The Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA) has launched the main training programme for field researchers as part of preparations for the first phase of the Qatar Population, Housing and Establishments Census 2020 (Data Completion Phase), which begins tomorrow and will continue for one month.
The five-day training programme aims to train researchers on the field work of the census in its first phase, under the supervision of a number of specialists and experts in the field of statistics and field research at the PSA, which ensures the effectiveness and accuracy of the census process in all its research and technological aspects.
The course includes theoretical lectures and practical lessons in the basics of field work, as well as the technology used in the census process, in addition to the definition of the duties of field researchers by job, and the field of interview art, with the statement of administrative division and the use of maps and mechanisms of work and data collection, and controls the use of adequate electronic device.
The objective of field work during November is to verify the main and administrative data of the buildings, units and establishments in order to measure the accuracy and quality of the data of the records created by relying on the administrative records, and to study and develop mechanisms to address the discrepancy or lack of data to reach a high degree of confidence in those records in implementing the 2020 Census, and implementing subsequent censuses through electronic linkages with data issuers.
The other field census is scheduled to take place in March 2020, to complete some detailed data on households and individuals that were not available in any of the issuers, which will be a basic and source base upon which future updates of household and individual data will be built.
The General Population, Housing and Establishment Census 2020 project is one of the most important statistical projects of the PSA. It aims at collecting comprehensive and up-to-date data for individuals, families, buildings and establishments, in order to provide development plans with the right data, assessing the availability of basic services for family, identifying areas in need of such services and prioritizing plans to take care of them.
The census is also the main source of information on the size and other characteristics of the labor force, aspects related to education and training, current and projected levels of population, national policies in this area, as well as an integrated framework for families, allowing the selection of samples for specialized field research.
The census is the only statistical process that is carried out by comprehensive inventory, once every five or 10 years, and Qatar carried out a number of them in 1986, 1997, 2004, 2010, and 2015. 
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