RAND Aging Studies in the Developing World Series

collection: series

Investigator(s): RAND Corporation

Studies

3

Variables

14,810

Publications

437

About this Collection

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.

Studies

3 results

Indonesian Family Life Survey, 1993

This release of the 1993 Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS-1-PR) is a revised and restructured version of the Wave 1 data. This data collection provides a broad range of economic, demographic, and health information at both the household and community levels across 13 provinces on the islands of Java, Sumatra, Bali, West Nusa Tenggara, Kalimantan, and Sulawesi. A sample of 7,224 households was interviewed during August 1993 through January 1994. Household-level data cover topics such as household characteristics, income, education of both adults and children, marriage histories, inter-household transfers, pregnancy history, and knowledge and use of contraceptives. At the community-facility level, information was gathered from village leaders and heads of village women's groups in each of the 321 enumeration areas (EAs) where the households were located. Questions were asked regarding community characteristics (transportation, water and sanitation, history of schools, and availability of health facilities), nurses, midwives, and paramedics (facility management and family planning history, vignettes on types of care), and traditional health practitioners (buying or making herbal medicines or using services of traditional practitioners, rituals, and incantations). When the household data are combined with the community-facility data, the 1993 Indonesian Family Life Survey provides a unique look at areas of fertility, family planning, infant and child health, education, migration, employment, and the social, economic, and health status of over 7,000 households in a diverse setting during a period of rapid demographic and socioeconomic change.

As of June 2015, there are four waves of data for the IFLS. However, a fifth wave of data collection has begun. Please see the IFLS Web site for more information on how to obtain these data.

Second Malaysian Family Life Survey: 1988 Interviews

This collection, the second wave of a panel survey, provides household-level retrospective and current data for Peninsular Malaysian women and their husbands and covers traditional topics of demographic research such as fertility, nuptiality, migration, and mortality as well as social and economic factors affecting family decision-making. The overall purpose of the data collection was to study household behavior in diverse settings during a period of rapid demographic and socioeconomic change. Eight survey instruments were used in this study. The tracking instrument, MFLS-2, was used for all households where an interview was attempted, and recorded information such as disposition of survey and questionnaires, number of eligibles, and respondent identifiers. The MF20 instrument, Household Members, was administered to all Panel sample households that were located. It solicited information on the status of the household members and included items such as location, marital status, education, and birthdate. The MF21 form, Household Roster, was used on all households interviewed in the survey. This form collected demographic information on current and very recent household members. The MF22 form, Female Life History, surveyed the Panel women and their selected daughters and daughters-in-law, and the New Sample women. Information collected by this form included pregnancy history and related events, marital, work, and migration histories, family background, and education. The MF23 form, Male Life History, collected data from husbands of the Panel women, selected sons and sons-in-law, and husbands of New Sample women. Data on marital, work, and migration histories, education, and family background were recorded. The MF24 form, Senior Life History, was administered to selected persons aged 50 or more and contained questions on marriages, children living elsewhere, literacy, work experience, migration history, health, and family background. The MF25 form, Household Economy, collected data on household economy from all households interviewed in this wave. Forms MF26 and MF27 were used to generate community-level data subfiles for this collection. Part 97 (MF26DIST--District-Level Data) contains one record for each of the 78 districts of Peninsular Malaysia. This file provides information (most of which pertains to 1988, but some of which dates back to 1970) on health services (e.g., number of hospitals, health centers, and doctors), family planning services (e.g., number of family planning clinics, contraceptive use), birth, death, and fertility rates, number of primary and secondary schools, ethnic distributions, and industrial and occupational distributions. Part 98 (MF26EB--Community-Level Data) contains one record for each of the 398 Enumeration Blocks selected for MFLS-2 and the 52 Primary Sampling Units used in MFLS-1. This file gives the current status of family planning services, general health services, schools, water and sanitation, housing costs, agriculture, transportation, population, urban/rural status, and government programs. Part 99 (MF27COMM--Community-Level Data) offers data for the same units as Part 98 and contains similar information, along with retrospective data on family planning services, health services, schools, and water treatment. Merged files (Parts 106-112) that contain one record per respondent were created by ICPSR using the variables CASE SPLIT PERSON for MF22, MF23, MF24, and MF25 on the New and Senior samples and the Panel and Children samples.

First Malaysian Family Life Survey, 1976-1977

The First Malaysian Family Life Survey, 1976-1977 (MFLS-1), was conducted in Peninsular Malaysia as a retrospective life history survey of 1,262 households containing an ever-married woman aged 50 or younger. Full life histories were collected through personal interviews with these women and their husbands regarding fertility-related events, marriage, employment, migration, income and wealth, attitudes and expectations with respect to family size and composition, community characteristics, time allocation, and transfers of goods, help, and money between the respondents and others. The survey collected data in three separate rounds held at four-month intervals. The majority of the survey was administered in Round 1, while the second and third rounds collected data on new questions not asked in Round 1 and also updated some of the Round 1 data, most notably the work and pregnancy histories. In October 1981, the individual-level dataset (Part 142) was created, consisting of one fixed-length record per individual per household. Variables included at both the individual and household levels provide information on demographics, time allocation, and income and wealth. Due to processing constraints, most of the retrospective data have been omitted from the individual-level dataset.