Report of the Royal Commission on Labour in India

Bibliographic data

Monograph

Identifikator:: 1850495947

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-233603

Document type:: Monograph

Title:: Report of the Royal Commission on Labour in India

Place of publication:: London

Publisher:: His Majesty's Stationery Off.

Year of publication:: 1931

Scope:: xviii, 580 S.; graph. Darst., Kt.

Digitisation:: 2022

Collection:: Economics Books

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Document type:: Monograph

Structure type:: Chapter

Title:: Chapter XXIV. - Statistics and administration

Collection:: Economics Books

CHAPTER XX1V. that or some other office which has conducted a successful enquiry. We do not doubt that any such office will gladly co-operate in assisting accredited investigators as far as it can. Differences in language and customs may make it impossible for one enquiry to employ all the methods that have been successful in another, but the chief difficul- ties are, we think, common to all industrial centres. Only an inves- tigator qualified by training and by the possession of a large amount of tact and patience can hope to be successful anywhere. The Bombay Office has found that for enquiries of the kind under discussion, women investigators are preferable, if not essential, and this will be true in most industrial areas. It is from the woman in the family that information has generally to be secured, and it is more easily secured and tested by a woman investigator. Sampling. Equal in importance to the employment of qualified investi- gators is the adoption of sound statistical methods, and in any extensive enquiry careful sampling is of cardinal importance. If accurate informa- tion is required regarding any class of persons, and if it is impossible to collect particulars from all, it is essential that the cases selected for inves- tigation should be thoroughly representative. The collection of a series of family budgets selected on no scientific basis cannot possibly yield results of any statistical value. It would be superfluous to emphasise so obvious a principle were cases not numerous in which it has been ignored. The only alternative to sampling is the intensive enquiry, i.e., an enquiry covering the whole of a strictly limited field. Thus, for example, the budgets of all (or nearly all) of the workers in a particular group could be collected ; and we consider that small-scale enquiries of this kind would serve a useful purpose. Other Enquiries. The subjects discussed by us are by no means the only ones on which information is required. In almost every direction the field is practically unexplored. So far as the standard of living is concerned, only part of the work is done when particulars of income and expendi- ture have been secured. Connected with this thereisa host of questions awaiting investigation, such as the incidence of sickness, migration, absenteeism, industrial fatigue, etc. The scientific study of the human problems of industry has scarcely begun in India, and the loss which has arisen from this neglect is evident. Universities and Private Investigators. We now come to the share of the task which should be under- taken by the various agencies that are available. These may be divided into three classes—official agencies, employers and others. Dealing with the last first, substantial assistance can be claimed from the universi- ties. Other possible agencies are social and religious workers and private economists and students. We believe that all these agencies would do well to limit themselves to intensive enquiries, 4.e., to the thorough

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