RAND Aging Studies in the Developing World Series

Investigator(s): RAND Corporation

This series was designed by RAND and the surveys were carried out by RAND in collaboration with others in three developing nations: Guatemala, Indonesia, and Malaysia. The surveys were undertaken to investigate topic areas such as the health of women and children, fertility, family structure, economic status, and community life in these nations. The data were collected at the household, individual, and community level. The Guatemalan Survey of Family Health (EGSF: ICPSR 2344) was designed to examine the way in which rural Guatemalan families and individuals cope with childhood illness and pregnancy, and the role of ethnicity, poverty, social support, and health beliefs in this process. It was funded by a grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The survey was conducted in 60 communities within the departments (geopolitical units) of Chimaltenango, Suchitepequez, Totonicapan, and Jalapa in Guatemala. The EGSF is the result of a collaboration among three institutions: the Instituto de Nutricion de Centroamerica y Panama (INCAP), RAND Corporation, and Princeton University. It consists of an individual survey and a community-provider survey. The Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS: ICPSR 6706), a major survey conducted in Indonesia by the RAND Corporation and Lembaga Demografi of the University of Indonesia, was supported with funds from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Ford Foundation, and the World Health Organization (WHO). The IFLS covers a sample of 7,224 households spread across 13 provinces on the islands of Java, Sumatra, Bali, West Nusa Tenggara, Kalimantan, and Sulawesi, encompassing about 83 percent of the Indonesian population and much of its heterogeneity. In addition, extensive community and facility data are also provided. Data were obtained from the village leaders and heads of the village women's groups in 321 enumeration areas and from communities around 20 schools and health facilities. The survey focuses on broad areas of fertility, family planning, infant and child health and survival, education, migration, and employment, as well as the economic and social functioning of the older population. The Malaysian Family Life Survey (MFLS) was conducted in 1976-1977 (MFLS-1: ICPSR 6170) and in 1988-1989 (MFLS-2: ICPSR 9805) by the RAND Corporation in collaboration initially with the Department of Statistics of the Government of Malaysia and subsequently with the National Population and Family Development Board (NPFDB) of Malaysia and the Survey Research Malaysia, Sdn. Bhd. It was funded with grants from the United States National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institute on Aging, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Questions were asked to provide data for estimating the magnitude of key economic and biomedical relationships affecting birth spacing, family size, and breastfeeding patterns of families. The goal was to identify factors amenable to public policy influence that directly or indirectly affect fertility outcomes. A total of 1,262 households in 52 communities that were selected to be representative of Peninsular Malaysia were interviewed in 1976 (MFLS-1). MFLS-2 consists of 926 of those MFLS-1 households (the "Panel" sample) and a subset of adult children from those original households (the "Children" sample), as well as new samples of 2,184 women aged 18-49 (the "New" sample), and 1,357 older Malaysians aged 50 and older (the "Senior" sample), drawn from 398 communities representative of Peninsular Malaysia in 1988. The overall purpose of the data collection was to study household behavior in diverse settings during a period of rapid demographic and socioeconomic change.