The enumeration conducted for the purposes of the Second
Population Census of Pakistan, 1961 was carried out, with some minor
exceptions', between January 12,1961 and January 31,1961. An earlier
housing census provi¬ded a frame for the population census. The housing
census was carried out, depending on the area of the country, some two
or three months before the population census. This note is concerned
solely with the observations made during the field enumeration conducted
for the purposes of the popula¬tion census. It discusses no aspects of
the housing census unless immediately relevant to the observations
carried out. It is further limited in as much as it discusses
practically no aspects of pre-enumeration preparations including
problems of questionnaire design, and not at all the question of
analysis of results. The taking of a decennial population census is a
big event in the life of a nation under any circumstances. It is
particularly important when it is a second census, which, apart from the
interest, in its own findings, will also enhance the value of the first
census due to the inter-censal comparisons which can be made.
Furthermore, it is of outstanding importance in the circumstances of an
economy with sights fixed far and high on the horizon of better future,
but the hopes of which can be fulfilled or broken by the size of this
one variable: population growth. Its results are likely to provide the
main source of information for demographic research in the next decade.
It was not possible to consult with the census authorities on the
carrying out of an independent post-enumeration check2. In the
circumstances the some¬what unusual alternative of observing the
enumeration by the two of us was decided upon.
Report on a Census Enumeration
