieldworkers intensively. They were trained on how to carry out the interview, what to discuss and what to avoid, carrying out a pilot survey, as well as practical and theoretical training during the training course. Also data entry staff were trained on the data entry program that was examined before starting the data entry process. To stay in contact with progress of fieldwork activities and to limit obstacles, there was continuous contact with the fieldwork team through regular visits to the field and regular meetings with them during the different field visits. Problems faced by fieldworkers were discussed to clarify any issues. Non-sampling errors can occur at the various stages of survey implementation whether in data collection or in data processing. They are generally difficult to be evaluated statistically.

They cover a wide range of errors, including errors resulting from non-response, sampling frame coverage, coding and classification, data processing, and survey response (both respondent and interviewer-related). The use of effective training and supervision and the careful design of questions have direct bearing on limiting the magnitude of non-sampling errors, and hence enhancing the quality of the resulting data. The implementation of the survey encountered non-response where the case ( household was not present at home ) during the fieldwork visit and the case ( housing unit is vacant) become the high percentage of the non response cases. The total non-response rate reached 16.7% which is very low once compared to the

Abstract

THE CLEANED AND HARMONIZED VERSION OF THE SURVEY DATA PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED BY THE ECONOMIC RESEARCH FORUM REPRESENTS 100% OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY DATA COLLECTED BY THE PALESTINIAN CENTRAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) carried out four rounds of the Labor Force Survey 2014 (LFS). The survey rounds covered a total sample of about 25,736 households, and the number of completed questionaire is 16,891.

The main objective of collecting data on the labour force and its components, including employment, unemployment and underemployment, is to provide basic information on the size and structure of the Palestinian labour force. Data collected at different points in time provide a basis for monitoring current trends and changes in the labour market and in the employment situation. These data, supported with information on other aspects of the economy, provide a basis for the evaluation and analysis of macro-economic policies.

The raw survey data provided by the Statistical Agency were cleaned and harmonized by the Economic Research Forum, in the context of a major project that started in 2009. During which extensive efforts have been exerted to acquire, clean, harmonize, preserve and disseminate micro data of existing labor force surveys in several Arab countries.

Geographic coverage

Covering a representative sample on the region level (West Bank, Gaza Strip), the locality type (urban, rural, camp) and the governorates.

Analysis unit

1- Household/family. 2- Individual/person.

Universe

The survey covered all Palestinian households who are a usual residence of the Palestinian Territory.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

THE CLEANED AND HARMONIZED VERSION OF THE SURVEY DATA PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED BY THE ECONOMIC RESEARCH FORUM REPRESENTS 100% OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY DATA COLLECTED BY THE PALESTINIAN CENTRAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS

The methodology was designed according to the context of the survey, international standards, data processing requirements and comparability of outputs with other related surveys.

---> Target Population: It consists of all individuals aged 10 years and Above and there are staying normally with their households in the state of Palestine during 2014.

---> Sampling Frame: The sampling frame consists of the master sample, which was updated in 2011: each enumeration area consists of buildings and housing units with an average of about 124 households. The master sample consists of 596 enumeration areas; we used 498 enumeration areas as a framework for the labor force survey sample in 2014 and these units were used as primary sampling units (PSUs).

---> Sampling Size: The estimated sample size is 7,616 households in each quarter of 2014, but in the second quarter 2014 only 7,541 households were collected, where 75 households couldn't be collected in Gaza Strip because of the Israeli aggression.

---> Sample Design The sample is two stage stratified cluster sample with two stages : First stage: we select a systematic random sample of 494 enumeration areas for the whole round ,and we excluded the enumeration areas which its sizes less than 40 households. Second stage: we select a systematic random sample of 16 households from each enumeration area selected in the first stage, se we select a systematic random of 16 households of the enumeration areas which its size is 80 household and over and the enumeration areas which its size is less than 80 households we select systematic random of 8 households.

---> Sample strata: The population was divided by: 1- Governorate (16 governorate) 2- Type of Locality (urban, rural, refugee camps).

---> Sample Rotation: Each round of the Labor Force Survey covers all of the 494 master sample enumeration areas. Basically, the areas remain fixed over time, but households in 50% of the EAs were replaced in each round. The same households remain in the sample for two consecutive rounds, left for the next two rounds, then selected for the sample for another two consecutive rounds before being dropped from the sample. An overlap of 50% is then achieved between both consecutive rounds and between consecutive years (making the sample efficient for monitoring purposes).

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The survey questionnaire was designed according to the International Labour Organization (ILO) recommendations. The questionnaire includes four main parts:

---> 1. Identification Data: The main objective for this part is to record the necessary information to identify the household, such as, cluster code, sector, type of locality, cell, housing number and the cell code.

---> 2. Quality Control: This part involves groups of controlling standards to monitor the field and office operation, to keep in order the sequence of questionnaire stages (data collection, field and office coding, data entry, editing after entry and store the data.

---> 3. Household Roster: This part involves demographic characteristics about the household, like number of persons in the household, date of birth, sex, educational level…etc.

---> 4. Employment Part: This part involves the major research indicators, where one questionnaire had been answered by every 15 years and over household member, to be able to explore their labour force status and recognize their major characteristics toward employment status, economic activity, occupation, place of work, and other employment indicators.

Cleaning operations

---> Raw Data PCBS started collecting data since 1st quarter 2013 using the hand held devices in Palestine excluding Jerusalem in side boarders (J1) and Gaza Strip, the program used in HHD called Sql Server and Microsoft. Net which was developed by General Directorate of Information Systems. Using HHD reduced the data processing stages, the fieldworkers collect data and sending data directly to server then the project manager can withdrawal the data at any time he needs. In order to work in parallel with Gaza Strip and Jerusalem in side boarders (J1), an office program was developed using the same techniques by using the same database for the HHD.

---> Harmonized Data - The SPSS package is used to clean and harmonize the datasets. - The harmonization process starts with a cleaning process for all raw data files received from the Statistical Agency. - All cleaned data files are then merged to produce one data file on the individual level containing all variables subject to harmonization. - A country-specific program is generated for each dataset to generate/ compute/ recode/ rename/ format/ label harmonized variables. - A post-harmonization cleaning process is then conducted on the data. - Harmonized data is saved on the household as well as the individual level, in SPSS and then converted to STATA, to be disseminated.

Response rate

The survey sample consists of about 30,464 households of which 25,736 households completed the interview; whereas 16,891 households from the West Bank and 8,845 households in Gaza Strip. Weights were modified to account for non-response rate. The response rate in the West Bank reached 88.8% while in the Gaza Strip it reached 93.3%.

Sampling error estimates

---> Sampling Errors Data of this survey may be affected by sampling errors due to use of a sample and not a complete enumeration. Therefore, certain differences can be expected in comparison with the real values obtained through censuses. Variances were calculated for the most important indicators: the variance table is attached with the final report. There is no problem in disseminating results at national or governorate level for the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

---> Non-Sampling Errors Non-statistical errors are probable in all stages of the project, during data collection or processing. This is referred to as non-response errors, response errors, interviewing errors, and data entry errors. To avoid errors and reduce their effects, great efforts were made to train the fieldworkers intensively. They were trained on how to carry out the interview, what to discuss and what to avoid, carrying out a pilot survey, as well as practical and theoretical training during the training course. Also data entry staff were trained on the data entry program that was examined before starting the data entry process. To stay in contact with progress of fieldwork activities and to limit obstacles, there was continuous contact with the fieldwork team through regular visits to the field and regular meetings with them during the different field visits. Problems faced by fieldworkers were discussed to clarify any issues. Non-sampling errors can occur at the various stages of survey implementation whether in data collection or in data processing. They are generally difficult to be evaluated statistically.

They cover a wide range of errors, including errors resulting from non-response, sampling frame coverage, coding and classification, data processing, and survey response (both respondent and interviewer-related). The use of effective training and supervision and the careful design of questions have direct bearing on limiting the magnitude of non-sampling errors, and hence enhancing the quality of the resulting data. The implementation of the survey encountered non-response where the case ( household was not present at home ) during the fieldwork visit and the case ( housing unit is vacant) become the high percentage of the non response cases. The total

Abstract

THE CLEANED AND HARMONIZED VERSION OF THE SURVEY DATA PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED BY THE ECONOMIC RESEARCH FORUM REPRESENTS 100% OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY DATA COLLECTED BY THE PALESTINIAN CENTRAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) carried out four rounds of the Labor Force Survey(LFS) 2013. The survey rounds covered a total sample of about 30,524 households, and the number of completed questionaire is 26,420.

The main objective of collecting data on the labour force and its components, including employment, unemployment and underemployment, is to provide basic information on the size and structure of the Palestinian labour force. Data collected at different points in time provide a basis for monitoring current trends and changes in the labour market and in the employment situation. These data, supported with information on other aspects of the economy, provide a basis for the evaluation and analysis of macro-economic policies.

The raw survey data provided by the Statistical Agency were cleaned and harmonized by the Economic Research Forum, in the context of a major project that started in 2009. During which extensive efforts have been exerted to acquire, clean, harmonize, preserve and disseminate micro data of existing labor force surveys in several Arab countries.

Geographic coverage

Covering a representative sample on the region level (West Bank, Gaza Strip), the locality type (urban, rural, camp) and the governorates.

Analysis unit

1- Household/family. 2- Individual/person.

Universe

The survey covered all Palestinian households who are a usual residence of the Palestinian Territory.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

THE CLEANED AND HARMONIZED VERSION OF THE SURVEY DATA PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED BY THE ECONOMIC RESEARCH FORUM REPRESENTS 100% OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY DATA COLLECTED BY THE PALESTINIAN CENTRAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS

The methodology was designed according to the context of the survey, international standards, data processing requirements and comparability of outputs with other related surveys.

---> Target Population: It consists of all individuals aged 10 years and older normally residing in their households in Palestine during 2013.

---> Sampling Frame: The sampling frame consists of master sample which updated in 2011, each enumeration area consists of buildings and housing units with average of about 124 households in it. These master sample consists of 596 enumeration areas, we used 494 enumeration areas as a framework for the labor force survey sample in 2013, and these units have been used as primary sampling units (PSUs).

---> Sampling Size: The estimated sample size in the first quarter is 7,676 households, in the second, third, and fourth quarter is 7,616 household for each quarter.

---> Sample Design The sample of this survey is implemented periodically every quarter by PCBS since 1995, so this survey implement every quarter in the year (distributed over 13 weeks). The sample is two stage stratified cluster sample with two stages: first stage we select a systematic random sample of 494 enumeration areas for the whole round. second stage we select a random area sample of average 16 households from each enumeration area selected in the first stage.

---> Sample strata: The population was divided by: 1- Governorate (16 governorate) 2- Type of Locality (urban, rural, refugee camps).

---> Sample Rotation: Each round of the Labor Force Survey covers all of the 494 master sample enumeration areas. Basically, the areas remain fixed over time, but households in 50% of the EAs are replaced each round. The same household remains in the sample for 2 consecutive rounds, left for the next two rounds, then selected for the sample for another two consecutive rounds before it is dropped from the sample. A 50% overlap is then achieved between both consecutive rounds and between consecutive years (making the sample efficient for monitoring purposes).

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The survey questionnaire was designed according to the International Labour Organization (ILO) recommendations. The questionnaire includes four main parts:

---> 1. Identification Data: The main objective for this part is to record the necessary information to identify the household, such as, cluster code, sector, type of locality, cell, housing number and the cell code.

---> 2. Quality Control: This part involves groups of controlling standards to monitor the field and office operation, to keep in order the sequence of questionnaire stages (data collection, field and office coding, data entry, editing after entry and store the data.

---> 3. Household Roster: This part involves demographic characteristics about the household, like number of persons in the household, date of birth, sex, educational level…etc.

---> 4. Employment Part: This part involves the major research indicators, where one questionnaire had been answered by every 15 years and over household member, to be able to explore their labour force status and recognize their major characteristics toward employment status, economic activity, occupation, place of work, and other employment indicators.

Cleaning operations

---> Raw Data The data processing stage consisted of the following operations: 1. Editing and coding before data entry: All questionnaires were edited and coded in the office using the same instructions adopted for editing in the field. 2. Data entry: At this stage, data was entered into the computer using a data entry template designed in Access. The data entry program was prepared to satisfy a number of requirements such as: - Duplication of the questionnaires on the computer screen. - Logical and consistency check of data entered. - Possibility for internal editing of question answers. - Maintaining a minimum of digital data entry and fieldwork errors. - User friendly handling. Possibility of transferring data into another format to be used and analyzed using other statistical analytic systems such as SPSS.

---> Harmonized Data - The SPSS package is used to clean and harmonize the datasets. - The harmonization process starts with a cleaning process for all raw data files received from the Statistical Agency. - All cleaned data files are then merged to produce one data file on the individual level containing all variables subject to harmonization. - A country-specific program is generated for each dataset to generate/ compute/ recode/ rename/ format/ label harmonized variables. - A post-harmonization cleaning process is then conducted on the data. - Harmonized data is saved on the household as well as the individual level, in SPSS and then converted to STATA, to be disseminated.

Response rate

The survey sample consists of about 30,524 households of which 26,420 households completed the interview; whereas 17,162 households from the West Bank and 9,258 households in Gaza Strip. Weights were modified to account for non-response rate. The response rate in the West Bank reached 89.3% while in the Gaza Strip it reached 95.6%.

Sampling error estimates

---> Sampling Errors Data of this survey may be affected by sampling errors due to use of a sample and not a complete enumeration. Therefore, certain differences can be expected in comparison with the real values obtained through censuses. Variances were calculated for the most important indicators: the variance table is attached with the final report. There is no problem in disseminating results at national or governorate level for the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

---> Non-Sampling Errors Non-statistical errors are possible at all stages of the project, during data collection or processing. These are referred to as non-response errors, response errors, interviewing errors and data entry errors. To avoid errors and reduce their effects, strenuous efforts were made to train the field workers intensively. They were trained on how to carry out the interview, what to discuss and what to avoid, carrying out a pilot survey, as well as practical and theoretical training during the training course. Also data entry staff were trained on the data entry program, which was tested before starting the data entry process. To stay in contact with the progress of field work activities and to limit obstacles, there was continuous contact with the field work team through regular visits to the field and regular meetings with them during the different field visits. Problems faced by field workers were discussed to clarify any issues. Non-sampling errors can occur at various stages of survey implementation, whether in data collection or in data processing. They are generally difficult to be evaluated statistically. They cover a wide range of errors, including errors resulting from non-response, sampling frame coverage, coding and classification, data processing, and survey response (both respondent and interviewer-related). The use of effective training and supervision and the careful design of questions have a direct bearing on limiting the magnitude of non-sampling errors and hence enhancing the quality of the resulting data. The following are possible sources of non-sampling errors: The implementation of the survey encountered non-response where the case (household was not present at home) during the fieldwork visit and (Vacant Housing unit) become the high percentage of the non response cases. The total non-response rate reached 8.6% which is very low once

Abstract

THE CLEANED AND HARMONIZED VERSION OF THE SURVEY DATA PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED BY THE ECONOMIC RESEARCH FORUM REPRESENTS 100% OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY DATA COLLECTED BY THE PALESTINIAN CENTRAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) carried out four rounds of the Labor Force Survey 2012 (LFS). The survey rounds covered a total sample of about 30,887 households, and the number of completed questionaire is 26,898.

The main objective of collecting data on the labour force and its components, including employment, unemployment and underemployment, is to provide basic information on the size and structure of the Palestinian labour force. Data collected at different points in time provide a basis for monitoring current trends and changes in the labour market and in the employment situation. These data, supported with information on other aspects of the economy, provide a basis for the evaluation and analysis of macro-economic policies.

The raw survey data provided by the Statistical Agency were cleaned and harmonized by the Economic Research Forum, in the context of a major project that started in 2009. During which extensive efforts have been exerted to acquire, clean, harmonize, preserve and disseminate micro data of existing labor force surveys in several Arab countries.

Geographic coverage

Covering a representative sample on the region level (West Bank, Gaza Strip), the locality type (urban, rural, camp) and the governorates.

Analysis unit

1- Household/family. 2- Individual/person.

Universe

The survey covered all Palestinian households who are a usual residence of the Palestinian Territory.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

THE CLEANED AND HARMONIZED VERSION OF THE SURVEY DATA PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED BY THE ECONOMIC RESEARCH FORUM REPRESENTS 100% OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY DATA COLLECTED BY THE PALESTINIAN CENTRAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS

The methodology was designed according to the context of the survey, international standards, data processing requirements and comparability of outputs with other related surveys.

---> Target Population: It consists of all individuals aged 10 years and older normally residing in their households in Palestine during 2012.

---> Sampling Frame: The sampling frame consists of the master sample, which was updated in 2011: each enumeration area consists of buildings and housing units with an average of about 124 households. The master sample consists of 596 enumeration areas; we used 498 enumeration areas as a framework for the labor force survey sample in 2012 and these units were used as primary sampling units (PSUs).

---> Sampling Size: The estimated sample size in the first quarter was 7,775 households, in the second quarter it was 7,713 households, in the third quarter it was 7,695 households and in the fourth quarter it was 7,704 households.

---> Sample Design The sample is two stage stratified cluster sample with two stages : First stage: we select a systematic random sample of 498 enumeration areas for the whole round ,and we excluded the enumeration areas which its sizes less than 40 households. Second stage: we select a systematic random sample of 16 households from each enumeration area selected in the first stage, se we select a systematic random of 16 households of the enumeration areas which its size is 80 household and over and the enumeration areas which its size is less than 80 households we select systematic random of 8 households.

---> Sample strata: The population was divided by: 1- Governorate (16 governorate) 2- Type of Locality (urban, rural, refugee camps).

---> Sample Rotation: Each round of the Labor Force Survey covers all of the 498 master sample enumeration areas. Basically, the areas remain fixed over time, but households in 50% of the EAs were replaced in each round. The same households remain in the sample for two consecutive rounds, left for the next two rounds, then selected for the sample for another two consecutive rounds before being dropped from the sample. An overlap of 50% is then achieved between both consecutive rounds and between consecutive years (making the sample efficient for monitoring purposes).

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The survey questionnaire was designed according to the International Labour Organization (ILO) recommendations. The questionnaire includes four main parts:

---> 1. Identification Data: The main objective for this part is to record the necessary information to identify the household, such as, cluster code, sector, type of locality, cell, housing number and the cell code.

---> 2. Quality Control: This part involves groups of controlling standards to monitor the field and office operation, to keep in order the sequence of questionnaire stages (data collection, field and office coding, data entry, editing after entry and store the data.

---> 3. Household Roster: This part involves demographic characteristics about the household, like number of persons in the household, date of birth, sex, educational level…etc.

---> 4. Employment Part: This part involves the major research indicators, where one questionnaire had been answered by every 15 years and over household member, to be able to explore their labour force status and recognize their major characteristics toward employment status, economic activity, occupation, place of work, and other employment indicators.

Cleaning operations

---> Raw Data The data processing stage consisted of the following operations: 1. Editing and coding before data entry: All questionnaires were edited and coded in the office using the same instructions adopted for editing in the field. 2. Data entry: At this stage, data was entered into the computer using a data entry template designed in Access. The data entry program was prepared to satisfy a number of requirements such as: - Duplication of the questionnaires on the computer screen. - Logical and consistency check of data entered. - Possibility for internal editing of question answers. - Maintaining a minimum of digital data entry and fieldwork errors. - User friendly handling. Possibility of transferring data into another format to be used and analyzed using other statistical analytic systems such as SPSS.

---> Harmonized Data - The SPSS package is used to clean and harmonize the datasets. - The harmonization process starts with a cleaning process for all raw data files received from the Statistical Agency. - All cleaned data files are then merged to produce one data file on the individual level containing all variables subject to harmonization. - A country-specific program is generated for each dataset to generate/ compute/ recode/ rename/ format/ label harmonized variables. - A post-harmonization cleaning process is then conducted on the data. - Harmonized data is saved on the household as well as the individual level, in SPSS and then converted to STATA, to be disseminated.

Response rate

The survey sample consists of 30,887 households, of which 26,898 households completed the interview: 17,594 households from the West Bank and 9,304 households in Gaza Strip. Weights were modified to account for the non-response rate. The response rate in the West Bank was 90.2 %, while in the Gaza Strip it was 94.7%.

Sampling error estimates

---> Sampling Errors Data of this survey may be affected by sampling errors due to use of a sample and not a complete enumeration. Therefore, certain differences can be expected in comparison with the real values obtained through censuses. Variances were calculated for the most important indicators: the variance table is attached with the final report. There is no problem in disseminating results at national or governorate level for the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

---> Non-Sampling Errors Non-statistical errors are probable in all stages of the project, during data collection or processing. This is referred to as non-response errors, response errors, interviewing errors, and data entry errors. To avoid errors and reduce their effects, great efforts were made to train the fieldworkers intensively. They were trained on how to carry out the interview, what to discuss and what to avoid, carrying out a pilot survey, as well as practical and theoretical training during the training course. Also data entry staff were trained on the data entry program that was examined before starting the data entry process. To stay in contact with progress of fieldwork activities and to limit obstacles, there was continuous contact with the fieldwork team through regular visits to the field and regular meetings with them during the different field visits. Problems faced by fieldworkers were discussed to clarify any issues. Non-sampling errors can occur at the various stages of survey implementation whether in data collection or in data processing. They are generally difficult to be evaluated statistically.

They cover a wide range of errors, including errors resulting from non-response, sampling frame coverage, coding and classification, data processing, and survey response (both respondent and interviewer-related). The use of effective training and supervision and the careful design of questions have direct bearing on limiting the magnitude of non-sampling errors, and hence enhancing the quality of the resulting data. The implementation of the survey encountered non-response where the case ( household was not present at home ) during the fieldwork visit

Abstract

THE CLEANED AND HARMONIZED VERSION OF THE SURVEY DATA PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED BY THE ECONOMIC RESEARCH FORUM REPRESENTS 100% OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY DATA COLLECTED BY THE PALESTINIAN CENTRAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) carried out four rounds of the Labor Force Survey 2005 (LFS). The survey rounds covered a total sample of about 30252 households, and the number of completed questionaire was 26595, which amounts to a sample of around 92384 individuals aged 15 years and over.

The importance of this survey lies in that it focuses mainly on labour force key indicators, main characteristics of the employed, unemployed, underemployed and persons outside labour force, labour force according to level of education, distribution of the employed population by occupation, economic activity, place of work, employment status, hours and days worked and average daily wage in NIS for the employees.

The survey main objectives are: - To estimate the labor force and its percentage to the population. - To estimate the number of employed individuals. - To analyze labour force according to gender, employment status, educational level , occupation and economic activity. - To provide information about the main changes in the labour market structure and its socio economic characteristics. - To estimate the numbers of unemployed individuals and analyze their general characteristics. - To estimate the rate of working hours and wages for employed individuals in addition to analyze of other characteristics.

The raw survey data provided by the Statistical Agency were cleaned and harmonized by the Economic Research Forum, in the context of a major project that started in 2009. During which extensive efforts have been exerted to acquire, clean, harmonize, preserve and disseminate micro data of existing labor force surveys in several Arab countries.

Geographic coverage

Covering a representative sample on the region level (West Bank, Gaza Strip), the locality type (urban, rural, camp) and the governorates.

Analysis unit

1- Household/family. 2- Individual/person.

Universe

The survey covered all Palestinian households who are a usual residence of the Palestinian Territory.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

THE CLEANED AND HARMONIZED VERSION OF THE SURVEY DATA PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED BY THE ECONOMIC RESEARCH FORUM REPRESENTS 100% OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY DATA COLLECTED BY THE PALESTINIAN CENTRAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS

The methodology was designed according to the context of the survey, international standards, data processing requirements and comparability of outputs with other related surveys.

Target Population:

All Palestinians aged 10 years or older living in the Palestinian Territory, excluding those living in institutions such as prisons or shelters.

Sampling Frame:

The sampling frame consisted of a master sample of Enumeration Areas (EAs) selected from the population housing and establishment census 1997. The master sample consists of area units of relatively equal size (number of households), these units have been used as Primary Sampling Units (PSUs).

Sample Design:

The sample is a two-stage stratified cluster random sample.

Stratification: Four levels of stratification were made:

1. Stratification by Governorates.
2. Stratification by type of locality which comprises: (a) Urban, (b) Rural, and (c) Refugee Camps
3. Stratification by classifying localities, excluding governorate centers, into three strata based on the ownership of households of durable goods within these localities.
4. Stratification by size of locality (number of households).

Sample Size

The sample size in the first round consisted of 7,563 households, which amounts to a sample of around 22,759 persons aged 15 years and over. In the second round the sample consisted of 7,563 households, which amounts to a sample of around 23,104 persons aged 15 years and over, in the third round the sample consisted of 7,563 households, which amounts to a sample of around 23,123 persons aged 15 years and over. In the fourth round the sample consisted of 7,563 households; which amounts to a sample of around 23,398 persons aged 15 years and over.

The sample size allowed for non-response and related losses. In addition, the average number of households selected in each cell was 16.

Sample Rotation:

Each round of the Labor Force Survey covers all the 481 master sample areas. Basically, the areas remain fixed over time, but households in 50% of the EAs are replaced each round. The same household remains in the sample over 2 consecutive rounds, rests for the next two rounds and represented again in the sample for another and last two consecutive rounds before it is dropped from the sample. A 50 % overlap is then achieved between both consecutive rounds and between consecutive years (making the sample efficient for monitoring purposes). In earlier applications of the LFS (rounds 1 to 11); the rotation pattern used was different; requiring a household to remain in the sample for six consecutive rounds, then dropped. The objective of such a pattern was to increase the overlap between consecutive rounds. The new rotation pattern was introduced to reduce the burden on the households resulting from visiting the same household for six consecutive times.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

One of the main survey tools is the questionnaire, the survey questionnaire was designed according to the International Labour Organization (ILO) recommendations. The questionnaire includes four main parts:

1. Identification Data: The main objective for this part is to record the necessary information to identify the household, such as, cluster code, sector, type of locality, cell, housing number and the cell code.

2. Quality Control: This part involves groups of controlling standards to monitor the field and office operation, to keep in order the sequence of questionnaire stages (data collection, field and office coding, data entry, editing after entry and store the data.

3. Household Roster: This part involves demographic characteristics about the household, like number of persons in the household, date of birth, sex, educational level…etc.

4. Employment Part: This part involves the major research indicators, where one questionnaire had been answered by every 15 years and over household member, to be able to explore their labour force status and recognize their major characteristics toward employment status, economic activity, occupation, place of work, and other employment indicators.

Cleaning operations

Raw Data

Data editing took place at a number of stages through the processing including: 1. office editing and coding 2. during data entry 3. structure checking and completeness 4. structural checking of SPSS data files

Harmonized Data

• The SPSS package is used to clean and harmonize the datasets.
• The harmonization process starts with a cleaning process for all raw data files received from the Statistical Agency.
• All cleaned data files are then merged to produce one data file on the individual level containing all variables subject to harmonization.
• A country-specific program is generated for each dataset to generate/ compute/ recode/ rename/ format/ label harmonized variables.
• A post-harmonization cleaning process is then conducted on the data.
• Harmonized data is saved on the household as well as the individual level, in SPSS and then converted to STATA, to be disseminated.

Response rate

The overall response rate for the survey was 93.2%

More information on the distribution of response rates by different survey rounds is available in Page 12 of the data user guide provided among the disseminated survey materials under a file named "Palestine 2005- Data User Guide (English).pdf".

Sampling error estimates

Since the data reported here are based on a sample survey and not on a complete enumeration, they are subjected to sampling errors as well as non-sampling errors. Sampling errors are random outcomes of the sample design, and are, therefore, in principle measurable by the statistical concept of standard error. A description of the estimated standard errors and the effects of the sample design on sampling errors are provided in the annual report provided among the disseminated survey materials under a file named "Palestine 2005- LFS Annual Report (Arabic).pdf".

Data appraisal

Non-sampling errors can occur at the various stages of survey implementation whether in data collection or in data processing. They are generally difficult to be evaluated statistically. They cover a wide range of errors, including errors resulting from non-response, sampling frame coverage, coding and classification, data processing, and survey response (both respondent and interviewer-related). The use of effective training and supervision and the careful design of questions have direct bearing on limiting the magnitude of non-sampling errors, and hence enhancing the quality of the resulting data. The following are possible sources of non-sampling errors:

• Errors due to non-response because households were away from home or refused to participate. The overall non response rate amounted to almost 12.1% which is relatively low; a much higher rates is rather common in an international perspective. The refusal rate was only 0.8%. It is difficult

Abstract

THE CLEANED AND HARMONIZED VERSION OF THE SURVEY DATA PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED BY THE ECONOMIC RESEARCH FORUM REPRESENTS 100% OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY DATA COLLECTED BY THE PALESTINIAN CENTRAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) carried out four rounds of the Labor Force Survey 2009 (LFS). The survey rounds covered a total sample of about 30,625 households, and the number of completed questionaire is 26,581, which amounts to a sample of around 116,202 individuals aged 10 years and over, including 94,304 individuals in the working-age population 15 years and above.

The importance of this survey lies in that it focuses mainly on labour force key indicators, main characteristics of the employed, unemployed, underemployed and persons outside labour force, labour force according to level of education, distribution of the employed population by occupation, economic activity, place of work, employment status, hours and days worked and average daily wage in NIS for the employees.

The survey main objectives are: - To estimate the labor force and its percentage to the population. - To estimate the number of employed individuals. - To analyze labour force according to gender, employment status, educational level, occupation and economic activity. - To provide information about the main changes in the labour market structure and its socio economic characteristics. - To estimate the numbers of unemployed individuals and analyze their general characteristics. - To estimate the rate of working hours and wages for employed individuals in addition to analyze of other characteristics.

The raw survey data provided by the Statistical Agency were cleaned and harmonized by the Economic Research Forum, in the context of a major project that started in 2009. During which extensive efforts have been exerted to acquire, clean, harmonize, preserve and disseminate micro data of existing labor force surveys in several Arab countries.

Geographic coverage

Covering a representative sample on the region level (West Bank, Gaza Strip), the locality type (urban, rural, camp) and the governorates.

Analysis unit

1- Household/family. 2- Individual/person.

Universe

The survey covered all Palestinian households who are a usual residence of the Palestinian Territory.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

THE CLEANED AND HARMONIZED VERSION OF THE SURVEY DATA PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED BY THE ECONOMIC RESEARCH FORUM REPRESENTS 100% OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY DATA COLLECTED BY THE PALESTINIAN CENTRAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS

The methodology was designed according to the context of the survey, international standards, data processing requirements and comparability of outputs with other related surveys.

---> Target Population: All Palestinians aged 10 years and over living in the Palestinian Territory, excluding persons living in institutions such as prisons or shelters.

---> Sampling Frame: The sampling frame consisted of a master sample of enumeration areas (EAs) selected from the population housing and establishment census 2007, the master sample consists of area units of relatively equal size (number of households), these units have been used as primary sampling units (PSUs).

---> Sample Design The sample is a two-stage stratified cluster random sample.

---> Stratification: Four levels of stratification were made: 1. Stratification by Governorates. 2. Stratification by type of locality which comprises: (a) Urban (b) Rural (c) Refugee Camps 3. Stratification by classifying localities, excluding governorate centers, into three strata based on the ownership of households of durable goods within these localities. 4. Stratification by size of locality (number of households).

---> Sample Size: The sample size was about 7,627 households in the 52 th round and 7,627 households in the 53th round, and 7,677 households in the 54th round and 7,694 households in the 55th round, the total number of the households about 30,625 households, the number of completed questionnaires about 26,590 questionnaires, this number considered appropriate to provide estimations on main labour force characteristics at Palestinian Territory. The sample size in 1st quarter, 2009 consisted of 7,627 households, which amounts 29,559 persons aged 10 years and over (including 23,901 aged 15 years and over). In the 2nd quarter the sample consisted of 7,627 households, which amounts of 27,135 persons aged 10 years and over (including 22,124 aged 15 years and over), in the 3rd quarter the sample consisted of 7,677 households, which amounts of 29,455 persons aged 10 years and over (including 23,907 aged 15 years and over). In the 4th quarter the sample consisted of 7,694 households; which amounts of 30,053 persons aged 10 years and over (including 24,371 aged 15 years and over).

---> Sample Rotation: Each round of the Labor Force Survey covers all the 481 master sample areas. Basically, the areas remain fixed over time, but households in 50% of the EAs are replaced each round. The same household remains in the sample over 2 consecutive rounds, rests for the next two rounds and represented again in the sample for another and last two consecutive rounds before it is dropped from the sample. A 50 % overlap is then achieved between both consecutive rounds and between consecutive years (making the sample efficient for monitoring purposes). In earlier applications of the LFS (rounds 1 to 11); the rotation pattern used was different; requiring a household to remain in the sample for six consecutive rounds, then dropped. The objective of such a pattern was to increase the overlap between consecutive rounds. The new rotation pattern was introduced to reduce the burden on the households resulting from visiting the same household for six consecutive times.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The survey questionnaire was designed according to the International Labour Organization (ILO) recommendations. The questionnaire includes four main parts:

---> 1. Identification Data: The main objective for this part is to record the necessary information to identify the household, such as, cluster code, sector, type of locality, cell, housing number and the cell code.

---> 2. Quality Control: This part involves groups of controlling standards to monitor the field and office operation, to keep in order the sequence of questionnaire stages (data collection, field and office coding, data entry, editing after entry and store the data.

---> 3. Household Roster: This part involves demographic characteristics about the household, like number of persons in the household, date of birth, sex, educational level…etc.

---> 4. Employment Part: This part involves the major research indicators, where one questionnaire had been answered by every 15 years and over household member, to be able to explore their labour force status and recognize their major characteristics toward employment status, economic activity, occupation, place of work, and other employment indicators.

Cleaning operations

---> Raw Data Data editing took place at a number of stages through the processing including: 1. office editing and coding 2. during data entry 3. structure checking and completeness 4. structural checking of SPSS data files

---> Harmonized Data - The SPSS package is used to clean and harmonize the datasets. - The harmonization process starts with a cleaning process for all raw data files received from the Statistical Agency. - All cleaned data files are then merged to produce one data file on the individual level containing all variables subject to harmonization. - A country-specific program is generated for each dataset to generate/ compute/ recode/ rename/ format/ label harmonized variables. - A post-harmonization cleaning process is then conducted on the data. - Harmonized data is saved on the household as well as the individual level, in SPSS and then converted to STATA, to be disseminated.

Response rate

Errors due to non-response because households were away from home or refused to participate. The overall non response rate amounted to almost 13.2% which is relatively low; a much higher rates is rather common in an international perspective. The refusal rate was only 1.2%. The errors of over coverage rate was only 5.4%. It is difficult however to assess the amount of bias resulting from non response. The PCBS has not yet undertaken any nonresponse study. Such a study may indicate, that non-response is more frequent in some population groups than in others. This is rather normal and such information is necessary to be able to compensate for bias resulting from non-response errors.

Sampling error estimates

---> Statistical Errors Since the data reported here are based on a sample survey and not on a complete enumeration, they are subjected to sampling errors as well as non-sampling errors. Sampling errors are random outcomes of the sample design, and are, therefore, in principle measurable by the statistical concept of standard error. A description of the estimated standard errors and the effects of the sample design on sampling errors are provided in the previous chapter. Data of this survey affected by statistical errors due to use the sample, Therefore, the emergence of certain differences from the real values expect obtained through censuses. It had been calculated variation of the most important indicators exists and the facility with the report and the dissemination levels of the

Abstract

THE CLEANED AND HARMONIZED VERSION OF THE SURVEY DATA PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED BY THE ECONOMIC RESEARCH FORUM REPRESENTS 100% OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY DATA COLLECTED BY THE PALESTINIAN CENTRAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) carried out four rounds of the Labor Force Survey 2011 (LFS). The survey rounds covered a total sample of about 31,190 households, and the number of completed questionaire is 28,083.

The importance of this survey lies in that it focuses mainly on labour force key indicators, main characteristics of the employed, unemployed, underemployed and persons outside labour force, labour force according to level of education, distribution of the employed population by occupation, economic activity, place of work, employment status, hours and days worked and average daily wage in NIS for the employees.

The survey main objectives are: - To estimate the labor force and its percentage to the population. - To estimate the number of employed individuals. - To analyze labour force according to gender, employment status, educational level, occupation and economic activity. - To provide information about the main changes in the labour market structure and its socio economic characteristics. - To estimate the numbers of unemployed individuals and analyze their general characteristics. - To estimate the rate of working hours and wages for employed individuals in addition to analyze of other characteristics.

The raw survey data provided by the Statistical Agency were cleaned and harmonized by the Economic Research Forum, in the context of a major project that started in 2009. During which extensive efforts have been exerted to acquire, clean, harmonize, preserve and disseminate micro data of existing labor force surveys in several Arab countries.

Geographic coverage

Covering a representative sample on the region level (West Bank, Gaza Strip), the locality type (urban, rural, camp) and the governorates.

Analysis unit

1- Household/family. 2- Individual/person.

Universe

The survey covered all Palestinian households who are a usual residence of the Palestinian Territory.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

THE CLEANED AND HARMONIZED VERSION OF THE SURVEY DATA PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED BY THE ECONOMIC RESEARCH FORUM REPRESENTS 100% OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY DATA COLLECTED BY THE PALESTINIAN CENTRAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS

The methodology was designed according to the context of the survey, international standards, data processing requirements and comparability of outputs with other related surveys.

---> Target Population: It consists of all Palestinian households who are staying normally in the Palestinian Territory (west bank and gaza strip) during the year of 2011.

---> Sampling Frame: The sampling frame consists of all enumeration areas which were enumerated in 2007, each numeration area consists of buildings and housing units with average of about 124 households. These enumeration areas are used as primary sampling units (PSUs) in the first stage of the sampling selection.

---> Sampling Size: The sample size was about 7,820 households in the 60th round and 7,802 households in the 61th round, and 7,784 households in the 62th round and 7,784 households in the 63th round, and there is 50% overlapping among households between each two consecutive rounds.

---> Sample Design The sample of the Labor Force Survey (LFS) which implemented periodically every quarter by PCBS since 1995, so this survey implement every quarter in the year 2011(distributed over 13 weeks). The sample is two stage stratified cluster sample with two stages : First stage: we select a systematic random sample of 502 enumeration areas for the whole round, and we excluded the enumeration areas which its sizes less than 40 households. Second stage: we select a systematic random sample of 16 households from each enumeration area selected in the first stage, se we select a systematic random of 16 households of the enumeration areas which its size is 80 household and over and the enumeration areas which its size is less than 80 households we select systematic random of 8 households.

---> Sample strata: The population was divided by: 1- Governorate (16 governorate) 2- Type of Locality (urban, rural, refugee camps).

---> Sample Rotation: Each round of the Labor Force Survey covers all of the 502 master sample enumeration areas. Basically, the areas remain fixed over time, but households in 50% of the EAs are replaced each round. The same household remains in the sample for 2 consecutive rounds, left for the next two rounds, then selected for the sample for another two consecutive rounds before it is dropped from the sample. A 50% overlap is then achieved between both consecutive rounds and between consecutive years (making the sample efficient for monitoring purposes).

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The survey questionnaire was designed according to the International Labour Organization (ILO) recommendations. The questionnaire includes four main parts:

---> 1. Identification Data: The main objective for this part is to record the necessary information to identify the household, such as, cluster code, sector, type of locality, cell, housing number and the cell code.

---> 2. Quality Control: This part involves groups of controlling standards to monitor the field and office operation, to keep in order the sequence of questionnaire stages (data collection, field and office coding, data entry, editing after entry and store the data.

---> 3. Household Roster: This part involves demographic characteristics about the household, like number of persons in the household, date of birth, sex, educational level…etc.

---> 4. Employment Part: This part involves the major research indicators, where one questionnaire had been answered by every 15 years and over household member, to be able to explore their labour force status and recognize their major characteristics toward employment status, economic activity, occupation, place of work, and other employment indicators.

Cleaning operations

---> Raw Data The data processing stage consisted of the following operations: 1. Editing and coding before data entry: All questionnaires were edited and coded in the office using the same instructions adopted for editing in the field. 2. Data entry: At this stage, data was entered into the computer using a data entry template designed in Access. The data entry program was prepared to satisfy a number of requirements such as: - Duplication of the questionnaires on the computer screen. - Logical and consistency check of data entered. - Possibility for internal editing of question answers. - Maintaining a minimum of digital data entry and fieldwork errors. - User friendly handling. Possibility of transferring data into another format to be used and analyzed using other statistical analytic systems such as SPSS.

---> Harmonized Data - The SPSS package is used to clean and harmonize the datasets. - The harmonization process starts with a cleaning process for all raw data files received from the Statistical Agency. - All cleaned data files are then merged to produce one data file on the individual level containing all variables subject to harmonization. - A country-specific program is generated for each dataset to generate/ compute/ recode/ rename/ format/ label harmonized variables. - A post-harmonization cleaning process is then conducted on the data. - Harmonized data is saved on the household as well as the individual level, in SPSS and then converted to STATA, to be disseminated.

Response rate

The survey sample consists of about 31,190 households in 2011, which 28,083 households completed the interview; whereas 18,650 households from the West Bank and 9,433 households in Gaza Strip. Weights were modified to account for non-response rate. The response rate in the West Bank reached 95% while in the Gaza Strip it reached 96%.

Sampling error estimates

---> Sampling Errors Data of this survey affected by sampling errors due to use of the sample and not a complete enumeration. Therefore, certain differences are expected in comparison with the real values obtained through censuses. Variance were calculated for the most important indicators, the variance table is attached with the final report. There is no problem to disseminate results at the national level and government level.

---> Non-Sampling Errors Non-statistical errors are probable in all stages of the project, during data collection or processing. This is referred to as non-response errors, response errors, interviewing errors, and data entry errors. To avoid errors and reduce their effects, great efforts were made to train the fieldworkers intensively. They were trained on how to carry out the interview, what to discuss and what to avoid, carrying out a pilot survey, as well as practical and theoretical training during the training course. Also data entry staff were trained on the data entry program that was examined before starting the data entry process. To stay in contact with progress of fieldwork activities and to limit obstacles, there was continuous contact with the fieldwork team through regular visits to the field and regular meetings with them during the different field visits. Problems faced by fieldworkers were discussed to clarify any issues. Non-sampling errors can occur at the various stages of survey implementation whether in data

Abstract

THE CLEANED AND HARMONIZED VERSION OF THE SURVEY DATA PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED BY THE ECONOMIC RESEARCH FORUM REPRESENTS 100% OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY DATA COLLECTED BY THE PALESTINIAN CENTRAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) carried out four rounds of the Labor Force Survey 2004 (LFS).

The importance of this survey lies in that it focuses mainly on labour force key indicators, main characteristics of the employed, unemployed, underemployed and persons outside labour force, labour force according to level of education, distribution of the employed population by occupation, economic activity, place of work, employment status, hours and days worked and average daily wage in NIS for the employees.

The survey main objectives are: - To estimate the labor force and its percentage to the population. - To estimate the number of employed individuals. - To analyze labour force according to gender, employment status, educational level , occupation and economic activity. - To provide information about the main changes in the labour market structure and its socio economic characteristics. - To estimate the numbers of unemployed individuals and analyze their general characteristics. - To estimate the rate of working hours and wages for employed individuals in addition to analyze of other characteristics.

The raw survey data provided by the Statistical Agency were cleaned and harmonized by the Economic Research Forum, in the context of a major project that started in 2009. During which extensive efforts have been exerted to acquire, clean, harmonize, preserve and disseminate micro data of existing labor force surveys in several Arab countries.

Geographic coverage

Covering a representative sample on the region level (West Bank, Gaza Strip), the locality type (urban, rural, camp) and the governorates.

Analysis unit

1- Household/family. 2- Individual/person.

Universe

The survey covered all Palestinian households who are a usual residence of the Palestinian Territory.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

THE CLEANED AND HARMONIZED VERSION OF THE SURVEY DATA PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED BY THE ECONOMIC RESEARCH FORUM REPRESENTS 100% OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY DATA COLLECTED BY THE PALESTINIAN CENTRAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS

The methodology was designed according to the context of the survey, international standards, data processing requirements and comparability of outputs with other related surveys.

Target Population:

All Palestinians aged 10 years or older living in the Palestinian Territory, excluding those living in institutions such as prisons or shelters.

Sampling Frame:

The sampling frame consisted of a master sample of Enumeration Areas (EAs) selected from the population housing and establishment census 1997. The master sample consists of area units of relatively equal size (number of households), these units have been used as Primary Sampling Units (PSUs).

Sample Design:

The sample is a two-stage stratified cluster random sample.

Stratification: Four levels of stratification were made:

1. Stratification by Governorates.
2. Stratification by type of locality which comprises: (a) Urban, (b) Rural, and (c) Refugee Camps
3. Stratification by classifying localities, excluding governorate centers, into three strata based on the ownership of households of durable goods within these localities.
4. Stratification by size of locality (number of households).

Sample Size

The sample size in the first round consisted of 7,563 households, which amounts to a sample of around 21,884 persons aged 15 years and over. In the second round the sample consisted of 7,563 households, which amounts to a sample of around 22,185 persons aged 15 years and over, in the third round the sample consisted of 7,626 households, which amounts to a sample of around 22,131 persons aged 15 years and over. In the fourth round the sample consisted of 7,563 households; which amounts to a sample of around 21,972 persons aged 15 years and over.

The sample size allowed for non-response and related losses. In addition, the average number of households selected in each cell was 16

Sample Rotation:

Each round of the Labor Force Survey covers all the 481 master sample areas. Basically, the areas remain fixed over time, but households in 50% of the EAs are replaced each round. The same household remains in the sample over 2 consecutive rounds, rests for the next two rounds and represented again in the sample for another and last two consecutive rounds before it is dropped from the sample. A 50 % overlap is then achieved between both consecutive rounds and between consecutive years (making the sample efficient for monitoring purposes). In earlier applications of the LFS (rounds 1 to 11); the rotation pattern used was different; requiring a household to remain in the sample for six consecutive rounds, then dropped. The objective of such a pattern was to increase the overlap between consecutive rounds. The new rotation pattern was introduced to reduce the burden on the households resulting from visiting the same household for six consecutive times.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

One of the main survey tools is the questionnaire, the survey questionnaire was designed according to the International Labour Organization (ILO) recommendations. The questionnaire includes four main parts:

1. Identification Data:

The main objective for this part is to record the necessary information to identify the household, such as, cluster code, sector, type of locality, cell, housing number and the cell code.

2. Quality Control:

This part involves groups of controlling standards to monitor the field and office operation, to keep in order the sequence of questionnaire stages (data collection, field and office coding, data entry, editing after entry and store the data.

3. Household Roster:

This part involves demographic characteristics about the household, like number of persons in the household, date of birth, sex, educational level…etc.

4. Employment Part:

This part involves the major research indicators, where one questionnaire had been answered by every 15 years and over household member, to be able to explore their labour force status and recognize their major characteristics toward employment status, economic activity, occupation, place of work, and other employment indicators.

Cleaning operations

Raw Data

The data processing stage consisted of the following operations:

1. Editing Before Data Entry All questionnaires were then edited in the main office using the same instructions adopted for editing in the field.

2. Coding At this stage, the Economic Activity variable underwent coding according to West Bank and Gaza Strip Standard Commodities Classification, based on the United Nations ISIC-3. The Economic Activity for all employed and ever employed individuals was classified at the fourth-digit-level. The occupations were coded on the basis of the International Standard Occupational Classification of 1988 at the third-digit-level (ISCO-88).

3. Data Entry In this stage data were entered into the computer, using a data entry template BLAISE. The data entry program was prepared in order to satisfy the following requirements:

4. Duplication of the questionnaire on the computer screen.

5. Logical and consistency checks of data entered.

6. Possibility for internal editing of questionnaire answers.

7. Maintaining a minimum of errors in digital data entry and fieldwork.

8. User- friendly handling.

Harmonized Data

• The SPSS package is used to clean and harmonize the datasets.
• The harmonization process starts with a cleaning process for all raw data files received from the Statistical Agency.
• All cleaned data files are then merged to produce one data file on the individual level containing all variables subject to harmonization.
• A country-specific program is generated for each dataset to generate/ compute/ recode/ rename/ format/ label harmonized variables.
• A post-harmonization cleaning process is then conducted on the data.
• Harmonized data is saved on the household as well as the individual level, in SPSS and then converted to STATA, to be disseminated.

Response rate

The overall response rate for the survey was 82.5%

More information on the distribution of response rates by different survey rounds is available in Page 10 of the data user guide provided among the disseminated survey materials under a file named "Palestine 2004- Data User Guide (English).pdf".

Sampling error estimates

Since the data reported here are based on a sample survey and not on a complete enumeration, they are subjected to sampling errors as well as non-sampling errors. Sampling errors are random outcomes of the sample design, and are, therefore, in principle measurable by the statistical concept of standard error.

A description of the estimated standard errors and the effects of the sample design on sampling errors are provided in the annual report provided among the disseminated survey materials under a file named "Palestine 2004- LFS Annual Report (English).pdf".

Data appraisal

Non-sampling errors can occur at the various stages of survey implementation whether in data collection or in data processing. They are generally difficult to be evaluated statistically.

They cover a wide range of

Abstract

THE CLEANED AND HARMONIZED VERSION OF THE SURVEY DATA PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED BY THE ECONOMIC RESEARCH FORUM REPRESENTS 100% OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY DATA COLLECTED BY THE PALESTINIAN CENTRAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) carried out four rounds of the Labor Force Survey 2006 (LFS). The survey rounds covered a total sample of about 30,380 households, and the number of completed questionaire was 26,605, which amounts to a sample of around 92,211 individuals aged 15 years and over.

The importance of this survey lies in that it focuses mainly on labour force key indicators, main characteristics of the employed, unemployed, underemployed and persons outside labour force, labour force according to level of education, distribution of the employed population by occupation, economic activity, place of work, employment status, hours and days worked and average daily wage in NIS for the employees.

The survey main objectives are: - To estimate the labor force and its percentage to the population. - To estimate the number of employed individuals. - To analyze labour force according to gender, employment status, educational level , occupation and economic activity. - To provide information about the main changes in the labour market structure and its socio economic characteristics. - To estimate the numbers of unemployed individuals and analyze their general characteristics. - To estimate the rate of working hours and wages for employed individuals in addition to analyze of other characteristics.

The raw survey data provided by the Statistical Agency were cleaned and harmonized by the Economic Research Forum, in the context of a major project that started in 2009. During which extensive efforts have been exerted to acquire, clean, harmonize, preserve and disseminate micro data of existing labor force surveys in several Arab countries.

Geographic coverage

Covering a representative sample on the region level (West Bank, Gaza Strip), the locality type (urban, rural, camp) and the governorates.

Analysis unit

1- Household/family. 2- Individual/person.

Universe

The survey covered all Palestinian households who are a usual residence of the Palestinian Territory.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

THE CLEANED AND HARMONIZED VERSION OF THE SURVEY DATA PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED BY THE ECONOMIC RESEARCH FORUM REPRESENTS 100% OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY DATA COLLECTED BY THE PALESTINIAN CENTRAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS

The methodology was designed according to the context of the survey, international standards, data processing requirements and comparability of outputs with other related surveys.

Target Population:

All Palestinians aged 10 years or older living in the Palestinian Territory, excluding those living in institutions such as prisons or shelters.

Sampling Frame:

The sampling frame consisted of a master sample of Enumeration Areas (EAs) selected from the population housing and establishment census 1997. The master sample consists of area units of relatively equal size (number of households), these units have been used as Primary Sampling Units (PSUs).

Sample Design:

The sample is a two-stage stratified cluster random sample.

Stratification: Four levels of stratification were made:

1. Stratification by Governorates.
2. Stratification by type of locality which comprises: (a) Urban, (b) Rural, and (c) Refugee Camps
3. Stratification by classifying localities, excluding governorate centers, into three strata based on the ownership of households of durable goods within these localities.
4. Stratification by size of locality (number of households).

Sample Size

The sample size in the first round consisted of 7,627 households, which amounts to a sample of around 23,334 persons aged 15 years and over. In the second round the sample consisted of 7,627 households, which amounts to a sample of around 23,004 persons aged 15 years and over, in the third round the sample consisted of 7,563 households, which amounts to a sample of around 22,729 persons aged 15 years and over. In the fourth round the sample consisted of 7,563 households; which amounts to a sample of around 23,144 persons aged 15 years and over. The sample size allowed for non-response and related losses. In addition, the average number of households selected in each cell was 16.

Sample Rotation:

Each round of the Labor Force Survey covers all the 481 master sample areas. Basically, the areas remain fixed over time, but households in 50% of the EAs are replaced each round. The same household remains in the sample over 2 consecutive rounds, rests for the next two rounds and represented again in the sample for another and last two consecutive rounds before it is dropped from the sample. A 50 % overlap is then achieved between both consecutive rounds and between consecutive years (making the sample efficient for monitoring purposes). In earlier applications of the LFS (rounds 1 to 11); the rotation pattern used was different; requiring a household to remain in the sample for six consecutive rounds, then dropped. The objective of such a pattern was to increase the overlap between consecutive rounds. The new rotation pattern was introduced to reduce the burden on the households resulting from visiting the same household for six consecutive times.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

One of the main survey tools is the questionnaire, the survey questionnaire was designed according to the International Labour Organization (ILO) recommendations. The questionnaire includes four main parts:
1. Identification Data: The main objective for this part is to record the necessary information to identify the household, such as, cluster code, sector, type of locality, cell, housing number and the cell code.

1. Quality Control: This part involves groups of controlling standards to monitor the field and office operation, to keep in order the sequence of questionnaire stages (data collection, field and office coding, data entry, editing after entry and store the data.

3.Household Roster: This part involves demographic characteristics about the household, like number of persons in the household, date of birth, sex, educational level…etc.

1. Employment Part: This part involves the major research indicators, where one questionnaire had been answered by every 15 years and over household member, to be able to explore their labour force status and recognize their major characteristics toward employment status, economic activity, occupation, place of work, and other employment indicators.

Cleaning operations

Raw Data

Data editing took place at a number of stages through the processing including: 1. office editing and coding 2. during data entry 3. structure checking and completeness 4. structural checking of SPSS data files

Harmonized Data

• The SPSS package is used to clean and harmonize the datasets.
• The harmonization process starts with a cleaning process for all raw data files received from the Statistical Agency.
• All cleaned data files are then merged to produce one data file on the individual level containing all variables subject to harmonization.
• A country-specific program is generated for each dataset to generate/ compute/ recode/ rename/ format/ label harmonized variables.
• A post-harmonization cleaning process is then conducted on the data.
• Harmonized data is saved on the household as well as the individual level, in SPSS and then converted to STATA, to be disseminated.

Response rate

The overall response rate for the survey was 87.5%

More information on the distribution of response rates by different survey rounds is available in Page 12 of the data user guide provided among the disseminated survey materials under a file named "Palestine 2006- Data User Guide (English).pdf".

Sampling error estimates

Since the data reported here are based on a sample survey and not on a complete enumeration, they are subjected to sampling errors as well as non-sampling errors. Sampling errors are random outcomes of the sample design, and are, therefore, in principle measurable by the statistical concept of standard error. A description of the estimated standard errors and the effects of the sample design on sampling errors are provided in the annual report provided among the disseminated survey materials under a file named "Palestine 2006- LFS Annual Report (Arabic-English).pdf".

Data appraisal

Non-sampling errors can occur at the various stages of survey implementation whether in data collection or in data processing. They are generally difficult to be evaluated statistically. They cover a wide range of errors, including errors resulting from non-response, sampling frame coverage, coding and classification, data processing, and survey response (both respondent and interviewer-related). The use of effective training and supervision and the careful design of questions have direct bearing on limiting the magnitude of non-sampling errors, and hence enhancing the quality of the resulting data. The following are possible sources of non-sampling errors:

• Errors due to non-response because households were away from home or refused to participate. The overall non response rate amounted to almost 12.4% which is relatively low; a much higher rates is rather common in an international perspective. The refusal rate was only 0.9%. It

Abstract

THE CLEANED AND HARMONIZED VERSION OF THE SURVEY DATA PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED BY THE ECONOMIC RESEARCH FORUM REPRESENTS 100% OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY DATA COLLECTED BY THE PALESTINIAN CENTRAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) carried out four rounds of the Labor Force Survey 2008 (LFS). The survey rounds covered a total sample of about 30,180 households, and the number of completed questionaire is 23,884, which amounts to a sample of around 107,361 individuals aged 10 years and over, including 86,076 individuals in the working-age population 15 years and above.

The importance of this survey lies in that it focuses mainly on labour force key indicators, main characteristics of the employed, unemployed, underemployed and persons outside labour force, labour force according to level of education, distribution of the employed population by occupation, economic activity, place of work, employment status, hours and days worked and average daily wage in NIS for the employees.

The survey main objectives are: - To estimate the labor force and its percentage to the population. - To estimate the number of employed individuals. - To analyze labour force according to gender, employment status, educational level , occupation and economic activity. - To provide information about the main changes in the labour market structure and its socio economic characteristics. - To estimate the numbers of unemployed individuals and analyze their general characteristics. - To estimate the rate of working hours and wages for employed individuals in addition to analyze of other characteristics.

The raw survey data provided by the Statistical Agency were cleaned and harmonized by the Economic Research Forum, in the context of a major project that started in 2009. During which extensive efforts have been exerted to acquire, clean, harmonize, preserve and disseminate micro data of existing labor force surveys in several Arab countries.

Geographic coverage

Covering a representative sample on the region level (West Bank, Gaza Strip), the locality type (urban, rural, camp) and the governorates.

Analysis unit

1- Household/family. 2- Individual/person.

Universe

The survey covered all Palestinian households who are a usual residence of the Palestinian Territory.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

THE CLEANED AND HARMONIZED VERSION OF THE SURVEY DATA PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED BY THE ECONOMIC RESEARCH FORUM REPRESENTS 100% OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY DATA COLLECTED BY THE PALESTINIAN CENTRAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS

The methodology was designed according to the context of the survey, international standards, data processing requirements and comparability of outputs with other related surveys.

Target Population:

All Palestinians aged 10 years or older living in the Palestinian Territory, excluding those living in institutions such as prisons or shelters.

Sampling Frame:

The sampling frame consisted of a master sample of Enumeration Areas (EAs) selected from the population housing and establishment census 1997. The master sample consists of area units of relatively equal size (number of households), these units have been used as Primary Sampling Units (PSUs).

Sample Design:

The sample is a two-stage stratified cluster random sample.

Stratification: Four levels of stratification were made:

1. Stratification by Governorates.
2. Stratification by type of locality which comprises: (a) Urban, (b) Rural, and (c) Refugee Camps
3. Stratification by classifying localities, excluding governorate centers, into three strata based on the ownership of households of durable goods within these localities.
4. Stratification by size of locality (number of households).

Sample Size

The sample size in the first round consisted of 7,552 households, which amounts to a sample of around 21,116 persons aged 15 years and over. In the second round the sample consisted of 7,552 households, which amounts to a sample of around 20,314 persons aged 15 years and over, in the third round the sample consisted of 7,546 households, which amounts to a sample of around 23,465 persons aged 15 years and over. In the fourth round the sample consisted of 7,546 households; which amounts to a sample of around 21,181 persons aged 15 years and over. The sample size allowed for non-response and related losses. In addition, the average number of households selected in each cell was 16.

Sample Rotation:

Each round of the Labor Force Survey covers all the 481 master sample areas. Basically, the areas remain fixed over time, but households in 50% of the EAs are replaced each round. The same household remains in the sample over 2 consecutive rounds, rests for the next two rounds and represented again in the sample for another and last two consecutive rounds before it is dropped from the sample. A 50 % overlap is then achieved between both consecutive rounds and between consecutive years (making the sample efficient for monitoring purposes). In earlier applications of the LFS (rounds 1 to 11); the rotation pattern used was different; requiring a household to remain in the sample for six consecutive rounds, then dropped. The objective of such a pattern was to increase the overlap between consecutive rounds. The new rotation pattern was introduced to reduce the burden on the households resulting from visiting the same household for six consecutive times.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The lfs questionnaire consists of four main sections: 1. Identification Data: The main objective for this part is to record the necessary information to identify the household, such as, cluster code, sector, type of locality, cell, housing number and the cell code.

1. Quality Control: This part involves groups of controlling standards to monitor the field and office operation, to keep in order the sequence of questionnaire stages (data collection, field and office coding, data entry, editing after entry and store the data.

2. Household Roster: This part involves demographic characteristics about the household, like number of persons in the household, date of birth, sex, educational level…etc.

4.Employment Part: This part involves the major research indicators, where one questionnaire had been answered by every 15 years and over household member, to be able to explore their labour force status and recognize their major characteristics toward employment status, economic activity, occupation, place of work, and other employment indicators.

Cleaning operations

Raw Data

Data editing took place at a number of stages through the processing including: 1. office editing and coding 2. during data entry 3. structure checking and completeness 4. structural checking of SPSS data files

Harmonized Data

• The SPSS package is used to clean and harmonize the datasets.
• The harmonization process starts with a cleaning process for all raw data files received from the Statistical Agency.
• All cleaned data files are then merged to produce one data file on the individual level containing all variables subject to harmonization.
• A country-specific program is generated for each dataset to generate/ compute/ recode/ rename/ format/ label harmonized variables.
• A post-harmonization cleaning process is then conducted on the data.
• Harmonized data is saved on the household as well as the individual level, in SPSS and then converted to STATA, to be disseminated.

Response rate

The overall response rate for the survey was 84.2

More information on the distribution of response rates by different survey rounds is available in Page 10 of the data user guide provided among the disseminated survey materials under a file named "Palestine 2008- Data User Guide (English).pdf".

Sampling error estimates

Since the data reported here are based on a sample survey and not on a complete enumeration, they are subjected to sampling errors as well as non-sampling errors. Sampling errors are random outcomes of the sample design, and are, therefore, in principle measurable by the statistical concept of standard error. Data of this survey affected by statistical errors due to use the sample, Therefore, the emergence of certain differences from the real values expect obtained through censuses. It had been calculated variation of the most important indicators exists and the facility with the report and the dissemination levels of the data were particularized at the regional level in Governorate in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Data appraisal

Data entry staff was trained on the entry program that was examined before starting the data entry process. To have a fair idea about the situation and to limit obstacles, there was continuous contact with the fieldwork team through regular visits to the field and regular meetings with them during the different field visits. Problems faced by fieldworkers were discussed to clarify any issues.

Non-sampling errors can occur at the various stages of survey implementation whether in data collection or in data processing. They are generally difficult to be evaluated statistically. They cover a wide range of errors, including errors resulting from non-response, sampling frame coverage, coding and classification, data processing, and survey response (both respondent and interviewer-related). The use of effective training and supervision and the careful design of

Abstract

THE CLEANED AND HARMONIZED VERSION OF THE SURVEY DATA PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED BY THE ECONOMIC RESEARCH FORUM REPRESENTS 100% OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY DATA COLLECTED BY THE PALESTINIAN CENTRAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) carried out four rounds of the Labor Force Survey 2003(LFS).

The importance of this survey lies in that it focuses mainly on labour force key indicators, main characteristics of the employed, unemployed, underemployed and persons outside labour force, labour force according to level of education, distribution of the employed population by occupation, economic activity, place of work, employment status, hours and days worked and average daily wage in NIS for the employees.

The survey main objectives are: - To estimate the labor force and its percentage to the population. - To estimate the number of employed individuals. - To analyze labour force according to gender, employment status, educational level , occupation and economic activity. - To provide information about the main changes in the labour market structure and its socio economic characteristics. - To estimate the numbers of unemployed individuals and analyze their general characteristics. - To estimate the rate of working hours and wages for employed individuals in addition to analyze of other characteristics.

The raw survey data provided by the Statistical Agency were cleaned and harmonized by the Economic Research Forum, in the context of a major project that started in 2009. During which extensive efforts have been exerted to acquire, clean, harmonize, preserve and disseminate micro data of existing labor force surveys in several Arab countries.

Geographic coverage

Covering a representative sample on the region level (West Bank, Gaza Strip), the locality type (urban, rural, camp) and the governorates.

Analysis unit

1- Household/family. 2- Individual/person.

Universe

The survey covered all Palestinian households who are a usual residence of the Palestinian Territory.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

THE CLEANED AND HARMONIZED VERSION OF THE SURVEY DATA PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED BY THE ECONOMIC RESEARCH FORUM REPRESENTS 100% OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY DATA COLLECTED BY THE PALESTINIAN CENTRAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS

The methodology was designed according to the context of the survey, international standards, data processing requirements and comparability of outputs with other related surveys.

Target Population:

All Palestinians aged 10 years or older living in the Palestinian Territory, excluding those living in institutions such as prisons or shelters.

Sampling Frame:

The sampling frame consisted of a master sample of Enumeration Areas (EAs) selected from the population housing and establishment census 1997. The master sample consists of area units of relatively equal size (number of households), these units have been used as Primary Sampling Units (PSUs).

Sample Design:

The sample is a two-stage stratified cluster random sample.

Stratification: Four levels of stratification were made:

1. Stratification by Governorates.
2. Stratification by type of locality which comprises: (a) Urban, (b) Rural, and (c) Refugee Camps
3. Stratification by classifying localities, excluding governorate centers, into three strata based on the ownership of households of durable goods within these localities.
4. Stratification by size of locality (number of households).

Sample Size:

The sample size in the first round consisted of 7,559 households, which amounts to a sample of around 29,149 persons aged 10 years and over (including 22,742 aged 15 years and over). In the second round the sample consisted of 7,563 households, which amounts to a sample of around 29,486 persons aged 10 years and over (including 22,916 aged 15 years and over), in the third round the sample consisted of 7,563 households, which amounts to a sample of around 29,268 persons aged 10 years and over (including 22,653 aged 15 years and over). In the fourth round the sample consisted of 7,563 households; which amounts to a sample of around 28,250 persons aged 10 years and over (including 21,926 aged 15 years and over).

The sample size allowed for non-response and related losses. In addition, the average number of households selected in each cell was 16.

Sample Rotation:

Each round of the Labor Force Survey covers all the 481 master sample areas. Basically, the areas remain fixed over time, but households in 50% of the EAs are replaced each round. The same household remains in the sample over 2 consecutive rounds, rests for the next two rounds and represented again in the sample for another and last two consecutive rounds before it is dropped from the sample. A 50 % overlap is then achieved between both consecutive rounds and between consecutive years (making the sample efficient for monitoring purposes). In earlier applications of the LFS (rounds 1 to 11); the rotation pattern used was different; requiring a household to remain in the sample for six consecutive rounds, then dropped. The objective of such a pattern was to increase the overlap between consecutive rounds. The new rotation pattern was introduced to reduce the burden on the households resulting from visiting the same household for six consecutive times.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

One of the main survey tools is the questionnaire, the survey questionnaire was designed according to the International Labour Organization (ILO) recommendations. The questionnaire includes four main parts:

1. Identification Data:

The main objective for this part is to record the necessary information to identify the household, such as, cluster code, sector, type of locality, cell, housing number and the cell code.

2. Quality Control:

This part involves groups of controlling standards to monitor the field and office operation, to keep in order the sequence of questionnaire stages (data collection, field and office coding, data entry, editing after entry and store the data.

3. Household Roster:

This part involves demographic characteristics about the household, like number of persons in the household, date of birth, sex, educational level…etc.

4. Employment Part:

This part involves the major research indicators, where one questionnaire had been answered by every 15 years and over household member, to be able to explore their labour force status and recognize their major characteristics toward employment status, economic activity, occupation, place of work, and other employment indicators.

Cleaning operations

Raw Data

The data processing stage consisted of the following operations:

1. Editing Before Data Entry All questionnaires were then edited in the main office using the same instructions adopted for editing in the field.

2. Coding At this stage, the Economic Activity variable underwent coding according to West Bank and Gaza Strip Standard Commodities Classification, based on the United Nations ISIC-3. The Economic Activity for all employed and ever employed individuals was classified at the fourth-digit-level. The occupations were coded on the basis of the International Standard Occupational Classification of 1988 at the third-digit-level (ISCO-88).

3. Data Entry In this stage data were entered into the computer, using a data entry template BLAISE.

The data entry program was prepared in order to satisfy the following requirements:

-Duplication of the questionnaire on the computer screen. -Logical and consistency checks of data entered. -Possibility for internal editing of questionnaire answers. -Maintaining a minimum of errors in digital data entry and fieldwork. -User- friendly handling.

Accordingly, data editing took place at a number of stages through the processing including: 1. office editing and coding 2. during data entry 3. structure checking and completeness 4. structural checking of SPSS data filesData editing took place at a number of stages through the processing including: 1. office editing and coding 2. during data entry 3. structure checking and completeness 4. structural checking of SPSS data files

Harmonized Data

• The SPSS package is used to clean and harmonize the datasets.
• The harmonization process starts with a cleaning process for all raw data files received from the Statistical Agency.
• All cleaned data files are then merged to produce one data file on the individual level containing all variables subject to harmonization.
• A country-specific program is generated for each dataset to generate/ compute/ recode/ rename/ format/ label harmonized variables.
• A post-harmonization cleaning process is then conducted on the data.
• Harmonized data is saved on the household as well as the individual level, in SPSS and then converted to STATA, to be disseminated.

Response rate

The overall response rate for the survey was 84.3%

More information on the distribution of response rates by different survey rounds is available in Page 11 of the data user guide provided among the disseminated survey materials under a file named "Palestine 2003- Data User Guide (English).pdf".

Sampling error estimates

Since the data reported here are based on a sample survey and not on a complete enumeration, they are subjected to sampling errors as well as non-sampling errors. Sampling errors are random outcomes of the sample design, and are,

Abstract

THE CLEANED AND HARMONIZED VERSION OF THE SURVEY DATA PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED BY THE ECONOMIC RESEARCH FORUM REPRESENTS 100% OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY DATA COLLECTED BY THE PALESTINIAN CENTRAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) carried out four rounds of the Labor Force Survey 2000 (LFS).

The importance of this survey lies in that it focuses mainly on labour force key indicators, main characteristics of the employed, unemployed, underemployed and persons outside labour force, labour force according to level of education, distribution of the employed population by occupation, economic activity, place of work, employment status, hours and days worked and average daily wage in NIS for the employees.

The survey main objectives are: - To estimate the labor force and its percentage to the population. - To estimate the number of employed individuals. - To analyze labour force according to gender, employment status, educational level , occupation and economic activity. - To provide information about the main changes in the labour market structure and its socio economic characteristics. - To estimate the numbers of unemployed individuals and analyze their general characteristics. - To estimate the rate of working hours and wages for employed individuals in addition to analyze of other characteristics.

The raw survey data provided by the Statistical Agency were cleaned and harmonized by the Economic Research Forum, in the context of a major project that started in 2009. During which extensive efforts have been exerted to acquire, clean, harmonize, preserve and disseminate micro data of existing labor force surveys in several Arab countries.

Geographic coverage

Covering a representative sample on the region level (West Bank, Gaza Strip), the locality type (urban, rural, camp) and the governorates.

Analysis unit

1- Household/family. 2- Individual/person.

Universe

The survey covered all Palestinian households who are a usual residence of the Palestinian Territory.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

THE CLEANED AND HARMONIZED VERSION OF THE SURVEY DATA PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED BY THE ECONOMIC RESEARCH FORUM REPRESENTS 100% OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY DATA COLLECTED BY THE PALESTINIAN CENTRAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS

The methodology was designed according to the context of the survey, international standards, data processing requirements and comparability of outputs with other related surveys.

Target Population:

All Palestinians aged 10 years or older living in the Palestinian Territory, excluding those living in institutions such as prisons or shelters.

Sampling Frame:

The sampling frame consisted of a master sample of Enumeration Areas (EAs) selected from the population housing and establishment census 1997. The master sample consists of area units of relatively equal size (number of households), these units have been used as Primary Sampling Units (PSUs).

Sample Design:

The sample is a two-stage stratified cluster random sample.

Stratification: Four levels of stratification were made:

1. Stratification by Governorates.
2. Stratification by type of locality which comprises: (a) Urban, (b) Rural, and (c) Refugee Camps
3. Stratification by classifying localities, excluding governorate centers, into three strata based on the ownership of households of durable goods within these localities.
4. Stratification by size of locality (number of households).

Sample Size:

The sample size in the first quarter consisted of 7,559 households, which amounts to a sample of around 29,650 persons aged 15 years and over (including 23,677 aged 15 years and over). In the second round the sample consisted of 7,559 households, which amounts to a sample of around 29,894 persons aged 10 years and over (including 23,890 aged 15 years and over), in the third round the sample consisted of 7,559 households, which amounts to a sample of around 29,709 persons aged 10 years and over (including 23,670 aged 15 years and over). In the fourth round the sample consisted of 7,559 households; of these only 7349 households have been interviewed due to the Israeli comprehensive closure and aggression against the Palestinian people, which amounts to 28380 persons aged 10 years and over (including 22495 aged 15 years and over).

The sample size allowed for non-response and related losses. In addition, the average number of households selected in each cell was 16.

Sample Rotation:

Each round of the Labor Force Survey covers all the 481 master sample areas. Basically, the areas remain fixed over time, but households in 50% of the EAs are replaced each round. The same household remains in the sample over 2 consecutive rounds, rests for the next two rounds and represented again in the sample for another and last two consecutive rounds before it is dropped from the sample. A 50 % overlap is then achieved between both consecutive rounds and between consecutive years (making the sample efficient for monitoring purposes). In earlier applications of the LFS (rounds 1 to 11); the rotation pattern used was different; requiring a household to remain in the sample for six consecutive rounds, then dropped. The objective of such a pattern was to increase the overlap between consecutive rounds. The new rotation pattern was introduced to reduce the burden on the households resulting from visiting the same household for six consecutive times.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

One of the main survey tools is the questionnaire, the survey questionnaire was designed according to the International Labour Organization (ILO) recommendations. The questionnaire includes four main parts:

1. Identification Data:

The main objective for this part is to record the necessary information to identify the household, such as, cluster code, sector, type of locality, cell, housing number and the cell code.

2. Quality Control:

This part involves groups of controlling standards to monitor the field and office operation, to keep in order the sequence of questionnaire stages (data collection, field and office coding, data entry, editing after entry and store the data.

3. Household Roster:

This part involves demographic characteristics about the household, like number of persons in the household, date of birth, sex, educational level…etc.

4. Employment Part:

This part involves the major research indicators, where one questionnaire had been answered by every 15 years and over household member, to be able to explore their labour force status and recognize their major characteristics toward employment status, economic activity, occupation, place of work, and other employment indicators.

Cleaning operations

Raw Data

The data processing stage consisted of the following operations: 1. Editing before data entry All questionnaires were then edited in the main office using the same instructions adopted for editing in the field.

1. Coding At this stage, the Economic Activity variable underwent coding according to West Bank and Gaza Strip Standard commodities Classification, based on the United Nations ISIC-3. The Economic Activity for all employed and ever employed individuals was classified at the fourth-digit-level. The occupations were coded on the basis of the International Standard Occupational Classification of 1988 at the third-digit-level (ISCO-88).

2. Data Entry In this stage data were entered into the computer, using a data entry template BLAISE. The data entry program was prepared in order to satisfy the following requirements:

• Duplication of the questionnaire on the computer screen.
• Logical and consistency checks of data entered.
• Possibility for internal editing of questionnaire answers.
• Maintaining a minimum of errors in digital data entry and fieldwork.
• User-friendly handling

Accordingly, data editing took place at a number of stages through the processing including: 1. office editing and coding 2. during data entry 3. structure checking and completeness 4. structural checking of SPSS data files

Harmonized Data

• The SPSS package is used to clean and harmonize the datasets.
• The harmonization process starts with a cleaning process for all raw data files received from the Statistical Agency.
• All cleaned data files are then merged to produce one data file on the individual level containing all variables subject to harmonization.
• A country-specific program is generated for each dataset to generate/ compute/ recode/ rename/ format/ label harmonized variables.
• A post-harmonization cleaning process is then conducted on the data.
• Harmonized data is saved on the household as well as the individual level, in SPSS and then converted to STATA, to be disseminated.

Response rate

The overall response rate for the survey was 89.5%

More information on the distribution of response rates by different survey rounds is available in Page 11 of the data user guide provided among the disseminated survey materials under a file named "Palestine 2000- Data User Guide (English).pdf".

Sampling error estimates

Since the data reported here are based on a sample survey and not on a complete enumeration, they are subjected to sampling errors as well as non-sampling errors. Sampling errors are random outcomes of the sample design, and are, therefore, in principle measurable by the statistical concept of standard error.

A

Abstract

THE CLEANED AND HARMONIZED VERSION OF THE SURVEY DATA PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED BY THE ECONOMIC RESEARCH FORUM REPRESENTS 100% OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY DATA COLLECTED BY THE PALESTINIAN CENTRAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS. The decrease in the sample size compared to other years is due to the fact that 8268 households could not be reached by the interviewers due to the severe siege imposed on the occupied Palestinian territories since the outbreak of al-Aqsa or for other reasons.

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) carried out four rounds of the Labor Force Survey 2002(LFS).

The importance of this survey lies in that it focuses mainly on labour force key indicators, main characteristics of the employed, unemployed, underemployed and persons outside labour force, labour force according to level of education, distribution of the employed population by occupation, economic activity, place of work, employment status, hours and days worked and average daily wage in NIS for the employees.

The survey main objectives are: - To estimate the labor force and its percentage to the population. - To estimate the number of employed individuals. - To analyze labour force according to gender, employment status, educational level , occupation and economic activity. - To provide information about the main changes in the labour market structure and its socio economic characteristics. - To estimate the numbers of unemployed individuals and analyze their general characteristics. - To estimate the rate of working hours and wages for employed individuals in addition to analyze of other characteristics.

The raw survey data provided by the Statistical Agency were cleaned and harmonized by the Economic Research Forum, in the context of a major project that started in 2009. During which extensive efforts have been exerted to acquire, clean, harmonize, preserve and disseminate micro data of existing labor force surveys in several Arab countries.

Geographic coverage

Covering a representative sample on the region level (West Bank, Gaza Strip), the locality type (urban, rural, camp) and the governorates.

Analysis unit

1- Household/family. 2- Individual/person.

Universe

The survey covered all Palestinian households who are a usual residence of the Palestinian Territory.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

THE CLEANED AND HARMONIZED VERSION OF THE SURVEY DATA PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED BY THE ECONOMIC RESEARCH FORUM REPRESENTS 100% OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY DATA COLLECTED BY THE PALESTINIAN CENTRAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS. The decrease in the sample size compared to other years is due to the fact that 8268 households could not be reached by the interviewers due to the severe siege imposed on the occupied Palestinian territories since the outbreak of al-Aqsa or for other reasons.

The methodology was designed according to the context of the survey, international standards, data processing requirements and comparability of outputs with other related surveys.

Target Population:

All Palestinians aged 10 years or older living in the Palestinian Territory, excluding those living in institutions such as prisons or shelters.

Sampling Frame:

The sampling frame consisted of a master sample of Enumeration Areas (EAs) selected from the population housing and establishment census 1997. The master sample consists of area units of relatively equal size (number of households), these units have been used as Primary Sampling Units (PSUs).

Sample Design:

The sample is a two-stage stratified cluster random sample.

Stratification: Four levels of stratification were made:

1. Stratification by Governorates.
2. Stratification by type of locality which comprises: (a) Urban, (b) Rural, and (c) Refugee Camps
3. Stratification by classifying localities, excluding governorate centers, into three strata based on the ownership of households of durable goods within these localities.
4. Stratification by size of locality (number of households).

Sample Size:

The sample size in the first quarter consisted of 7,559 households, which amounts to a sample of around 20,952 persons aged 15 years and over (including 22,874 aged 15 years and over). In the second round the sample consisted of 7,559 households, which amounts to a sample of around 28,922 persons aged 10 years and over (including 22,762 aged 15 years and over), in the third round the sample consisted of 7,559 households, which amounts to a sample of around 28,380 persons aged 10 years and over (including 22,495 aged 15 years and over). which amounts to a sample of around 26,974 persons aged 10 years and over (including 21,240 aged 15 years and over). In the fourth round the sample consisted of 7,559 households; which amounts to a sample of around 27,870 persons aged 10 years and over (including 21,868 aged 15 years and over).

The sample size allowed for non-response and related losses. In addition, the average number of households selected in each cell was 16.

It should be noted that 8268 households could not be reached by the interviewers due to the severe siege imposed on the occupied Palestinian territories since the outbreak of al-Aqsa or for other reasons .

Sample Rotation:

Each round of the Labor Force Survey covers all the 481 master sample areas. Basically, the areas remain fixed over time, but households in 50% of the EAs are replaced each round. The same household remains in the sample over 2 consecutive rounds, rests for the next two rounds and represented again in the sample for another and last two consecutive rounds before it is dropped from the sample. A 50 % overlap is then achieved between both consecutive rounds and between consecutive years (making the sample efficient for monitoring purposes). In earlier applications of the LFS (rounds 1 to 11); the rotation pattern used was different; requiring a household to remain in the sample for six consecutive rounds, then dropped. The objective of such a pattern was to increase the overlap between consecutive rounds. The new rotation pattern was introduced to reduce the burden on the households resulting from visiting the same household for six consecutive times.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

One of the main survey tools is the questionnaire, the survey questionnaire was designed according to the International Labour Organization (ILO) recommendations. The questionnaire includes four main parts:

1. Identification Data:

The main objective for this part is to record the necessary information to identify the household, such as, cluster code, sector, type of locality, cell, housing number and the cell code.

2. Quality Control:

This part involves groups of controlling standards to monitor the field and office operation, to keep in order the sequence of questionnaire stages (data collection, field and office coding, data entry, editing after entry and store the data.

3. Household Roster:

This part involves demographic characteristics about the household, like number of persons in the household, date of birth, sex, educational level…etc.

4. Employment Part:

This part involves the major research indicators, where one questionnaire had been answered by every 15 years and over household member, to be able to explore their labour force status and recognize their major characteristics toward employment status, economic activity, occupation, place of work, and other employment indicators.

Cleaning operations

Raw Data

The data processing stage consisted of the following operations: 1. Editing before data entry All questionnaires were then edited in the main office using the same instructions adopted for editing in the field.

1. Coding At this stage, the Economic Activity variable underwent coding according to West Bank and Gaza Strip Standard commodities Classification, based on the United Nations ISIC-3. The Economic Activity for all employed and ever employed individuals was classified at the fourth-digit-level. The occupations were coded on the basis of the International Standard Occupational Classification of 1988 at the third-digit-level (ISCO-88).

2. Data Entry In this stage data were entered into the computer, using a data entry template BLAISE. The data entry program was prepared in order to satisfy the following requirements:

• Duplication of the questionnaire on the computer screen.
• Logical and consistency checks of data entered.
• Possibility for internal editing of questionnaire answers.
• Maintaining a minimum of errors in digital data entry and fieldwork.
• User-friendly handling

Accordingly, data editing took place at a number of stages through the processing including: 1. office editing and coding 2. during data entry 3. structure checking and completeness 4. structural checking of SPSS data files

Harmonized Data

• The SPSS package is used to clean and harmonize the datasets.
• The harmonization process starts with a cleaning process for all raw data files received from the Statistical Agency.
• All cleaned data files are then merged to produce one data file on the individual level containing all variables subject to harmonization.
• A country-specific program is generated for each dataset to generate/ compute/ recode/ rename/ format/ label harmonized variables.
• A post-harmonization cleaning process is then conducted on the data.
• Harmonized data is saved on the household as well as the individual level, in SPSS and then converted to STATA, to be