Using Household Survey Data

Familiarizes potential users of ADePT Edu software with household surveys since they can vary in design and availability of variables which necessitates software to generate comparable education estimators with this data. Complications with surveys include cost, increased complexity of data processing, and the variation in the conceptualization and definition of educational variables. The Living Standards Measurement Study (LSMS), the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS), and the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) are three main surveys that have attempted to solve methodological issues, address statistical problems, improve documentation, and publicize results. These surveys contain microeconomic-level data crucial for analyzing disparities in access to education but there are limitations: household surveys usually collect data on enrollment, not attendance; definitions of an education level may differ from the country’s definition; and they are not specifically designed to study education. Advantages include number of observations used to derive an indicator with corresponding standard error; poverty quintiles; and indications of missing or contradictory values.