Survey ID Number
EGY_2008_DHS_v01_M
Title
Demographic and Health Survey 2008
Sampling Procedure
The primary objective of the sample design for the 2008 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 ( Urban Governorates, urban Lower Egypt, rural Lower Egypt, urban Upper Egypt, rural Upper Egypt, and the Frontier Governorates). In the Urban Governorates, Lower Egypt, and Upper Egypt, the 2008 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 2008 EDHS sample from each governorate was not proportional to the size of the population in the governorate. As a result, the 2008 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.
The sample for the 2008 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 2006 census was 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 the 2006 Census. The updating process included both office work and field visits for a period of around 2 months. 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 marquez) to form units with a population of at least 5,000. After the frame was ordered, a total of 610 primary sampling units (275 shiakhas/towns and 335 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 100,000 or more, three parts were selected, two parts were selected from PSU's with population 20,000 or more (and less than 100,000). In the remaining smaller shiakhas/towns or villages, only one part was selected. Overall, a total of 998 parts were selected from the shiakhas/towns and villages in the 2008 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 15 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 2007 and end of December 2007.
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 1,267 segments were chosen from the parts in each shiakha/ town and village in the 2008 EDHS sample (i.e., two segments were selected from 561 PSUs and three segments from 48 PSUs and one segment from one PSU). A household listing operation was then implemented in each of the selected segments. To conduct this operation, 14 supervisors and 28 listers were organized into 14 teams. Generally, each listing team consisted of a supervisor and two listers. A one-week training course for the listing staff was held at the beginning of January 2008. 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 six-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. Overall, the discrepancies found in comparisons of the listings were not major.
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 2008 EDHS sample. All evermarried women 15-49 who were present in the sampled households on the night before the survey team visited were eligible for the main DHS interview. In addition, in a subsample of one-quarter of the households in each segment, all women and men age 15-59 who were present in the household on the night before the interview were eligible for the health issues interviews and the hepatitis C testing.
Note: See detailed description of the sample design in Appendix B of the survey report.
Data Collection Notes
Data Collection Activities
Staff recruitment: To recruit interviewers and field editors, a list was obtained from 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 by MOSS 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. The Hepatitis C testing teams were composed of physicians, laboratory technician, and nurses. Some candidates for the hepatitis C testing teams were assigned by the MOH, and others were recruited from among newly graduated physicians and private laboratories.
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 2008 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. Special manuals covering the procedures to be followed in the hepatitis C blood testing and the blood pressure measurement were 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 2008 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 2008 EDHS data collection began on the 9th of February 2008. Fourteen supervisors, 87 interviewers, and 52 Health Personnel for Hepatitis C-testing and the staff responsible for the anthropometric data collection staff (14 doctors, 28 technicians, and 10 nurses ) participated in the training program.
The 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
• Training on blood pressure measurement
• 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 had been selected to work as interviewers or field editors in the EDHS fieldwork.
Training for staff responsible for the anthropometric measurements and hepatitis C testing: All health personnel (total 52) attended the training for anthropometric data collection and hepatitis C testing. The training was held in parallel to the main training for around four weeks. The supervisors attended most of the morning sessions to be aware of all procedures of Hepatitis C testing. The training included both classroom lectures and practice measurement and venues blood drawn procedure, and practice in households. At the end of the program, the 42 most-qualified trainees (27 males and 15 females) were selected for the anthropometric data collection and Hepatitis C testing.
Fieldwork
Fieldwork for the 2008 EDHS began on March 15th , 2008 and was completed in late May 2008. The field staff was divided into 14 teams; each team had 1 supervisor, 1 field editor, 4 interviewers (one male), and 3 health staff members assigned to height and weight measurement and Hepatitis C testing (one at least has to be female). During the fieldwork, the 14 field teams worked in separate governorates; the number of governorates assigned to an individual team varied from two to three, according to the sample size in the governorates. The teams were closely supervised throughout the fieldwork by a fieldwork coordinator, two assistant fieldwork coordinators, and other senior staff. Due to the fact that the blood samples had to be drawn and transferred to the central lab in Cairo, thirteen teams were assigned to work first in Upper Egypt governorates in order to complete the data collection before the weather became excessively hot.
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 2008 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 2008 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 late May 2008 and took about one months to complete.