FAQ

This page contains questions and answers related to statistics and information search.

Where can I find statistics?

Statistical data are published on the CBS Curaçao web pages. The statistics are divided under 3 divisions, these are People & Society, Economy and Environmental and Spatial statistics which is divided again in different subdivisions. The subdivisions include, for example, “Population”, “Education” and “Inflation”. If you do not know the exact name of the statistics, it is often useful to think about which topic the information you are looking for relates to, and search for the right statistics in the l(external link)ist of statistics by topic. In addition to search by topic, you can search for statistics by the name of the statistics(external link) or keyword(external link).

Organizational Questions

Wat does the Central Bureau of Statistics do?
The main duty of the Central Bureau of Statistics Curaçao is to compile data and information, produce, publish and provide necessary statistics on the social-demographic and economic situation in Curaçao.

What is the organizational structure of the Central Bureau of Statistics?
You can access the organization structure of the Central Bureau of Statistics through this link: Organogram

Is the confidentiality of the information that the CBS collects guaranteed?
Collected data may only be used for statistical purposes, which means that information can only be published in a way that makes it impossible to identify particular reporting units (businesses, households). Information will only be published as part of aggregate data (averages, sums) by fields of activity, regions and similar.

Confidentiality Questions

Is the CBS allowed to provide one person/institution's data to a third party?
The laws forbids CBS to disclose a person or institution's data gathered through a survey to a third party. We may not reveal the identity of any specific reporting units.

Authority Questions

All surveys conducted by CBS is in compliance with the National Statistics Act (PB 2003, nr.22)

Interview (ers) Questions

How long does an interview last?
The average time is 45 minutes. This depends on the type of survey and the length of the questionnaire.

What process is followed from the moment that an interviewer appears at my doorstep?

The interviewer introduces him- or herself as one of the CBS interviewers and states his or her name. The interviewer shows an introduction letter and asks for the respondents’ cooperation.
The interviewer (wearing his or her badge) briefly explains the aim of the visit, indicates how long filling out the questionnaire is going to take and what you can expect as a respondent.
Then, the interviewer will start filling out the questionnaire.

How can I ascertain that an interviewer is indeed an official CBS interviewer?
When an interviewer shows up at your doorstep, first of all, you may and are also entitled to ask the interviewer for proof of identification. All interviewers participating in a CBS survey should have an official CBS badge with the following: the CBS logo, the name and photo of the interviewer and the signature of the CBS director. If you notice anything out of the ordinary, please report this to the CBS immediately. You can call the fieldwork department at 839 2351 or on the general CBS line: 839 2300

Surveys Questions

How does the CBS conducts surveys?
Household interviews are conducted in various ways:

The interviewer can visit you and conduct the interview using a tablet

Am I obliged to participate in the survey from CBS?
Basically, all citizens are obliged to participate in the surveys carried out by the CBS. For some surveys (mostly researches concerning companies), this obligation is actually enforced by the CBS when necessary.
For surveys involving households (such as the Labour Force Survey), no penalties are imposed on homeowners who refuse to cooperate.
However, the CBS prefers to have people cooperate willingly, and hopes to convince them of the importance of cooperating by providing information in an effective manner.

How was my household selected for a survey?
Your household was selected at random. The CBS draws a random sample from an address file of the Civil Registry (Kranshi) containing all households, thus providing a representative picture of society.

Results of Surveys

Who will use the survey results?
The results of surveys conducted by the CBS are used by various groups and institutions in our society: the government, students, researchers, as well as the general public. International and regional organizations (such as United Nations and CARICOM) are also interested in data for Curaçao.

How are survey results published?
The first results of surveys are made available to the public through the media. All results are published in digital or printed publications and tables that are free to download from our website, www.cbs.cw. For more information regarding the results of the survey, please visit our Publications page. The CBS also makes the results of surveys available through its Facebook page: cbscur.

How is a sample drawn?

CBS Curaçao uses a sampling frame from a file of addresses / building points. This happens with household surveys, eg the Labor Force Survey.

A sample is always drawn from this sampling frame. This sampling is a random procedure that causes random selection. Random in this case means that no element in the target population has received preferential treatment. This is called a probability sample. Each element has a positive chance of ending up in the sample and all those opportunities must be known. In this way it is guaranteed that every household is treated in the same way to avoid bias in the sample.

It is also important to determine the size of the sample. Usually this is done by looking at what precision of the estimate you want to have. As a rule, the larger the sample, the more precise the estimate. So first the precision (with a certain reliability) is established and then the corresponding sample size can be calculated. Each year, the sampling frame is redefined and the precision and size of the sample are determined. Year after year, if possible, we try not to contact the same address again within 6 months.