Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2006
Lao PDR, 2006
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LAO_2006_MICS_v01_M
Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2006
| Name | Country code |
|---|---|
| Lao PDR | LAO |
Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey - Round 3 [hh/mics-3]
UNICEF assists countries in collecting and analyzing data in order to fill data gaps for monitoring the situation of children and women through its international household survey initiative the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS).
MICS surveys are typically carried out by government organizations, with the support and assistance of UNICEF and other partners. Technical assistance and training for the surveys is provided through a series of regional workshops where experts from developing countries are trained on various aspects of MICS (questionnaire content, sampling and survey implementation, data processing, data quality and data analysis, and report writing and dissemination).
Since the mid-1990s, the MICS has enabled many countries to produce statistically sound and internationally comparable estimates of a range of indicators in the areas of health, education, child protection and HIV/AIDS. MICS findings have been used extensively as a basis for policy decisions and programme interventions, and for the purpose of influencing public opinion on the situation of children and women around the world.
MICS1 (1995) - The MICS was originally developed in response to the World Summit for Children to measure progress towards an internationally agreed set of mid-decade goals. The first round of MICS was conducted around 1995 in more than 60 countries.
MICS2 (2000) - A second round of surveys was conducted in 2000 (around 65 surveys), and resulted in an increasing wealth of data to monitor the situation of children and women. For the first time it was possible to monitor trends in many indicators and set baselines for other indicators.
MICS3 (2005-2006) - The third round of MICS, which was carried out in over 50 countries in 2005-06, has been an important data source for monitoring the Millennium Development Goals with 21 MDG indicators collected through MICS3 (particularly indicators related to health, education and mortality). MICS3 was also a monitoring tool for other international goals including the World Fit for Children, the UNGASS targets on HIV/AIDS and the Abuja targets for malaria.
The Lao PDR Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2006 is the third Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey undertaken by the Department of Statistics (Former NSC) of the Ministry of Planning and Investment in close collaboration with the Hygiene and Prevention Department of Ministry of Health. For the purposes of MICS3 a number of additional nutrition indicators were included, with the aim of strengthening the planning and management of the national nutrition programme. A separate National Nutrition Survey report has been produced to document the findings from the nutrition component of the survey.
The 2006 Lao PDR Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey has as its primary objectives:
• To provide up-to-date information for assessing the situation of children and women in the Lao PDR;
• To furnish data needed for monitoring progress toward goals established in the Millennium Declaration, the goals of A World Fit For Children (WFFC), and other internationally agreed upon goals, as a basis for future action;
• To contribute to the improvement of data and monitoring systems in the Lao PDR and to strengthen technical expertise in the design, implementation, and analysis of such systems.
The 2006 Lao PDR MICS is a nationally representative sample survey which was conducted between March and June 2006. In the 5,894 households successfully interviewed nationally in the survey, 33,100 household members were listed. Of these, 16,467 were males and 16,633 were females. The average household size found in the survey was 5.6.
Sample survey data [ssd]
- Households
- Individuals
Scope
The scope of Lao PDR 2006 MICS includes:
HOUSEHOLD QUESTIONNAIRE
o Extended household listing
o Education
o Water and Sanitation
o Household Characteristics
o Insecticide Treated Nets
o Child Labour
o Child Discipline
o Disability
o Salt Iodisation and Consumption of Fortifiable Centrally-processed Foods
QUESTIONNAIRE FOR WOMEN
o Pregnancy
o Tetanus Toxoid
o Maternal and Newborn Health
o Attitudes Towards Domestic Violence
o Anthropometry assessments on women of reproductive age
o Collection of blood and urine from women of reproductive age
QUESTIONNAIRE FOR CHILDREN UNDER 5
o Birth Registration and Early Learning
o Child Development
o Vitamin A
o Breastfeeding
o Care of Child Illness
o Malaria among Under Five
o Immunization
o Anthropometry
o Collection of blood and stool samples
Coverage
National
The survey covered all de jure household members (usual residents), all women aged between 15-49 years, and all children under 5 living in the household.
Producers and sponsors
| Name | Affiliation |
|---|---|
| Department of Statistics | Ministry of Planning and Investment |
| Hygiene and Prevention Department | Ministry of Health |
| United Nations Children's Fund |
| Name | Affiliation | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Hygiene and Prevention Department | Ministry of Health | |
| United Nations Children's Fund | Technical assistance |
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | Financial and technical support |
| United Nations Children's Fund | Financial and technical support |
Sampling
The primary objective of the sample design for the Lao PDR Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey was to produce statistically reliable estimates of most indicators, at the national level, for urban and rural areas with road access and without road access, and for the three regions (North, Central and South) of the country. Urban and rural areas with road access and rural areas without road access in each of the three regions were defined as the sampling domains.
A multi-stage, stratified cluster sampling approach was used for the selection of the survey sample.
The target sample size for the Lao MICS was calculated as 6,000 households. For the calculation of the sample size, the key indicator used was the TT coverage among women who had given birth in the past 12 months.
The 2005 census frame was used for the selection of clusters. Census enumeration areas were defined as primary sampling units (PSUs), and were selected from each of the sampling domains by using systematic PPS (probability proportional to population size) sampling procedures, based on the estimated population size of the enumeration areas from the 2005 Population Census. The first stage of sampling was thus completed by selecting the required number of enumeration areas from each of the three regions by urban and rural with road access and without road access areas separately.
Although the sample was designed to collect information from 6,000 households, it was known in advance that one village only had 15 households, therefore the total expected number of households was 5,995. Of the selected enumeration areas, all but two were visited during the fieldwork period. The two missing enumeration areas were replaced in the field with villages of similar area type. The sample was stratified by region and is not self-weighting. For reporting national level results, sample weights are used.
Since the sample frame (the 2005 Population Census) was up to date, household lists in all selected enumeration areas were not updated prior to the selection of households.
Lists of households were prepared by the listing teams in the field for each enumeration area. The households were then sequentially numbered from 1 to n (the total number of households in each enumeration area) at the National Statistics Centre, where selection of 20 households in each enumeration area was carried out using systematic selection procedures.
The sampling procedures are more fully described in "Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2006 - Final Report" pp.135-136.
Of the 5,995 households selected for the sample, 5,991 were found to be occupied. Of these, 5,894 were successfully interviewed for a household response rate of 98.4 percent. In the interviewed households, 7,703 women (age 15-49) were identified. Of these, 7,387 were successfully interviewed, yielding a response rate of 95.9 percent. In addition, 4,204 children under five were listed in the household questionnaire. Questionnaires were completed for 4,136 of these children, which corresponds to a response rate of 98.4 percent. Overall response rates of 94.3 and 96.8 are calculated for the women’s and under-5’s interviews respectively. Response rates were similar across all regions and areas.
The Lao PDR Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey sample is not self-weighted. Essentially, by allocating equal numbers of households to each of the regions, different sampling fractions were used in each region since the size of the regions varied. For this reason, sample weights were calculated and these were used in the subsequent analyses of the survey data.
The major component of the weight is the reciprocal of the sampling fraction employed in selecting the number of sample households in that particular sampling domain: Wh = 1 / fh
A second component which has to be taken into account in the calculation of sample weights is the level of non-response for the household and individual interviews. The adjustment for household non-response is equal to the inverse value of: RR = Number of interviewed households / Number of occupied households listed
Numbers of eligible women and under-5 children were obtained from the household listing in the Household Questionnaire in households where interviews were completed.
The unadjusted weights for the households were calculated by multiplying the above factors for each enumeration area. These weights were then standardised (or normalised), one purpose of which is to make the sum of the interviewed sample units equal the total sample size at the national level. Normalisation is performed by multiplying the aforementioned unadjusted weights by the ratio of the number of completed households to the total unadjusted weighted number of households. A similar standardisation procedure was followed in obtaining standardised weights for the women’s and under-5’s questionnaires. Adjusted (normalised) weights varied between 0.521272 and 1.877112 in the 300 enumeration areas (clusters).
Sample weights were appended to all data sets and analyses were performed by weighting each household, woman or under-5 with these sample weights.
Survey instrument
Three sets of questionnaires were used in the survey: 1) a household questionnaire which was used to collect information on all de jure household members, the household, and the dwelling; 2) a women’s questionnaire administered in each household to all women aged 15-49 years; and 3) an under-5 questionnaire, administered to mothers or caretakers of all children under five living in the household. The questionnaires included the following modules:
The Household Questionnaire included the following modules:
o Extended household listing
o Education
o Water and Sanitation
o Household Characteristics
o Insecticide Treated Nets
o Child Labour
o Child Discipline
o Disability
o Salt Iodisation and Consumption of Fortifiable Centrally-processed Foods
The Questionnaire for Individual Women was administered to all women aged 15-49 years living in the households, and included the following modules:
o Pregnancy
o Tetanus Toxoid
o Maternal and Newborn Health
o Attitudes Towards Domestic Violence
o Anthropometry assessments on women of reproductive age
o Collection of blood and urine from women of reproductive age
The Questionnaire for Children Under Five was administered to mothers or caretakers of children under five years of age living in the households. Normally, the questionnaire was administered to mothers of under-5 children; in cases when the mother was not listed in the household roster or was not home, a primary caretaker for the child was identified and interviewed. The questionnaire included the following modules:
o Birth Registration and Early Learning
o Child Development
o Vitamin A
o Breastfeeding
o Care of Child Illness
o Malaria among Under Five
o Immunization
o Anthropometry
o Collection of blood and stool samples (In the subset of nutrition clusters only - results of biochemical analyses of these samples can be found in the nutrition report)
The questionnaires are based on the MICS3 model questionnaire. From the MICS3 model English version, the questionnaires were translated into Lao and were pre-tested in four villages of Vientiane Capital during January 2006. Based on the results of the pre-test, modifications were made to the wording and translation of the questionnaires.
Data collection
| Start | End |
|---|---|
| 2006-03 | 2006-06 |
| Name | Affiliation |
|---|---|
| Department of Statistics | Ministry of Planning and Investment |
There is one supervisor for each of the 9 data collection teams in the field.
Training for the fieldwork was conducted over 14 days in February 2006. Training included lectures on interviewing techniques and the contents of the questionnaires. In addition, a group of laboratory technicians were trained in collection of biochemical samples for the nutrition component of the survey and were also trained and standardised in anthropometry measurement techniques. Towards the end of the training period, all trainees spent three days in practice interviewing, anthropometry and sample collection in nine villages (one village per team). The pilot villages were all in rural areas with road access.
The data were collected by nine teams; each comprised four interviewers, one driver, one laboratory technician (who was responsible for anthropometry and also collection of additional samples for the additional nutrition component of the survey), one editor/measurer and a supervisor. Fieldwork began in March 2006 and concluded in June 2006.
Data processing
Data were entered using the CSPro software. The data were entered on 14 microcomputers and carried out by 14 data entry operators and four data entry supervisors. In order to ensure quality control, all questionnaires were double entered and internal consistency checks were performed. However due to unfamiliarity in using the CSPro software, the final consistency checks and the correction in data files were performed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software instead. Procedures and standard programmes developed under the global MICS3 project and adapted to the Lao PDR questionnaire were used throughout, except for the final step in consistency checks. Data processing began in May 2006 and was completed in August 2006.
Data appraisal
The sample of respondents selected in the Lao PDR Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey is only one of the samples that could have been selected from the same population, using the same design and size. Each of these samples would yield results that differ somewhat from the results of the actual sample selected. Sampling errors are a measure of the variability between all possible samples. The extent of variability is not known exactly, but can be estimated statistically from the survey results.
The following sampling error measures are presented in this appendix for each of the selected indicators:
• Standard error (se): Sampling errors are usually measured in terms of standard errors for particular indicators (means, proportions etc). Standard error is the square root of the variance. The Taylor linearisation method is used for the estimation of standard errors.
• Coefficient of variation (se/r) is the ratio of the standard error to the value of the indicator
• Design effect (deff) is the ratio of the actual variance of an indicator, under the sampling method used in the survey, to the variance calculated under the assumption of simple random sampling. The square root of the design effect (deft) is used to show the efficiency of the sample design. A deft value of 1.0 indicates that the sample design is as efficient as a simple random sample, while a deft value above 1.0 indicates the increase in the standard error due to the use of a more complex sample design.
• Confidence limits are calculated to show the interval within which the true value for the population can be reasonably assumed to fall. For any given statistic calculated from the survey, the value of that statistics will fall within a range of plus or minus two times the standard error (p + 2.se or p – 2.se) of the statistic in 95 percent of all possible samples of identical size and design.
For the calculation of sampling errors from MICS data, SPSS Version 14 Complex Samples module has been used. The results are shown in the tables that follow. In addition to the sampling error measures described above, the tables also include weighted and unweighted counts of denominators for each indicator.
Sampling errors are calculated for indicators of primary interest, for the national total, for the regions, and for urban, rural with road access and rural without road access areas. Two of the selected indicators are based on households, seven are based on household members, three are based on women, and 15 are based on children under five. All indicators presented here are in the form of proportions.
A series of data quality tables are available to review the quality of the data and include the following:
- Age distribution of the household population
- Age distribution of eligible and interviewed women
- Age distribution of eligible and interviewed under-5s
- Age distribution of under-5 children
- Heaping on ages and periods
- Completeness of reporting
- Presence of mother in the household and the person interviewed for the under-5 questionnaire
- School attendance by single age
- Sex ratio at birth among children ever born and living
- Distribution of women by time since last birth
The results of each of these data quality tables are shown in appendix D in document "Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2006 - Final Report" pp.152-158.
Access policy
UNICEF
UNICEF
http://mics.unicef.org/surveys
Cost: None
Data Access
| Name | URL |
|---|---|
| United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) | http://www.childinfo.org/mics3_surveys.html |
| Is signing of a confidentiality declaration required? | Confidentiality declaration text |
|---|---|
| yes | Users of the data agree to keep confidential all data contained in these datasets and to make no attempt to identify, trace or contact any individual whose data is included in these datasets. |
Survey datasets are distributed at no cost for legitimate research.
Interested users are requested to provide an e-mail address, their name, affiliation and type of institution and country of residence. A short description of the objectives of the research project must also be provided
Users who download the data agree to provide UNICEF with copies of all reports and publications based on the requested data.
The data may not be redistributed or sold to other individuals, institutions, or organizations without the written agreement of UNICEF.
No attempt will be made to re-identify respondents, and no use will be made of the identity of any person discovered inadvertently. Any such discovery would immediately be reported to UNICEF.
Email: mics@unicef.org mailto:mics@unicef.org
Global MICS Coordinator
Statistics and Monitoring
Division of Policy and Practice
UNICEF
Three United Nations Plaza
New York, NY 10017
USA
Requests for access to the datasets should be made through the website: http://www.childinfo.org.
Use of the dataset must be acknowledged using a citation which would include:
- the Identification of the Primary Investigator
- the title of the survey (including country, acronym and year of implementation)
- the survey reference number
- the source and date of download of the data files (for datasets obtained on-line)
United Nations Children’s Fund, Department of Statistics, Ministry of Planning and Investment, and Hygiene and Prevention Department, Ministry of Health. Lao PDR Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2006, Ref. LAO_2006_MICS_v01_M. Dataset downloaded from [url] on [date].
Disclaimer and copyrights
The user of the data acknowledges that the original collector of the data, the authorized distributor of the data, and the relevant funding agency bear no responsibility for use of the data or for interpretations or inferences based upon such uses.
Contacts
| Name | Affiliation | |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Statistics | Ministry of Planning and Investment | nscp@etllao.com |
| Data Service | Department of Statistics | nscit@etllao.com |
| UNICEF | vientiane@unicef.org |
Metadata production
DDI_LAO_2006_MICS_v01_M_WB
| Name | Affiliation | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Development Data Group | World Bank | Documentation of the DDI |
2011-06
Metadata version
Version 01 (June 2011)