International Field and Tab

International Field & Tab is celebrating 2nd anniversary (July 17, 2010).

Admin — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 08:08:01 +0000

International Field & Tab is celebrating 2nd anniversary (July 17, 2010)

Lahore, Pakistan – July 17th, 2010 – International Field & Tab, a premium service provider to the market research industry, completed a rewarding 2009-10 with impressive growth to gross revenue, clientele, image and projects.

Our motto is to provide “Quick, Affordable and Reliable” solutions to our clients and sponsors. Our efforts in terms of providing very personalized services (24/7), proactive communication, assuring best quality were highly appreciated and rewarded by the clients during 2008-2010.

“We made it due to team efforts. Every person in our team worked very hard and took the challenge to make impossible – possible. We promise an exciting and pleasant working experience to our clients in coming years also” said Moshin Muslim, CEO.
The company is on growing track in Q1 2010-11, and has launched its page on Face book besides regular tweeting and Linkedin. For any business inquiry write to info@field-tab.com.pk

Changing dynamics of “Rural Market” within “Rural Pakistan”

Admin — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 07:10:24 +0000

The improvement in the rural structure will not only help the general masses to improve the living standards but also will create a massive opportunity for the local and international investors to make big investments in the area. In turn, the people of the rural class will also be befitted with the employment opportunities, build fast access of their stocks to the national and international markets. As per survey figures, electricity for domestic use in the country increased from 34,446 in 2003 to 38,435 in 2008, showing an improvement of 12% in rural electrification. Statistics showed, the number of mouzas reporting bricked lined streets was 20,195 in 2003 which improved to 23,638 in 2008, thus depicting an increase of 17% during the recent past. The total number of mouzas falling within a radius of less than 1 kilometer from metalled road was 23,720 during 2003. This number moved up to 28,460 mouzas as per 2008 Mouza Census showing an increase of 20% over 2003 data. The total number of mouzas reporting river / canal as main source of irrigation was 21,421 which increased to 23,450 in 2008, i.e. by 9%. The number of mouzas reporting tubewells / wells as main source of irrigation have increased from 22,123 in 2003 to 24,077 in 2008, i.e. also by 9%. In Pakistan there is 18% increase in case of primary school, 11% increase in middle school, 4% increase in high / higher secondary school and 4% increase in college for girls with in radius of one kilometer.

For more details, feel free to write us info@field-tab.com.pk

[1] Source: Pakistan Mouza Statistics, 2008, Pakistan Agriculture Census Organization

Effects of Ramadan on Survey Schedule in Pakistan

Admin — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 10:19:49 +0000

Holy month of Ramadan

Muslims from all over the world keep fasting approx. 1 hour before sunrise to sunset during the most blessed month in the Islamic calendar, known as “Ramadan”. Ramadan is the ninth month in the Islamic calendar. During this month, Muslims abstain themselves from eating, drinking, smoking, as well as participating in ill-natured or excessive type of activities. Fasting is intended to educate the Muslim in spirituality, humility and patience. In Ramadan, it is a time for Muslims to cleanse the soul, focus attention on God, and put selflessness into practice. Fasting is made for the sake of God. More than a Billion people around the world are Muslims. Majority of Muslims keep fasts during Ramadan as it is a religious obligation.

Change in normal routine of Respondents in Ramadan and its effects on Fieldwork:

Major changes happen in the habits and way of living of Pakistani respondents like eating, sleeping, shopping, and habits pertaining to religious activities, charity and media.

During the holy month respondents sleep and wake up early. Schools/offices and household working hours are also changed in Ramadan. Schools and offices usually start early approximately One/two hours to usual schedule, and also close before time. People on jobs used to start jobs/ business early. For example if business day timings are 9 to 5 in normal days, it shifts from 7 am to 2:30 pm. People used to take rest during Ramadan after coming back from work.

From Fieldwork/data collection perspective, “B2B ” interviews are conducted in the morning during Ramadan, 9:00am to 12:30 pm. For Household interviews, appropriate time to contact female respondents is 9:00 am to 1:00pm in “weekdays” only. Male respondents are more willing to be interviewed at their households from 5:00pm to 6:00pm only in weekdays. It is better to meet male respondents on “holidays /Sundays” at their home from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm and then 3:30 pm to 6:00 pm during Ramadan.

Media viewing habits and its effects on survey timings:

During Ramadan TV / media viewing habits also changes. It is the observation of researcher that people usually watch more religious channels. So any media research or containing questions relating to media habit may only give information for a specific period which might not reflect respondent’s routine in a year.

Change in eating habits and its effects on survey timings

During Ramadan eating habits also change due to fasting. This may effect on the fieldwork also. This is not appropriate to ask questions on consumption of eatables from a person maintaining fast. Similarly any projection on the basis of consumption pattern in Ramadan is also not advisable due to change eating habits, eating schedule and diet etc.

However, fieldwork for other products/ services except for eatables can be carried out during Ramadan.

Based upon our experience of doing surveys in Ramadan in Pakistan and other Muslim countries, pace of work is sometimes slow in Ramadan which can be accelerated after Ramadan or it can be made up by adding more resources in data collection team. This is important to note that during last 10 days of Ramadan, field work is extremely difficult or near to zero progress level as respondents are over engaged in religious activities, shopping for EID.

EID is a another religious festival for the Muslim celebration which continues from One to Three days. On Eid days respondent usually go for outing, meet and greet friends and relatives. During EID holiday, fieldwork is not possible at all.

We at IFT have a team of experts with more than 20 years experience of managing large scale projects in Pakistan and abroad. Our experts will be happy to share views on your specs and fieldwork plan during Ramadan.

For any query, may write to info@field-tab.com.pk

Literacy Development in Pakistan

Admin — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 10:51:48 +0000

According to the latest Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement (PSLM) Survey 2008‐09, the overall literacy rate (age 10 years and above) is 57% (69% for male and 45% for female) compared to 56% (69% for male and 44% for female) for 2007‐08. The data shows that literacy remains higher in urban areas (74%) than in rural areas (48%), and is more prevalent for men (69%) compared to women (45%). However, it is evident from the data that overall female literacy is rising over time, but progress is uneven across the provinces. When analyzed provincially, literacy rate in Punjab stood at (59 %), Sindh (59%), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (50%) and Balochistan at (45%). When analyzed provincially, literacy rate in Punjab stood at (59 %), Sindh (59%), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (50%) and Balochistan at (45%). According to the data, the overall school attendance, as measured by the Net Enrolment Rate (NER), for 2008‐09 was 57% as compared to 55% in 2007‐08. Nationally, the Gross Enrolment Rate (GER), sometimes referred to as the participation rate, which is the number of children attending primary school (irrespective of age) divided by the number of children who ought to be attending, in case of both male and female saw no change and remained at 91% between 2007‐08 and 2008‐09. The Gender Parity Index (GPI) is the ratio of female enrolment to male enrolment. A GPI of more than one indicates that, in proportion to every male in the school, there is more than one female. The GPI for Pakistan as a whole in 2008‐09 is 0.65 compared to 0.64 in 2007‐08. Province‐wise GPI is high in Punjab (0.72) followed by Sindh (0.63), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (0.45) and Balochistan (0.37). The lower GPI with a decreasing tendency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa deserves attention at both the federal and provincial levels.

[1] Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement (PSLM) Survey 2008‐09, Economic Survey of Pakistan 2009-10

The Economic Census of Pakistan- Overview of Economic Activity

Admin — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 11:00:55 +0000

Economic Census is the major source of statistics on economic activities in the country. It covered 3.249 million Establishments / Households of which, 64% were in Punjab, 18% in Sindh, 15% in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 2% in Balochistan and 1% in Islamabad. 44% of the total Establishments were in rural areas and 56% were in urban areas. 53% of the total establishments were in Wholesale and Retail Trade, Restaurants and Hotels Sector, 20% Manufacturing Sector, 22% in Community, Social and Persona[i]l Services Sector. Among the households establishments slightly over 66% household establishments were engaged in manufacturing activities, about 9% in Agriculture (Poultry Farming, Fish Farming and Livestock) and about 21% in Community Services and Personal Services Sectors and about 4% engaged in Wholesale Retail Trade, Hotels and Restaurants Sector. 68% of the total manufacturing industries covered in Economic Census were in Punjab, 13% in Sindh and 16% in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. 2.851 million Establishments were such which employed 1-5 persons, whereas, 0.079 million have employment size of 6-10 persons, about 26 thousand establishments with 11-50 employed persons and 1617 establishments with 51 or above employed persons. 97% of the total establishments covered were owned by the individuals. Almost 68% of the manufacturing establishments in the households were engaged in Textile Wearing, Apparel and Leather Industries. The Census revealed that 2.958 million establishments had employed 6.580 million persons, of these 0.456 million were female, which is about 7 % of the total employment. Among the females, 15 % were Self-employed / Proprietor or Partners and 30 % were unpaid family helpers; the remaining 55 % were paid employees.

[i] Source: Economic Census of Pakistan, 2005.

Training on Interviewing Skills

Admin — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 06:10:55 +0000

Two days training was held at International Field & Tab office in Lahore for recruiters, enumerators, and field supervisors. Training is a regular feature of International Field & Tab.

Training was given to interviewers on point as follows:

Selection of Area
Selection of Household
Selection of Respondent
Interviewing Techniques
Dos and Don’ts of Interviewing

A combination of Case Study with Group Practice method was applied to train field team on “Impartial role of enumerator, how to comprehend a questionnaire, memorizing instructions, coordination with supervisors from field, ethics and etiquettes, Interview in isolation, assuring confidentiality to respondents, recording of responses, probing techniques with examples, retaining respondents’ interest in complex interviews etc.”

IFT is planning other trainings on topic like “Interviewing”, “Managing Field Force”, “Research Methods – Supplier perspective”, “Marketing Research Practicum – User Perspective”, “Quality Assurance in Survey Research” and “Media Research”.

Those who are interested in attending our upcoming Class room (On site, Off Site), Online and Virtual training, may send their expression of interest on email info@field-tab.com.pk.

Pakistan’s Mobile Tele-density Growth Overview

Admin — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 06:38:05 +0000

According to the latest figures released by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), Mobile tele-density reached to 59.8percent in May, 2010. Trends in tele-density are depicting a slower pace due to ‘maturity of market’ where operators have now adopted a retention policy instead of making efforts for expansion of subscribers. A total of 98 million cellular subscribers have been recorded in May, 2010. The share of market, as per PTA, Mobilink stayed at top with 32.64 percent of subscribers, while Telenor at 2nd position with 24.14 percent of mobile users, Ufone with 19.55 percent, 16.98 percent for Warid and 6.69 percent are Zong users. According to the data, in the month of May, mobile sector rose with a growth rate of 0.72 percent in comparison with the figures of last month (April, 2010). For growth pattern with in mobile operators, statistics are as, Warid is fastest growing operator with growth rate of 1.62 percent, 1.18 percent growth recorded for Ufone, followed by 0.85 percent for Telenor. Zong is the only operator which have negative growth of -3.12 percent.

Source: Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), Telecom Indicators: Mobile Cellular Services, 2010

For more details, feel free to write us info@field-tab.com.pk

Large Scale Manufacturing (LSM) Performance Overview – Production of Automobile in Pakistan increased in 2009

Admin — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 07:33:57 +0000

The Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS) has recently released the Quantum Index Number (QIM)* which shows the performance trends of output in the Large Scale Manufacturing (LSM) recorded a growth of 4.52% during July-April fiscal year 2010 (overall index 203.98) over the corresponding months of the last fiscal year (overall index 195.16 ). LSM in April 2010 was 5.59% (overall index 207.92) over the corresponding month last year (overall index 196.91). The LSM growth has been attributed to economic recovery that increased the demand of consumable products in the local market as well as export products for global markets.

According to the social economic survey highlights 2009-10, the manufacturing sector performed well in the outgoing year. Production in large scale manufacturing (LSM) increased by 4.4% which was mainly caused by the improvement in sub groups of automobile (31.6%), tyre & tubes (29.5%), electronic (23.6%), fertilizer (10.9%) and pharmaceutical (7.6%). The items which showed an increase in their production during the year were phosphate fertilizer (13.86%), cement (11.21%), cooking oil (7.17%), cotton (5.77%) and leather product (17.28%) etc. During the current fiscal year, cement production increased to 22.8 million tones as against 19.4 million tons last year or an increase of 17%.

The break-up of industrial sector showed that the petroleum sector growth remained in the negative with declined of 6.7% during the first ten months of the outgoing fiscal over the corresponding months of last fiscal. The year to year performance was even worst at minus 13.6%. Ministry of Industries index, however, recorded growth of 3.34% in the first ten months of the current fiscal year and 1.39% in April 2010. The index of Bureau of Statistics (BoS) registered increase of 8.31% in the first ten months period and posted significant growth of 14.58% in April 2010. The main contributors to LSM growth includes, automobiles, tyres, and tubes, leather products, electronics, fertilizers, non-metallic mineral products, pharmaceuticals, and engineering products. Production of automobiles registered impressive growth within the LSM, a major increase was seen in the production of motorcycles up by 56.04%, jeeps and cars 38.64%, tractors 22.56 %, and trucks 12.56 %.

* Quantum Index Number (QIM) has been computed in FBS on the basis of latest production data of 100 items. The sources of the index are

Oil Companies Advisory Committee (OCAC) (11 items)
Ministry of Industries & Production (35 items)
Provincial Bureaus of Statistics (54 items).

Get more information on the LSM, by writing to us at: info@field-tab.com.pk

Exploring the talent of an affordable market.

Admin — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 07:16:21 +0000

Good news is that ESOMAR has launched its Global Price Study 2010. The Global Index is a net that allows an approximate ranking of countries. This time 67 countries’ data was published in ESOMAR report with an average indices from lowest cost methodology of a U&A project. It shows that Global prices are stable with Pakistan as a country maintaining its position on the bottom of Index with 29 points as compare with USA on the top with 256 points.

It may remain a considerable factor for decision makers to make efforts on Online Research which is 70% or below of Phone surveys or CATI and 50% of Face-to Face.

All those researchers dealing markets with higher GDP, a significant shift of the customized research is visible from other modes to “online” mode only due to price.

International Field & Tab has a pool of very talented Human Resources, relevant IT infrastructure, low operational costs, high speed internet and broadband facilities. With our base in Pakistan, we offer Quick, Affordable and Reliable solutions and seeking back office “practical” partnerships to those suppliers intend to reduce their infrastructure and operational costs and maximize profits. For more details, feel free to write us info@field-tab.com.pk

Face to Face Interviewing in Pakistan – A new look (By Mohsin Muslim)

Admin — Wed, 19 May 2010 06:12:16 +0000

Face to face research in South Asia particularly in Pakistan is still considered the most reasonable option for researchers. This is because of population diversity, spread, low literacy rate, and availability of low priced local field work resources.

For every fieldwork, the researcher has to assure three vital steps to select a representative sample including Selection of Area, Selection of Household and Selection of Respondent. Face to face mode provides these basic essentials for a successful research.

Online surveys are more like buzz word in research now a days but the scenario differs in our region. Online surveys are less practical here due to low penetration of online population in Pakistan (11%)[1].Also this population exists only in special segments. On another front, mobile phone access is available to approximately forty percent population in Pakistan[2]) but the issue remains with the non availability of directories of mobile phone for segmentation e.g. to identify gender, area of the respondent and other issues related to appropriateness of sampling frame.

People living in this region are generally talkative and take approximately 10 minutes more time in start up communication. So, in practical 15 minute questionnaire in English can be administered in 25 minutes time. Interviewer’s introduction in local language as per local norms helps in building rapport and understanding with the respondent to gain better response rate. As some respondents may not be very cooperative in interviewing and they start un-necessary discussion and confrontations in the beginning. This issue is better controlled in face to face interviewing. Field teams are trained enough to exhibit patience and tolerance to listen to the remarks of the community members while working in a community. This helps in paving the way for future work in that area.

Sometimes, contact with the Local Elders/ Upper Caste/ Influential Persons is helpful in conducting interviews. Such contacts are however made only when they like to facilitate the holding of interviews within selected area.

We at International Field & Tab are working on hybrid techniques in field work management with the application of new technologies and internet.

The future of face to face research exists in the region but in combination with the other faster research and communication links. We see face to face research in align with other modern modes of research. In future countries of this region might be using mixture of online and offline mode in face to face research. The combination may yield field visits, filling of e-Questionnaires on laptops and PDAs, live streaming as show cards, integration with location of interview via using satellite maps and real time entry of data into company’s portal. (By Mohsin Muslim, CEO International Field & Tab Email info@field-tab.com.pk)

[1] Internet World Stats, figures Pakistan: PTA

[2] ITU Website / PTA -2006/2007