Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2000

Sample design

A stratified two-stage sample design was adopted in all the states and union territories. The states were divided into rural and urban strata. In each stratum, sampling was done independently. At the stratum level, the design was self-weighting. At the state/national level, it was partially self-weighting.

The sample selection was done in two stages. In the first stage, villages/enumeration blocks were selected; in the second stage, households were selected from each of the sampled village/enumeration block systematically, after listing all the households and selecting the first household randomly.

Sample size and selection

For the 21 states with a population of five million and above in 1991, a sample consisting of 3,000 rural and 1,800 urban households per state was sought, except for Delhi, where 1,800 rural and 3,000 urban households were included to reflect its greater urban composition. For the remaining five states and three UTs, an aggregate (combined rural-urban) of 3,000 households was included. In Lakshadweep, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, and Daman & Diu, due to their much smaller population size, 1800 households were included. It was decided that in each Primary Sampling Unit (PSU), about 40 households would be selected.

In rural areas, 75 villages (PSUs) were selected systematically using probability proportional to size (PPS). The number of households as per the 1991 Census, inflated by a factor was the measure of size. The inflation factor was the ratio of the projected rural population as of March 2000 to the rural population as of 1991 Census. All villages with the estimated number of households less than 50 were clubbed with the adjoining village as per the location code. For the selected village, the boundary maps were obtained from the local Census Office or the revenue department or the local panchayats. In a few cases, the local auxiliary nurse midwives had the boundary maps. The selected village was listed and a sample of approximately 40 households was selected systematically, using a random start and sampling interval. In case of bigger villages, with more than 225 households, segmentation was resorted to. The bigger villages were divided into two or more segments, and one segment selected based on PPS. In case of merged villages, the house listing/segmentation was done in the merged unit.

In urban areas, in each state, 45 first stage units were selected out of all the blocks, using National Sample Survey Organisation's (NSSO's) Urban Frame (UF). A list of all the UF blocks was made available by the NSSO. Since the urban blocks were more or less of the same size, a simple random sample of blocks was selected. The maps of the selected blocks were obtained from the NSSO office. In the selected blocks, about 40 households were selected systematically from the household list.

The household listing operation involved the preparation of a notional map and a list of households. The sampling interval was selected so as to make the sample self weighting.