The Karnataka Social and Educational Survey, or the caste census as it is popularly known, has come up against two challenges. There is an internal problem of the training of enumerators and an external one of the rebellion of the privileged. These challenges will affect the quality of the data the survey generates but an appropriate interpretation of the data could still ensure that the exercise serves its purpose.

The inadequate training of the enumerators is evident in the way the questionnaire was canvassed. Without adequate training the enumerators did little to control their bias. They typically rushed to assume answers rather than wait for the respondent’s reply. They often assumed that the caste of the wife would be the same as that of the husband. While this may have been true in

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