From the field: Balcostics projects, 2014 to 2017

May 2014, credit unions

On 27 May 2014 the firm thanked credit union managers who had made time for a visit. The gallery names eleven societies: ICD & Associates Employees CCU Ltd.; Jamaica Police CCU Ltd.; Jamaica Broilers Group CCU Ltd; St. Elizabeth CCU Ltd; St. Thomas CCU Ltd; NAJ & Health Services CCU Ltd.; Trelawny CCU Ltd; Hanover CCU Ltd; Broadcast and Allied Services CCU Ltd; Montego Bay CCU Ltd (the caption says Montego CCU); and Manchester CCU Ltd. One image title reads "Questionnaire completed!"

The note states no sample size and no findings. It does not name a client. Two captions name credit-union staff beside a team member. Those names and the photographs are not reused here.

First posted 27 May 2014.

October 2014, training on STATIN eDACS

The 3 October 2014 note said the team had trained on eDACs, "an automated paperless system developed by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN)", and that tablets would be used on an upcoming project with companies across Jamaica. The title spells the system EDACS. A gallery caption spells it eDOCs. STATIN's launch name, in a JIS report of the 15 January 2013 launch, is eDACS, the Electronic Data Collection System (JIS, 16 January 2013). That report names Howard Hamilton as director of information and technology, and says the system used tablets. The 2014 note thanks him, Tannecia Blackwood, Boyd Goodin and the rest of the STATIN team.

Gallery captions show a questionnaire tried on the tablets, including with employees of Spatial Innovision Ltd. The note states no sample size and no result for the later project, and it does not name that project's client.

In September 2026, STATIN's director of field services said interviewers use tablets and Survey Solutions, and have not used paper for about ten years (JIS, 21 September 2026). eDACS is the system in this 2014 note. The 2026 briefing names Survey Solutions.

First posted 3 October 2014.

October 2015, qualitative work in nine parishes

By 12 October 2015 the team had finished focus groups and qualitative surveys with youths and with small-scale and large-scale farmers across nine parishes. The note does not name the parishes, the client or a sample size, and it states no findings.

Three lessons were written down. Give people at least one week's notice so they can change their plans. Allow extra travel time in rural communities, because the venue can be hard to find. Offer refreshments, so people are at ease and share more of what they know.

Photographs from the trips are not reused.

First posted 12 October 2015.

March 2016, fish sanctuaries

The 21 March 2016 note said a survey of fisherfolk had been completed at seven Jamaican fish sanctuaries: Bluefields, Salt Harbour, Galleon Harbour, Three Bays, Boscobel, Oracabessa and Galleon St. Elizabeth. It defined a fish sanctuary as a coastal area where no fishing is allowed, so that fish can breed and the stock can grow.

The note states no sample size and no findings. The seven names are printed here as they were printed then. Photographs from the visits are not reused.

First posted 21 March 2016.

November 2016, Pedro Cays

From 6 to 8 November 2016 the team collected data in face-to-face interviews with fisherfolk on the Pedro Cays. The note places the cays about 80 km south and south-west of Jamaica. That distance still matches a current description of Pedro Bank (Wikipedia, Pedro Bank). A NEPA submission on the same bank says it lies about 97 km south-west of Jamaica and 158 km south-west of Kingston (NEPA, Pedro Bank and Cays). The figure depends on the point you measure from.

The note says the only transport is by boat or helicopter. Captain Dennis brought the team from Treasure Beach, St. Elizabeth, in a three-hour speedboat. The Jamaica Defence Force Coast Guard took them back to Kingston in a seven-hour boat ride. They spent two nights in a hurricane-proof camp provided by The Nature Conservancy. The note says hundreds of fisherfolk make a living from Pedro Bank, and thanks those who gave time. It does not say how many people were interviewed.

The team wrote that Middle Cay had no bathroom facilities for the fishermen, and that garbage was a serious problem. Photographs from the cays are not reused.

First posted 16 November 2016.

October 2017, August Town, St. Andrew

From 12 to 14 October 2017 the team interviewed residents in August Town, St. Andrew, and thanked them for the welcome. The note states no sample size and no findings.

The project index records August Town crime-prevention work in 2017 as prime face-to-face fieldwork for Abt / Janet Bedasse, in the community, with the sample size not stated. Photographs of the interviews are not reused.

First posted 17 October 2017.

Updated October 2026

• Six notes are one post. No sample size was added. Where the original is silent, the section stays silent.
• The May 2014 credit-union visits are not described as DBJ work. The post does not name a client, and the project index was not used to supply one.
• The October 2015 qualitative round is not described as JaREEACH work. The post does not name a client.
• The March 2016 sanctuary list is not tied to the CARIBSAVE beneficiary survey in the project index. The names are as printed in 2016. No count of interviews was added.
• eDACs, EDACS and eDOCs are aligned to STATIN's name eDACS (JIS, 16 January 2013). Current STATIN practice in the September 2026 JIS briefing is tablets and Survey Solutions, not paper.
• The Pedro Cays distance in the 2016 note (about 80 km) is left next to the NEPA figures (about 97 km south-west of Jamaica, and 158 km south-west of Kingston).
• August Town is linked to the project index row for Abt / Janet Bedasse. The 2017 post itself did not name the client. Personal names in the credit-union photo captions are omitted. No photograph of a resident, fisherfolk or community interview is reused.