Request for Quotations for Pre-Election Survey Firm in Nigeria at International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES)

DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES

• IFES plans to conduct a public opinion survey in Nigeria of adults aged 18 years or older to establish a baseline of voters’ knowledge of the electoral process, including voter registration, and elicit voters’
• opinions and perceptions of the upcoming general elections in 2019 and confidence levels in electoral authorities. Data from this survey will be used to inform IFES programming in key election assistance areas
• in the countdown to the February/March elections, including voter information and motivation campaigns.
• Responsibilities of Contractor (In close consultation at every stage with IFES):
• Format, translate and print the questionnaire to Hausa, Igbo, Pidgin, Yoruba, and any other relevant local languages as appropriate.
• Pretest the formatted and translated questionnaire in all local languages listed above.
• Identify population database used to design the sample of the survey.
• Select sampling approach for the survey, construct sample and identify method for selecting respondents in consultation with IFES.
• Describe means to be used to examine the representativeness of the achieved sample.
• Manage all aspects of fieldwork.
• Screen and hire field staff with appropriate qualifications and regional knowledge.
• Conduct training of interviewers and enumerators.
• Develop coding scheme; code, enter, and clean data.
• Prepare electronic data file, marginal results, tabulations, and a methodological report. Materials Delivered by Contractor to IFES:
• The translated and formatted questionnaires in Hausa, Igbo, Pidgin, Yoruba, and any other relevant local languages as appropriate.
• Pre-test results and recommendations for changes in questionnaire.
• Sample design and approach used to select respondents.
• Coding scheme (based on question numbers and skips and filter instructions in questionnaire), including codes for open-ended questions.
• Marginal frequency results.
• Electronic data file in SPSS.SAV format using coding scheme and open-end code formulation specified by IFES Survey consultant including any weight variables that may apply.
• A detailed methodological report for the survey.

Survey Methodology & Sampling Procedures
Sample size: 2,500 respondents (adults 18 years or older).
Questionnaire: The survey questionnaire will consist of approximately 60 closed-ended questions and 5 open-ended questions, not including standard demographics (sex, age, education, occupation, income,
employment status, place of residence, ethnicity, etc.). Interviewing time is estimated at 40-45 minutes.
Interviewing technique: Face-to-face interviewing in respondents’ households. Before fieldwork start, the translated and formatted questionnaires in Hausa, Igbo, Pidgin, and Yoruba shall be pretested with 50
adults in both urban and rural areas. The selection of respondents for the pretest shall also take into account gender, age, persons with disabilities (PWDs) and other appropriate demographic criteria such as
ethnicity and language. The pretest will identify comprehension problems, the appropriateness of response options, and the sensitivities that any questions may arouse.
Sample Design:

• The contractor will design the sample to be nationally representative for the adult voting population in Nigeria.
• The sample will be stratified proportionately to the 36 states of Nigeria and the FCT as well as by rural and urban settlements.
• The contractor shall use a multi-stage, probability proportional to size (PPS) selection method using random selection techniques to select sampling points.
• Overall, no more than 8-10 interviews shall be conducted in any one sampling point.
• For the final results, the contractor will supply IFES with appropriate weights to bring the realized sample in line with population parameters to correct for possible regional disparities or
• discrepancies between actual population demographics and achieved sample demographics in terms of gender and age.
• Contractor shall obtain IFES approval before finalizing sample design. Contractor shall also obtain approval from IFES for any changes during the fieldwork process.

Respondent selection

• Selection of the respondent will be done using a Kish Grid. Interviewers are not allowed to make any substitutions except in the following instances: (1) when the respondent completely refuses
• to be interviewed or to complete the interview; (2) if the respondent is not included in the sample because the respondent is not in the target age or gender group; (3) the selected building is not
• a home (e.g. company, shop, school, public institution, etc.); or (4) the respondent is not home. It is never acceptable to do substitutions within the household.
• At least two call backs should be done if the randomly selected respondent is not at home at the time of the interview.
• Supervision of Fieldwork: Contractor shall ensure that at least at least 20% of completed interviews are back-checked by supervisors and the management team, and all completed questionnaires are subjected
• to quality control for proper administration. Contractor shall immediately contact IFES should any problems be detected with the quality of the fieldwork.
• Data Entry: Contractor shall enter data into software that can easily transfer data to SPSS. The Contractor shall ensure 100% verification of entered data, and shall use logic-testing techniques to verify the
• soundness of the data.
• After completion of the first 250 interviews, the Contractor shall send IFES a list of suggested codes for open-ended questions on the survey, along with sample responses that fit the suggested codes. The
• Contractor shall code open-ended question according to the coding scheme approved by IFES.
• The Contractor shall submit a data file in SPSS format to IFES upon completion of the data processing. This file will contain variables that will be named according to the English questionnaire number, eg. Q1, Q2,
• etc. All value labels shall replicate response choices as closely as possible according to the English questionnaire. All “Don’t know” responses shall be coded to end in a ‘8’, e.g. 8, 98; All “Refused”
• responses shall be coded to end in a ‘9’, e.g.: 9, 99, etc.
• The Contractor shall construct weights necessary to ensure that the sample is representative according to region, gender and age.
• Methodological Reports: The Contractor shall submit a methodological report for the survey within one week of completion of data processing. This report shall outline the sampling information, as well as
• descriptions of fieldwork operations and data processing. The report shall also provide a complete breakdown of response and non-response statistics, including response rate.

Tentative timeline

• April 2 IFES submits the questionnaire to contractor for translation and comments
• April 7 Translated questionnaires due to IFES; Detailed sampling plan & procedures submitted to IFES
• April 12 Review of translations by IFES, comments to contractor; IFES signs off on final sampling plan
• April 14 Contractor submits revised translations to IFES
• April 16-17 Contractor pre-tests questionnaires in all languages; Pretest results & recommendations to IFES; Questionnaires finalized
• April 23-24 Interviewer training
• April 26 Fieldwork starts
• May 8 Fieldwork ends
• May 12 Initial data file and frequency tabulations sent to IFES
• Nigeria RFQ-18-022 Page 4 of 5
• May 18 Final data file due to IFES
• May 25 Methodological report due to IFES

REQUIREMENTS

• Prospective contractors must submit the following information in the Response:
• A contact name, email address, and telephone number to facilitate communication between IFES and the prospective contractor.
• General information about the contractor’s history and experience.
• If a government, its agents, or agencies, have an ownership or managerial interest in the company, the prospective contractor must indicate this when submitting its offer. Failure to do so will result in the prospective contractor’s offer being removed from consideration.

A brief outline of the company, including:

• a. Full legal name and address of the company or individual;
• b. Corporate and tax registration documents
• c. Full name of the legal representative (president or managing director) of the company (not applicable for individuals);
• d. Name of any individuals or entities that own 50% of more of the company;
• e. Year business was started or established; andf. U.S. companies must indicate if they are a registered Small Business (Woman owned,
• Veteran-owned, Minority-owned, Disabled, Service Disabled Veteran-owned)

No subcontracting is allowed under this solicitation.
Contain detailed cost in local currency with all applicable taxes/charges clearly identified, provided against each of the categories of services described in this request.
Detailed description of past experiences providing similar services to international NGOs.
Names, addresses, and telephone numbers of three business references, and approval to contact the listed references. IFES reserves the right to request and check additional references.
Prospective contractor must be legally registered under the laws of the country in which they are organized and possess all licenses, permits and government approvals necessary for performance
of the work.
All Responses shall be in the English language.
EVALUATION
IFES will evaluate bids based on the following criteria:

• Sampling Approach 20%
• Fieldwork and Data Processing 40%
• Experience and Past Performance 15%
• Price 25%
• Evaluation Criteria Grading for Each Criterion:
• Highly Exceeds Expectations 5 Points
• Slightly Exceeds Expectations 4 Points
• Meets Expectations 3 Points
• Meets most but not All Expectations 2 Points
• Does Not Meet Expectations 1 Point

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

• Release of RFQ March 5, 2018
• Questions Due March 8, 2018 by 5pm Abuja time
• Answers from IFES March 10, 2018
• RFQ Closes – Responses Due March 19, 2018 by 5pm Abuja time