MICS4 Survey Design Workshop

Multiple Indicator Cluster SurveysSurvey Design Workshop

Household Questionnaire:Household Characteristics

MICS4 Survey Design Workshop

Content• Cultural features

– Religion [HC1A]– Mother tongue [HC1B]– Ethnic group [HC1C]

• of the Household Head• If multi-ethnicity marriages and households is prevalent, then this will not

suffice (may want to obtain this information from each household member, or in the woman’s questionnaire)

– Customization is required– One or another combination of the above might be sufficient, depends

on the country context– All three questions rarely necessary– The issue is to determine the major socio-cultural/ethnic groups– One of the background characteristics presented in tables of MICS final

reports

MICS4 Survey Design Workshop

Content• Crowding – rooms used for sleeping [HC2]

• Observations [HC3, HC4, HC5]– Main material of dwelling floor, roof, exterior walls

• Type of fuel used for cooking [HC6]• Cooking arrangement [HC7]

– Solid fuel use and type of stove or fire

MICS4 Survey Design Workshop

MICS4 Indicators• # 3.11 - Solid fuels

• Proportion of population using solid fuels (wood, charcoal, crop residues, dung) as the primary source of domestic energy to cook

• Cooking arrangements and fuels used for cooking – to assess programs aiming to prevent respiratory illnesses

• Also, a major source of some lung diseases, e.g. COLD

MICS4 Survey Design Workshop

Content• Assets [HC8 – HC9]

• Ownership of– Dwelling [HC10]– Land for agriculture [HC11 - HC12]– Animals [HC13 - HC14]

MICS4 Survey Design Workshop

Purpose• Most of the questions in this module can be used to construct

the Wealth index

• Standard background variable of MICS

• Helps to explain differentials and to disaggregate indicators by socioeconomic status

MICS4 Survey Design Workshop

Wealth index• Information on possession of household assets, dwelling

materials, water and sanitation, crowding (and others) are used in principal components analysis and households are categorized into quintiles of wealth

• Popular indicator used by DHS, WB etc to analyze disparities with regard to wealth/poverty

MICS4 Survey Design Workshop

Methodological Issues• Countries will have to customize most of the

questions/response categories

• The assets constitute a minimum set for constructing the “wealth index”

• HC1A – HC1B - HC1C asked of the head, to standardize information collected

• HC3 - HC5 will be completed by interviewer – [observation]

MICS4 Survey Design Workshop

HC8 & HC9 - Add to the listEach country should add to the list • at least five items of furniture • at least four additional household appliances

• so that the list includes– at least 3 items that even a poor household may have,– at least 3 items that a middle income household may have,– at least 3 items that a high income household may have.

MICS4 Survey Design Workshop

Methodological issues• Utmost care should be taken in asking questions on assets –

the list has to be “balanced”

• Good training should be given to interviewers to easily recognize floor, roof, wall types – pictorials could be used