Survey ID Number
egy-npc-dhs-1995-v1
Title
Demographic and Health Survey 1995-1996, Egypt
Sampling Procedure
Sample Design
The primary objective of the sample design for the EDHS-1995-96 is to provide estimates of key population and health indicators including fertility and child mortality rates for the country as a whole and for six major administrative regions (Urban Governorates, urban Lower Egypt, rural Lower Egypt, urban Upper Egypt, rural Upper Egypt, and the Frontier Governorates). In addition, in the Urban Governorates, Lower Egypt and Upper Egypt, the design allows for governorate-level estimates of most key variables, with the exception of fertility and mortality rates and women's status indicators. In the Frontier Governorates, the sample size for individual governorates is not sufficiently large to allow for separate governorate-level estimates. However, separate estimates are possible for the western Frontier Governorates (Matrouh and New Valley) and the eastern Frontier Governorates (North Sinai, South Sinai and Red Sea). Finally, Assuit and Souhag governorates were oversampled in the EDHS-1995-96 in order to provide sufficient cases for a special follow-up study of the reasons for nonuse of family planning in those areas.
In order to meet the survey objectives, the number of households selected in the EDHS-1995-96 sample from each governorate was disproportional to the size of the population in the governorate. As a result, the EDHS-1995-96 sample is not self-weighting at the national level, and weights had to be applied to the data to obtain the national-level estimates presented in this report.
Sample Implementation
Selection of PSUs: The EDHS-1995-96 sample was selected in three stages. At the first or primary stage, the units of selection were shiakhas/towns in urban areas, and villages in rural areas. Information from the 1986 Census was used in constructing the frame from which the primary sampling units (PSU) were selected. Prior to the selection of the PSUs, the frame was updated to take into account all of the administrative changes which had occurred since 1986. The updating process included both office work and field visits during a three-month period. After it was completed, urban and rural units were stratified by geographical location in a serpentine order from the northwest comer to the southeast within each governorate. Shiakhas or villages with less than 2,500 populations were grouped with contiguous shiakhas or villages (usually within the same kism or marquez) to obtain the minimum size required (5,000 population). During the primary stage selection, a total of 467 units (204 shiakhas/towns and 263 villages) were sampled.
Quick Count: The second stage of selection involved several steps. First, detailed maps of the PSUs chosen during the first stage were obtained and divided into parts of roughly equal size. In shiakhas/towns or villages with 20,000 or more population, two parts were selected. In the remaining smaller shiakhas/towns or villages, only one part was selected. Overall, a total of 656 parts were selected from the shiakhas/towns and villages in the EDHS-1995-96 sample.
A quick count was then carded out to divide each part into standard segments of about 200 households. This operation was conducted in order to provide an estimate of the number of households in each part so that the part could be divided into segments of roughly equal size. A group of 36 experienced field workers participated in the quick count operation. They were divided into 12 teams, each consisting of one supervisor, one cartographer and one or two counters. A one-week training course conducted prior to the quick count included both classroom sessions and field practice in a shiakha/town and a village not covered in the survey. The quick-count operation took place between late April and late July 1995.
As a quality control measure, the quick count was repeated in 10 percent of the parts. If the difference between the results of the first and second quick count were within 2 percent, then the first count was accepted. There were no major discrepancies between the two counts in most of the areas for which the count was repeated; however, in a few cases in Kafr El-Sheikh govemorate, a third visit was made to the field in order to resolve discrepancies between the counts.
Household Listing: Following the quick count, a total of 934 segments was chosen from the parts in each shiakha/town and village in the EDHS-1995-96 sample (i.e., two segments were selected from each of the 467 PSUs). A household listing operation was then implemented in each of the selected segments. To conduct this operation, 16 supervisors and 32 listers were organized into 16 teams. Generally, each listing team consisted of a supervisor and two listers. A training course for the listing staff was held at the end of August for one week. The training involved classroom lectures and two days of field practice in two urban and rural locations. The listing operation began at the end of August and continued for about 40 days.
Around 10 percent of the segments were relisted. Two different criteria were used to select segments for relisting. First, segments were relisted when the number of households in the listing differed markedly from that expected according to the quick count information. Second, a number of segments were randomly selected to be relisted as an additional quality control test. Overall, few major discrepancies were found in comparisons of the two listings. However, a third visit to the field was necessary in a few segments in Gharbia governorate because of significant discrepancies between the results of the original listing and the relisting operation.
Selection of the Household Sample: Using the household lists for each segment, a systematic random sample of households was chosen to be interviewed in the EDHS-1995-96. A subsample of one-third of these households was also selected for the woman's status survey, except in Assuit and Souhag governorates, where all households were included in the women's status survey. All ever-married women 15-49, who were usual residents or present in the household on the night before the interview, were eligible for the survey.
Note: See detailed description of sample design in APPENDIX B of the report which is presented in this documentation.