From 23rd June to 18th July 2012 the Afrobarometer surveyed a nationally representative, random, stratified probability sample of 1200 adult Sierra Leoneans. Face-to-face interviews were conducted in the language of the respondent’s choice by the Afrobarometer team based at ITASCAP. Local language translations were done in four (4) languages: Krio, Mende, Temne and Limba. CDD-Ghana provided technical backstopping for the survey. This was the first Afrobarometer surveys conducted in Sierra Leone.
The sample was drawn by taking the smallest geographic units, Census Enumeration Areas (EAs), and stratifying all EAs across the country into separate lists according to district and geographical area (urban/rural). 150 EAs were then randomly selected from these lists with the probability proportionate to its size in the overall population as represented in the 2004 Population and Housing Census and 2012 Population (18+) Projections. This ensured that every eligible adult had an equal and known chance of being selected. Eight households were then randomly selected within each EA, and a respondent 18 years of age or older was randomly selected from each household. A gender quota ensured that every other interview must be with a female. A sample of this size is sufficient to yield an overall margin of error of approximately +/- 3 percent at a confidence level of 95 percent.
