Survey ID Number
egy-npc-dhs-2005-v1
Title
Demographic and Health Survey 2005, Egypt
Sampling Procedure
SAMPLE DESIGN
The primary objective of the sample design for the 2005 EDHS was 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 (the Urban Governorates, urban Lower Egypt, rural Lower Egypt, urban Upper Egypt, rural Upper Egypt, and the Frontier Governorates). In addition, seven governorates targeted for special USAID-sponsored family planning and health initiatives were over sampled, namely: Fayoum, Beni-Suef, Menya, Qena, and Aswan in Upper Egypt, and Cairo and Alexandria.
In the Urban Governorates, Lower Egypt, and Upper Egypt, the 2005 EDHS design allowed for governorate-level estimates of most of the key variables, with the exception of the fertility and mortality rates. In the Frontier Governorates, the sample size was not sufficiently large to provide separate estimates for the individual governorates. To meet the survey objectives, the number of households selected in the 2005 EDHS sample from each governorate was not proportional to the size of the population in the governorate. As a result, the 2005 EDHS sample is not self-weighting at the national level, and weights have to be applied to the data to obtain the national-level estimates presented in this report.
SAMPLE SELECTION
The sample for the 2005 EDHS was selected in three stages. The first stage included selecting the primary sampling units. The units of selection were shiakhas/towns in urban areas and villages in rural areas. A list of these units which was based on the 1996 census was updated to August 2004 using information obtained from CAPMAS, and this list was used in selecting the primary sampling units (PSUs). Prior to the selection of the PSUs, the frame was further reviewed to identify any administrative changes that had occurred after August 2004. The updating process included both office work and field visits during a one-month period. After it was completed, urban and rural units were separately stratified by geographical location in a serpentine order from the northwest corner to the southeast corner within each governorate. During this process, shiakhas or villages with a population less than 2,500 were grouped with contiguous shiakhas or villages (usually within the same kism or markaz) to form units with a population of at least 5,000. After the frame was ordered, a total of 682 primary sampling units (298 shiakhas/towns and 384 villages) were selected.
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 population size (about 5,000). In shiakhas/towns or villages with a population of 20,000 or more, two parts were selected. In the remaining smaller shiakhas/towns or villages, only one part was selected. Overall, a total of 1,019 parts were selected from the shiakhas/towns and villages in the 2005 EDHS sample.
A quick count was then carried out to provide an estimate of the number of households in each part. This information was needed to divide each part into standard segments of about 200 households. A group of 48 experienced field workers participated in the quick count operation. They were organized into 16 teams, each consisting of 1 supervisor, 1 cartographer and 1 counter. A one-week training course conducted prior to the quick count included both classroom sessions and two field practices in a shiakha/town and a village not covered in the survey. The quick-count operation took place between the end of October 2004 and January 2005.
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 was less than 2 percent, then the first count was accepted. No major discrepancies were found between the two counts in most of the areas for which the count was repeated.
After the quick count, a total of 1,359 segments were chosen from the parts in each shiakha/town and village in the 2005 EDHS sample (i.e., two segments were selected from each of the 682 PSUs with the exception of 5 PSUs for which only one segment was selected). A household listing operation was then implemented in each of the selected segments. To conduct this operation, 13 supervisors and 26 listers were organized into 13 teams. Generally, each listing team consisted of a supervisor and two listers. A one-week training course for the listing staff was held in mid-January 2005. The training involved classroom lectures and two days of field practice in three urban and rural locations not covered in the survey. The listing operation took place during a five-week period, beginning immediately after the training.
About 10 percent of the segments were relisted. Two 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. No major discrepancies were found in comparisons of the listings.
The third stage involved selecting the household sample. Using the household listing for each segment, a systematic random sample of households was selected for the 2005 EDHS sample. All ever-married women 15-49 who were usual residents or who were present in the sampled households on the night before the interview were eligible for the EDHS
Note: See detailed description of sample design in APPENDIX B of the report which is presented in this documentation.
Data Collection Notes
Staff Recruitment
To recruit interviewers and field editors, a list was obtained from the then Ministry of Social Affairs (now the Ministry of Social Solidarity (MOSS)) of female personnel who were working to fulfill the one-year period of governmental public service that is mandatory for university graduates. All candidates nominated for the field staff positions were interviewed, and only those who were qualified were accepted into the training program.
All candidates for the interviewer and field editor positions were recent university graduates. Another basic qualification was a willingness to work in any of the governorates covered in the survey. With a few exceptions, interviewers who had previous experience in surveys were not accepted into the training program. This decision was made to reduce any bias that might result from previous survey experience and to ensure that all trainees had a similar background. However, previous survey experience was a basic qualification for the candidates for the positions of supervisor.
All of the staff recruited for the anemia testing were required to have a medical background. Some were assigned by the MOHP, and others were recruited from among newly graduated physicians.
Training Materials
A variety of materials were developed for use in training personnel involved in the fieldwork. A lengthy interviewer’s manual, including general guidelines for conducting an interview as well as specific instructions for asking each of the questions in the EDHS questionnaires, was prepared and given to all field staff. In addition, a chart for converting months from the Islamic calendar to the Gregorian calendar was designed for the 60 months before the 2005 EDHS and distributed to all field staff along with a calendar of well-known worldwide or local events.
Other training materials, including special manuals describing the duties of the team supervisor and the rules for field editing, were prepared. Instructions for anthropometric data collection were included in a manual for the staff trained to collect height and weight data. A special manual covering the procedures to be followed in the anemia testing was also prepared.
Training for Supervisors and Interviewers
A special training program for supervisors was conducted during a one-day period prior to the main fieldwork training. This training focused specifically on the supervisor’s duties, but it also covered the 2005 EDHS questionnaires in order to give supervisors a basic understanding of the content of the survey prior to the main training program.
Training for interviewers for the 2005 EDHS data collection began in mid-March 2005. Fourteen supervisors, 87 interviewers, and 36 anemia-testing and anthropometric-data-collection staff including 13 physicians and 2 nurses participated in the training program. This five-week training program, which was held in Cairo, included the following:
• Lectures related to basic interview techniques and to specific survey topics (e.g., fertility and family planning, maternal and child health, and female circumcision)
• Sessions on how to fill out the questionnaire, using visual aids
• Role playing and mock interviews
• Five days of field practice in areas not covered in the survey
• Four quizzes.
Trainees who failed to show interest in the survey, who did not attend the training program on a regular basis, or who failed the first two quizzes were terminated immediately.
Before the fourth field practice, a list was prepared of the 20 trainees who had performed best during both the classroom and field practices. Following the fourth field practice, 14 of these trainees were chosen to be field editors. A special training session was held for the field editors after their selection. By the end of the training course, 69 of the 87 candidates originally recruited for interviewer training were selected to work as interviewers or field editors in the EDHS fieldwork.
Training for Anthropometric-data-collection and Anemia-testing Staff
Thirty-six personnel were selected for training in anthropometric data collection and anemia testing. The training included both classroom lectures and practice measurement and blood testing in a nursery school, in health facilities, and in households. At the end of the program, the 28 most-qualified trainees (14 males and 14 females) were selected for the anthropometric data collection and anemia testing. As discussed earlier, most of the personnel involved in the anemia testing had a medical background.
Fieldwork
Fieldwork for the 2005 EDHS began on April 21, 2005 and was completed in late June 2005. The field staff was divided into 14 teams; each team had 1 supervisor, 1 field editor, 3 to 4 interviewers, and 2 staff members assigned to height and weight measurement and anemia testing. All supervisors were males, while the field editors and interviewers were females. One male and one female staff member were involved in the anthropometric measurement and the anemia testing. During the fieldwork, the 14 field teams worked in separate governorates; the number of governorates assigned to an individual team varied from one to three, according to the sample size in the governorates. As a quality control measure, field editors regularly conducted reinterviews using a shortened version of the EDHS questionnaire. The results of the reinterview were compared to the responses in the original questionnaire and any mistakes were discussed with the interviewer. The teams also were closely supervised throughout the fieldwork by a fieldwork coordinator, two assistant fieldwork coordinators, and other senior staff.
As soon as the main data collection was completed in the first group of governorates, a random sample of up to 10 percent of the households was selected for reinterview as a quality control measure. Shorter versions of the 2005 EDHS questionnaires were prepared and used for the reinterviews. The visits to PSUs to conduct reinterviews also afforded an opportunity to make callbacks to complete interviews with households or individuals who were not available at the time of the original visit by the 2005 EDHS interviewers. Household or individual questionnaires in which there were significant errors that could not be corrected in the office were also assigned for callbacks. Special teams were organized to handle callbacks and reinterviews. During this phase of the survey, interviewers were not allowed to work in the governorate in which they had worked in the initial fieldwork. Callbacks and reinterviews began in mid-July 2005 and took about two weeks to complete.