LIMITATIONS Survey instrument The size of the questionnaire proved to be a challenge in obtaining information from the respondents. In total, there were 127 broad questions with 248 sub-questions. On average, a minimum of 30 to 45 minutes was spent conducting one full interview. Timing of the survey Several public holidays fell into the survey period creating challenges in getting access to households, especially in Malé. This resulted in an extension of the data collection period, and burnout of the enumerators in the capital . Furthermore, there was a considerable gender disparity among the respondents. This occurred because the surveys were conducted on weekdays, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., leading to more responses from women. Men were unavailable at home during these times and this is during weekdays and during office hours is a general phenomenon observed throughout the country and reflected in almost all the surveys. In addition, the weather conditions deteriorated during the survey period, and travel was postponed occasionally, impacting on the fieldwork. Availability of enumerators One of the main challenges lay in recruiting enumerators and retaining them throughout the survey period, especially in Malé. Recruitment and training had to be conducted more than once. Initially, each Atoll/Island Council was asked to assist the team in recruiting enumerators, however, in some islands, the interest level was low. Hence, enumerators had to be hired from other, nearby islands. Some questions in this survey were designed to be administered by female enumerators with female respondents, and by male enumerators with male respondents, in order to increase the responses. But finding enumerators from both genders in some locations was a challenge, and this may have impacted on the responses to some gender-based questions. Challenges were also encountered in finding 4 enumerators from different age groups. The majority were below the age of 25, and hence difficulties were faced with questions which required probing and maturity in handling the responses. Other Challenges in communicating with migrant workers due to the language barrier, led some participants to leave midway through the interview. During the data collection, assistance was sought from the workers’ colleagues in answering the questions, creating interpreters’ bias.