Sri Lanka’s longstanding tradition of commitment to social surveys dates back several decades, highlighted by examples such as its Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES), which has been conducted every three years.

In 2016, Sri Lanka’s Department of Census and Statistics (DCS), with the support of the World Bank, sought technical advice from Sistemas Integrales regarding potential methodological enhancements to the HIES, addressing sampling design, questionnaires and data collection methods.

Overall, these collaborative efforts sought to optimize data quality to inform public policy aimed at eradicating poverty.

• Sistemas Integrales’ recommendations addressed fieldwork issues and quality assurance protocols.

• The recommendations also highlighted the opportunity for shifting to Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) in future HIES rounds and also in other surveys.

• Finally, the DCS asked Sistemas Integrales to explore and recommend methods for producing data for geographical areas smaller than the standard HIES districts, especially poverty measures.