Labour Force Survey (LFS) Bonaire 2010

What does the survey comprise?

Purpose

To collect information on the labour market situation of the population of Bonaire.

Target population

People aged 15 years and older on Bonaire who have been living on the island for more than three years or who are planning to stay on the island for more than three years.

Statistical unit

Persons and households.

Year survey started

The LFS has been conducted on Bonaire since 1988. Until 2010 the LFS Bonaire was conducted by CBS Dutch Antilles. Since 10 October 2010, Bonaire has been a public body of the Netherlands and the LFS Bonaire is now conducted by Statistics Netherlands.

Frequency

The survey is conducted every other year in October. The figures published are presented as yearly figures for the year in which the survey was conducted.

Publication strategy

The published yearly figures are definite.

How is the survey conducted?

Survey type

Sample survey.

Survey method

The survey is conducted using face-to-face interviews. The interviewers use paper questionnaires in the languages Dutch, English, Spanish and Papiamento. The answers of the respondents are filled in on the paper questionnaires by the interviewers and are later processed electronically. The entire questionnaire of the LFS Bonaire (English) is available electronically.

Respondents

Households.

Sample size

In 2010, the sample size was 700 addresses. This is 20 percent of all households on Bonaire.

Checking and correction methods

The figures are checked for internal consistency. The aggregated data are then compared with the figures of the previous LFS Bonaire to check the plausibility of the results. The response is weighted to correct for the distribution of sex and age in the population.

Weighting

In principle the survey method determines the weights for the respondents, but this does not take into account the structure of the non-response. Because of selective non-response, certain groups may be underestimated. Within certain limits, this can be corrected for by adjusting the weights on the basis of extra information about the respondents and the target population. For the LFS Bonaire the weights were adjusted by using information on sex and age. The information that was used for this is somewhat different from the StatLine tables on population. The population figures of Bonaire in the StatLine tables based on the LFS can therefore slightly differ from the other figures on StatLine.

Quality of the results

Accuracy

When interpreting the results it should be taken into account that a sample survey does not always give precisely accurate results; there is always a certain margin of error. The size of this depends among others things on the numbers of persons in the various distinguished categories. The sample size guarantees a confidence level of 95 percent for the unemployment rate.

Sequential comparability

In 2010 Statistics Netherlands conducted the LFS Bonaire for the first time. In StatLine only figures for 2010 are available. The figures for previous years are available on the website of CBS Dutch Antilles. The figures of the LFS Bonaire 2010 that are published on StatLine are similar to the figures on previous years that were published by CBS Dutch Antilles in their statistical yearbooks. An exception are the figures on the educational level. The figures on educational level of 2010 are not sufficiently plausible for publication.

Quality strategy

The interviews for the LFS Bonaire are conducted by temporary interviewers who are hired and trained especially for the LFS Bonaire. The interviewers participate in a two-day course on the LFS Bonaire and on interview techniques.

To guarantee a good response, in the period that the LFS Bonaire is conducted there are campaigns on the island and commercials are broadcast to create awareness about the survey and ask for cooperation.