The thirteenth Regional Course/Workshop on Sample Design for Household and Establishment/ Enterprise Surveys, which is a regular annual training programme of the United Nations Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific (SIAP), was conducted during 19 April to 7 May 2008 in Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, with the collaboration of the Statistical Centre of Iran (SCI), Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The main objective of the Course/ Workshop was to respond to the need to improve the national capabilities in the field of sampling techniques for Household and Establishment/ Enterprise surveys in the developing countries of the Asian and Pacific region. 

            The course was designed and directed by the SIAP while conducted with the help of two resource persons: an associate professor in statistics from University of Isphahan who taught some sessions on sample design and an expert from the SCI who took sessions on Iranian experience of conducting Household and Establishment/Enterprise sample surveys and use of software “STATA” for survey data processing and analysis. The course included important topics of sampling design and related topics of interpenetrating samples, small area estimation, organization of large scale sample surveys, quality control, non-sampling errors, rapid appraisals and other related techniques. Importantly, as part of the curriculum, the training also included Project work, the aim of which was to give an opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills learned by the participants. The participants were performed their project work in three groups each handling topics of household and establishment sample survey design. Project presentations were made by the participants individually within the Groups.

            Twenty two participants from seventeen countries including five from the host country successfully completed the training requirements.

            The participants learned the theory and practice of sample design. They also completed project work that was adjudged very professional. The participatory nature of the group project work, was effective in terms of enhancing and enriching the understanding of participants about sampling techniques of Household and Establishment/ Enterprise surveys through learning by doing, group discussions and sharing experiences among the participants. The test undertaken revealed that all the participants improved their knowledge on sampling methods. The conduct of the course realized urgently needed national capacity building on sampling design of large scale surveys of households and enterprises.

The course materials were prepared and made available to the participants in hard copies as well as on CD-ROM. Participants were also provided with a book, Theory and Methods of Survey Sampling by P. Mukhopadhyay.