Household surveys in development research: methodological reflections

from sub-Saharan Africa

Dr Ernestina Coast (LSE) Prof. Sara Randall (UCL)

Presented at LIDC/LCIRAH24th May 2012

http://www.householdsurvey.info/

Have you ever….

Have you ever….

• Used household survey data collected by someone else (secondary analyses)?

Have you ever….

• Used household survey data collected by someone else (secondary analyses)?

• Been involved in collecting household survey data?

Have you ever….

• Used household survey data collected by someone else (secondary analyses)?

• Been involved in collecting household survey data?

• Designed a household survey?

Have you ever….

• Used household survey data collected by someone else (secondary analyses)?

• Been involved in collecting household survey data?

• Designed a household survey?

• Read an article that presents data from a household survey?

Household surveys in low income countries (LICs)

•Essential sources of individual-level data for policy planning in low resource settings with poor administrative systems•Much more standardised•Little development over time•Emphasis on comparability across time and space

Do household definitions matter?

• More variables being added in ‘household section’• Way of measuring wealth / poverty / access to

facilities which influence health• New level of analysis / explanation

• More use (researchers & policy makers) made of publicly available data

• Recognition of importance of society’s basic unit as influence upon members’ well-being

• Increasing use of ‘indicators’ based on household data (e.g. MDGs, asset indicators)

• Increasing importance of poverty mapping which uses household level data

Household definition

• Usually based on some combination of

– Eating– Sleeping– Sharing of economic livelihood

Data and methods

• 4 countries– Burkina Faso - Senegal– Tanzania - Uganda(plus more recent work in South Africa)

• Mixed methods– Key informant interviews (30 per country)– Household case studies (48 per country)– Review of definitions 1960-2011– Systematic literature mapping

Systematic literature mapping

• Social science literature (2003-2009)– Scopus, JSTOR, Web of Knowledge

• 2,367 papers for review– To what extent does the published literature discuss the

definition of the household?

• 97% used household data with no further explanation or justification of what they mean by the term

“Membership” of the international survey community

• 1960s & 1970s: idiosyncratic household definitions– Informed attempts to capture realities of local conditions

• Household was not a ubiquitous unit of enumeration

• UN Statistical Commission– National statistical offices become part of an

international community

Language

• Survey instruments tend to be written in English/French and limited lingua franca

• Our interviews with enumerators suggest that this practice is far from ideal– Many older people are unable to respond and untrained

interpreters may be used (e.g.: children), with inevitable risks to data quality.

Kaya: 1970s “invention”‘So when we, at NBS (in mid 1970s) when we sent and we discussed this in meeting and we said well, we now have to look for a word in Kiswahili—there were suggestions more than one—as usual—we said well we have the National Kiswahili Council and we have the Department of Kiswahili at UDSM [University of Dar es Salaam]. We shall send them the definition of the household as we know it from the UN now we shall ask them to suggest what is it the Kiswahili equivalent that would fit that UN definition, that long thing … they also came up with the kaya. Kaya is the arrangement that best suits that definition of the household from the UN’

(Senior retired Tanzanian Statistician/Demographer).

Definitions have to be applied…R: Exactly, that was the main problem actually as far as the Lake Zone families were concerned … They have their own way of beliefs ‘No we are together, we are all eating here … my sons’ wives cook by rotation, we eat here.’ You'll say … well it's not the case … but actually with this refined definition [DHS household definition] if your son is married he keeps his own children, he buys clothing for the children, he cares for the sickness of his family, that's the immediate family … So this was the problem so some interviewers come back to me and they say ‘But … they say they are one household’ then I go with him and explain what we mean—more than by sharing food but this one has so many responsibilities to his or her own families.I: But you in the DHS you ignored their [the respondents’] classification and used your [DHS] classification?R: Of course … and sometimes this brings conflicts. Because when you go there with your listing form. They'll say our selected is this and this and this. And they say ‘How come? This is the same house! This is my son!’

(DHS supervisor)

Concluding thoughts

• Household definitions matter for– Data– Analyses– Respondents– Interviewers

Interviewers apply a survey household definition even if respondents consider they are being asked to represent themselves in ways that are at best inadequate, and at worst inaccurate.

Want to know more?http://www.householdsurvey.info/

http://personal.lse.ac.uk/coast/

Kriel, A., S. Randall, E. Coast, A. Risenga & M. Nyambura (2012) "From design to practice: how can large-scale household surveys better represent the complexities of the social units under investigation?" Paper presented at the South African Sociological Association Annual Congress, Cape Town, 1-4 July 2012

Randall, S., E. Coast & T. Leone (2011) "Cultural constructions of the concept of household in sample surveys". Population Studies 65(2): 217-229

Coast, E., S. Randall, V. Golaz & B. Gnoumou (2011) "Problematic polygyny: implications of changing typologies and definitions of polygamy" Presented at the Sixth African Population Conference, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, 5-9th December 2011

Randall, S., E. Coast, N. Compaore & S. Wandera (2011) The power of the interviewer. Presented at the Sixth African Population Conference, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, 5-9th December 2011

Coast, E., S. Randall & T. Leone (2010) "Whose household? The fuzziness of a critical concept in household surveys" Presented at New measurement issues in survey research. Royal Statistical Society. 21st September 2010