Thematic Household Survey

The Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) has been conducting a series of Thematic Household Survey (THS) since 1999.  Proposal from individual bureaux / departments to collect required statistical information on social topics would be packaged together to form different rounds of THS and contracted out to private research firms.  The information collected is vital to the Government for review and formulation of policies.

In general, two to three rounds of THS will be conducted each year.  Please refer to Surveys Conducted by C&SD for the THS being conducted.

For each round of THS, C&SD will issue Enumerator Identity Cards and Certificates of Identity to the enumerators undertaking the survey.  Respondents are encouraged to check the Enumerator Identity Cards and Certificates of Identity of the enumerators from the contractor before admitting them into their premises.  Respondents can also check the identity of the enumerators by the following means:

At the start of each round of THS, notification letters are sent to the sampled quarters by C&SD to explain the purpose of the survey and to seek co-operation of the households living therein.  The enumerators from the contractor will then visit the households concerned in person to collect the required information.  Non-contact slips will be left when the enumerators are unable to make contact with the households visited.

If the households have received the notification letters or the non-contact slips, they are encouraged to phone the contractor (through the telephone number printed on the notification letters or the non-contact slips) between 9:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. (every day) to make appointment for the interview.  Households may leave voice messages with the automatic telephone recording function outside the service hours – quoting their names, contact telephone numbers and the reference numbers printed on the notification letters or the non-contact slips to facilitate follow-up.

Please refer to the Frequently Asked Questions.

C&SD plays a co-ordination and management role in the THS and is responsible for monitoring the work of the contractors to ensure that their services can meet the required standards of quality.

The THS covers the land-based non-institutional population of Hong Kong and thus does not cover:
      1. inmates of institutions; and
      2. persons living on board vessels.

The survey covers about 99% of the Hong Kong Resident Population (i.e. including both Usual Residents and Mobile Residents).

In general, the THS makes use of a full list of addresses of quarters in Hong Kong being maintained by C&SD as the sampling frame.  Quarters are randomly selected from the list to form the sample of the survey under a scientific sampling scheme.  Information about all households and their members living in the selected quarters will be collected.

The sample design of each round of THS may vary, with a view to facilitating the collection of relevant statistical information required by individual bureaux / departments.

At the start of each round of survey, notification letters are sent by C&SD to the sampled quarters with clear postal addresses to explain the purpose of the survey and to seek co-operation of the households residing therein.  Letters are also sent to the district offices concerned to solicit their assistance in informing households in those sampled quarters without clear postal addresses.

Enumerators from the contractor will visit the sampled households in person to collect the required information through face-to-face interview.  Each enumerator carries an Enumerator Identity Card and a Certificate of Identity issued by C&SD for conducting the survey, which are available for inspection.  Respondents are encouraged to verify the identity of enumerators from the contractor before admitting them into their premises.

The THS is conducted under Part IIIA of the Census and Statistics Ordinance (Cap. 316).  Data collected in the survey regarding individual persons and households will be kept in strict confidence and will not be released to any unauthorised parties, including Government departments.  Such data will only be used for compiling statistics which will not enable information relating to individual persons or households to be revealed.  All questionnaires will be destroyed within two years after the end of the survey period.

Results of each round of THS are released in the form of Thematic Household Survey Report.