Abstract

There was no known established statistical system at the village or barangay level in the country where information was produced by the villagers to be used by their leaders for planning and decision-making. This study was conducted with the primary objective of developing a community-level statistical system that was responsive to the needs of the community. Grassroots statistics is a systematic collection, organization and presentation of data that describes the social and economic life of a group of people living together, sharing common local resources and concerns with the authority and responsibility to plan and decide for their development and improvement. This study was conducted from May 1991 to June 1992 in two selected barangays of the municipality of Bay, province of Laguna. Based on the results of the study, the statistical needs of the barangay were essentially basic in nature although there was greater interest for activities that could generate income for its villagers. The following were identified as their statistical needs: barangay map; barangay characteristics; facilities and services; barangay industry; demographic characteristics like population, age and sex distribution, educational attainment, occupation; migration; health statistics; housing statistics; agricultural statistics; and fishing statistics. The interview method was superior to the self-administered method of data collection at the barangay level. While in general, no significant differences were detected in the performance of identified groups of “tagapangalap ng impormasyong local” or TILs (namely, the barangay leader, barangay nutrition scholar, adult volunteer and educated youth), the ratings of the barangay teachers were the highest. The development of a statistical system at the barangay level was a stage-wise process requiring the assistance and support of the Philippine Statistical System. The first stage was the publicity and information campaign, followed by map construction, then data collection, up to the final stage when the system would be fully operational.