Guides and Training Material

Processing of Food Data Collected in HIES in the Pacific Region: Essential Guidelines for Food Data Processing

This guideline is an adaptation for the Pacific region of a comprehensive document on processing food consumption data from Household Consumption and Expenditure Surveys (HCES). It aligns with UN Statistical Commission-endorsed guidelines and is specifically designed for Household Income and Expenditure Surveys (HIES) in the Pacific, using standard food consumption modules developed by the Pacific Community (SPC). These modules, tested in 2018 in the Republic of Marshall Islands, have been adopted by most Pacific Island countries and territories.

Sampling Guidelines For The Pacific

The Pacific region, consisting mostly of small island developing states (SIDS), faces significant challenges in developing statistics due to small, dispersed populations and underdeveloped administrative systems.

Despite these challenges, there is a growing demand for high-quality, disaggregated statistics to report on various development indicators, including the sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Household surveys are the primary source of data for many indicators, and efficient sampling strategies are needed to balance the demand for efficient data collection with the need for detailed development indicators.

These guidelines aim to help pacific survey practitioners achieve this balance and strengthen their capacity in sampling theory.

The Pacific HIES Toolkit

The Pacific HIES Toolkit provides a practical and comprehensive set of guidance notes to support the effective planning, implementation, and processing of Household Income and Expenditure Surveys (HIES) across Pacific Island countries. Developed by the Pacific Community (SPC) in collaboration with the Pacific Statistics Methods Board (PSMB), the toolkit responds to a key gap previously identified: the lack of consolidated, practical guidance to support HIES implementation in the region.

Drawing on expert recommendations and lessons from recent HIES implementations, the toolkit adopts the structure and approach of UNICEF’s Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS), with the guidance split into separate notes organised by survey phase. Each note is enriched with examples, templates, and technical insights to help practitioners navigate the full HIES process—from planning and fieldwork to data processing and estimation techniques.

These guidance notes are designed as living documents, which will be periodically updated to reflect methodological improvements and technological advancements, ensuring that Pacific Island countries are equipped with tools and approaches that produce high-quality, policy-relevant data.

The toolkit is intended for use by National Statistical Offices, technical advisors, and development partners supporting survey design, data collection, and statistical analysis in the Pacific.

Planning for HIES

This guidance note outlines the foundational steps required to plan and prepare for a successful HIES, typically a three-year process covering design, fieldwork, and data dissemination. It covers key activities such as establishing a steering committee, selecting data collection methods (recall or diary), questionnaire design, sampling strategies, and budgeting. The note emphasises the importance of early stakeholder engagement, careful timeline planning, and adherence to standard practices to ensure data quality and international comparability.

Fieldwork for HIES

Focused on the operational phase, this note provides detailed guidance on the recruitment, training, and management of field staff. It describes best practices for preparing training materials, setting up CAPI systems, conducting pilot tests, and implementing supervisory procedures to ensure high data quality. The note also covers strategies for addressing common fieldwork challenges, such as language barriers, interviewer bias, and field delays, offering practical tools for managing field operations effectively.

Processing for HIES

This note presents a systematic approach to converting raw survey data into high-quality, analysis-ready datasets. It walks through the various data processing stages—from initial downloads to cleaning, validation, recoding, reshaping, and final aggregation. The guidance includes techniques for identifying and correcting errors, imputing missing data, and developing sampling weights. It also addresses the use of international classifications (e.g., COICOP, ISIC, ISCO) to ensure comparability, and it highlights the importance of collaboration between SPC, NSOs, and partners during the processing phase.

Estimation of the Use Value of Durable Goods in Consumption Aggregates

This specialised note supports the inclusion of durable goods in consumption aggregates—an essential component for accurately measuring monetary poverty and inequality. It provides recommendations for defining, classifying, and collecting data on durable goods, along with practical instructions for estimating their use value using the user cost approach and geometric depreciation models. The guidance balances analytical rigour with practical considerations, recognising the challenges of respondent fatigue and resource constraints in small island contexts.

Natural Disaster and Climate Change Survey Sourcebook

The aim of this Sourcebook is to promote the production and use of socio-economic data on the impacts of natural disasters and climate change on households in the Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs). The Core Module adds a short set of questions to existing household surveys, while the Sourcebook can be integrated into larger surveys or used independently. It serves as a guide for survey leaders and practitioners, aiming to streamline data collection and use for decision-making on climate change mitigation and adaptation. The Survey Module supports National Statistical Systems in defining roles and responsibilities for data collection and sharing, making socio-economic impact data accessible for research and monitoring.

Data Analysis and Report Writing for CRVS

As countries work towards improving their CRVS systems, a number of countries are now in a position where their routine administrative processes either are able to, or will soon be able to generate reasonably reliable data. Ensuring that system improvements are reflected in an actual improvement in the availability and reliability of data is a key regional challenge. It is critical that this data is analysed, reported, and made available to decision makers. This may be a significant change for many NSO’s who have not previously had a clear role in the analysis or reporting of this data. This course book aims to build capacity in these areas.

Legislation for CRVS in the Pacific: Best Practice Guidelines

Many Pacific Island countries and territories have begun to review their legislation over the last five years with support under the Pacific Vital Statistics Action Plan using the WHO Comprehensive Assessment Tool for CRVS. As a result of these assessments, a number of countries have highlighted legislation improvement as a core priority at the national level. This document builds on the work undertaken to date in order to:

• provide an overview of the key legal issues and challenges facing the Pacific;
• develop an assessment tool that countries can use to assist them to implement best practice in upcoming legal reviews; and
• assist in facilitating the uptake of new opportunities in registry practice by ensuring countries have considered both current and future registry needs.

You will also find additional CRVS materials on our Sub-regional training on medical certification of causes of death page .

Indicator Guidelines for Policy Monitoring in the Pacific

These guidelines aims to provide a more complete picture of the indicator challenges faced in countries in the Pacific and to offer some guiding advice on how to tackle these challenges, including some general guidance on the formulation of indicators. In particular these guidelines aim to:

• promote the importance of tackling indicator production in a more holistic way for reporting progress against global/regional/national/sub-national initiatives and plans;
• provide guidance on processes for producing indicator frameworks for national policies or plans, including what constitutes a good indicator, through a set of soundness criteria;
• improve the understanding of reporting requirements of priority global and regional initiatives, including how they can be addressed;
• provide background material for Pacific countries to review and develop their own national indicator strategy2 (if they so wish), covering the following processes;
  • stocktaking of current practices;
  • assessment of what is working and where modifications could be made;
  • development of a new indicator landscape; and
  • potential adoption of a core set of priority indicators.

Microdata Dissemination

Microdata dissemination is crucial in the statistics production process and survey programs. Making data accessible to a wide range of users enhances its value and reduces the need for new data collection. However, data producers face increasing demand for microdata and must address both technical challenges (like documentation and preservation) and legal/ethical issues (such as maintaining confidentiality and minimizing disclosure risks).

These guidelines aims to describe all the concepts and the technical and legal aspects related with microdata dissemination, with a particular focus on the Pacific region, and to present possible solutions for improving and expanding microdata dissemination, such as the Pacific Data Hub Microdata Library (PDH-ML).

Imputation of Housing Rent in Consumption Aggregate

The guidance note discusses the challenges of estimating the value of housing in household consumption, especially in the Pacific region. It highlights the difficulty in valuing housing when it's owned by the household or provided by employers, and even among renters with subsidies. The focus is on how to accurately value housing for measuring monetary well-being, poverty, and inequality.

International Merchandise Trade Statistics Pacific Compilation Guide

The International Merchandise Trade Statistics (IMTS) Pacific Compilation Guide 2021 has been compiled to assist National Statistics Offices (NSOs) in Pacific Island countries and territories (PICTs) to collect, compile, analyse and report statistics on international trade in goods using a standard methodology.

Monetary Poverty Measurement

This guidance note is designed to help statistics stakeholders in the Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs) understand how to derive monetary poverty indicators using household consumption data. It outlines the steps and concepts involved, focusing on the two main pillars of monetary poverty measurement: the consumption aggregate and the poverty line.

Pacific Business Register Development Guide 2014

This guide is jointly produced by the Pacific Community (SPC) and the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) as part of their effort to provide leadership for statistical development in Pacific Island countries and territories (PICTs). It is a broad guide to assist the development and improvement of business registers in national statistical offices (NSOs) in PICTs, to ensure that:

1. development progresses according to global best practice; and
2. development occurs consistently and harmoniously within the Pacific region to allow better statistical comparability across borders and future cooperation between NSOs in the region.

QGIS for Census and Survey Mapping

This document details the steps required to:

• Plot and modify GPS Household locations,
• Create and modify administrative boundaries,
• Produce field maps for Supervisors and Enumerators, including automatic map production,
• Basic approach to raster datasets,
• Basic spatial analysis,
• Basic approach to geographical databases.

Pacific Roadmap on Gender Statistics

The roadmap aims to provide the guiding framework to support Pacific National Statistical Systems to generate quality, relevant and timely gender data that meets users’ needs to advance gender equality. It also aims to enhance dialogue and ownership of gender statistics across the Pacific through collaboration between gender data users and producers. It emphasizes the need for resource mobilization and integration into national and regional statistical strategies.

The framework respects cultural values and identities, recognizing traditional gender roles in Pacific Island Countries and Territories. It promotes gender equality by considering cultural contexts to better understand development and prosperity. Monitoring gender equality with a cultural perspective helps address discriminatory practices and values women's traditional knowledge in natural resource management. Countries will report on these issues voluntarily, considering cultural sensitivities.

Pacific Regional Guidebook on Disability Statistics

This comprehensive guidebook provides knowledge on disability concepts and measurement in the Pacific region. The Guidebook also provides practical guidance on disability data collection tools, and their use in censuses and household surveys, methods and guidance to address challenges faced in data collection in the Pacific region and translation considerations and methodology. Furthermore, practical guidance on disability data analysis and indicators calculation, and dissemination strategies are highlights in this guidebook. Finally, analytical codes in R and Stata statistical software and a disability monograph template are developed as additional tools to support national statistical offices in analysing and dissemination of data.