14 Logistics. Some key logistical clcmcnis of implementing a household energy survey are legal clearance, lodging/per dicm, transport, availability of cquipment and supplics, supervision and quality control. Depending on how thc survey team is organized, thcsc may be the responsibility of thc director, an administrativc assistant, a supervisor or a commiltec of supervisors. These responsibilitics can bc illustratcd by the main tasks assigned to the supervisor for tl;e CotC d'lvoire Living Standards Survey (1986) which wcre:

- Contacting authorities in villagcs before thc survcy to advise them of the dates of intcrviews;

- Preparing the household questionnaires for a pre-selectcd list of dwellings;

- Helping interviewers to locate households, reviewing all non-contacts and refusals, and replacing sclccted households when necessary; - Verifying that all parts of the questionnaire are properly compltetd before returning to the regional office;

- Coding items that are not pre-coded on the questionnaire;

- Conducting re-interviews of _25_ percent of the households; and

- Reviewing the printouts of both rounds of the questionnaire to detect interviewer and data entry errors, and supervising correction of all errors in the field and in the office.

Thus, in this case, the supervisor had several logistical responsibilities, the most important of which involved quality control.

Selection and Training of Interviewers. Interviewers should be selected from the local population for their knowledge of the language, culture, transport system, etc. Often, female surveyors are preferred in household energy work because of their better rapport with women who are usually the most important users (and gatherers) of household fuels. Generally, the interviewers should not be in any position of social or political authority which would induce a strong bias in answers. Some practitioners go so far as to recommend that no official institution, especially a governmental one, should be in direct contact with the survey sample as this may cause a distortion of responses.

The quality of the interviews also depends on the education of the surveyors. Their training should be planned carefully. This can be done with audio-visual methods and practice interviews. A manual explaining the objectives of the survey, identification of the respondent, interviewing techniques, structure of the questionnaire, and the way each question should be asked and recorded should be given to and used by each interviewer. In the field, novices can be accompanied by more experienced surveyors during their first interviews. The field coordinator and supervisors should carefully monitor the work of interviewers, attend interviews, check answer sheets, hold regular review meetings, discuss problems and assess preliminary results.

At the beginning of the interview itself, the surveyor should deliver a introductory statement or letter to the head of the household which covers the objectives of the survey, its importance, confidentiality of responses and who the sponsoring institution is. Care should be taken to ensure that the right questions are asked to the right people. For example, in some households where the husband has more than one wife, there may be a number of cooking units and practices, all of which should be reflected in the survey results.

An example of a four day training period covered the following:

- Introduction to the objectives of the survey, work plan, methodology, sampling procedure, schedule of activities and logistical arrangements;

- Introduction to methods for conducting interviews, recording responses and handling interviewing problems;