H—4B

price data should be reduced to the minimum consistent with the compilation of an accurate prices index. With these principles in mind the Committee has drawn up the following schedule of a pricing programme which it is considered will fill the necessary minimal requirements for statistical accuracy :

For the basic groups—food, housing, and fuel and lighting —complete coverage of all towns, monthly in the case of food and fuel and lighting, is considered necessary. Prices will be collected on the 15th of each month or nearest selling-day, with the exception that prices of fruits and vegetables will be recorded in ten towns only, but at weekly intervals. For clothing, hardware, furniture, minor household appliances, and cleaning supplies, quarterly quotations will be obtained from ten major towns—namely, Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, Hamilton, Napier, New Plymouth, Palmerston North, Nelson, and Invercargill. These towns have been selected as being shopping centres for large areas. For certain of the miscellaneous groups —e.g., major household appliances, personal and educational requisites and services—quarterly collections of prices in the four main centres are considered sufficient; while in some few instances —e.g., railway fares, insurance—quotations from a single source covering the whole country are sufficient. The methods of collection of prices in each individual group are described in more detail in a later section of this report, paras. 33 to 41. CHAPTER 6—METHOD OF WEIGHTING 20. While the Committee considers that care in the collection of pxices for comparable qualities of commodities and services is the most important requirement in index-number making, a carefully designed weighting pattern is also necessary. Reference has already been made to the Committee's decision that the index should relate to post-war consumption habits.* The methods used in giving effect to that decision are described in the following paragraphs. * See paras. 4 and 5.

10

Group. Periodicity of Collection. Date of Collection. | Towns Covered. Food (excluding seasonal fruits and Monthly15th of month 1 Twenty-one towns. vegetables) Seasonal fruits and vegetables Weekly Every Friday Ten main towns. Housing— Rents : Houses and flats Six monthly February and August Twenty-one towns. Rates Yearly Repairs and maintenance 9y Four chief centres. Fuel and lighting Monthly 15th of month Twenty-one towns. Clothing Quarterly .. February, May, August, Ten main towns. Miscellaneous— November Hardware Ditto .. .. Furniture ,. .. 99 99 • • • • Household appliances 99 Four chief centres. Cleaning supplies 99 99 Ten main towns. Personal requisites 99 • • 99 • • • * Four chief centres. Educational requisites „ 99 • • • • 99 Services — Postage, &c. 99 • • 99 Entertainment f9 Personal services „ Health services „ . . . . | Transport 99 ,, . . . . Patent medicines 99 • • ,, . . . . j Union dues Yearly "