1970 Population and Housing Census - IPUMS Subset
Malaysia, 1970
Get MicrodataIdentification
MYS_1970_PHC_v01_M_v7.6_A_IPUMS
1970 Population and Housing Census - IPUMS Subset
PHC my1970a (IPUMS Harmonized Subset)
| Name | Country code |
|---|---|
| Malaysia | MYS |
Population and Housing Census [hh/popcen] IPUMS International
DOI:10.18128/D020.V7.6
Population and Housing Census [hh/popcen]
Persons, households, and dwellings
UNITS IDENTIFIED:
- Dwellings: yes
- Vacant Units: No
- Households: yes
- Individuals: yes
- Group quarters: yes
UNIT DESCRIPTIONS:
- Dwellings: Living quarters have been defined for census purposes as places of abode, which are structurally separate and independent. The terms separate and independent mean the following: Separate: A structure is considered separate if it is surrounded by walls, fence, etc., and is covered by roof. Independent: A structure is said to be independent if it has direct access via a public staircase, communal passageway or landing (that is, occupants can come in or go out of their living quarters without passing through someone else’s premises). In general, living quarters can be classified into two categories, that is: (i) Built or converted for living (e.g. house, flat, apartment, shophouse, makeshift hut, hotel, hostels, etc.) (ii) Not meant for living but used for this purpose on Census Day (e.g. in a building such as office, shop, barn, community hall, etc.). Living quarters built or converted for living can be further classified into housing units and collective living quarters. Housing units are classified into six main types, namely: House; Flat/apartment/condominium; Shop house, office; Room (with direct access to the outside); improvised/temporary hut; and others. House can be further classified into Detached house; and Semi-detached house.
- Households: A household consists of a group of persons who live together and make common provision for food and other essentials of living. The group pay for main meals out of a commond budget and have common arrangements for basic needs. A household may either be a one person household or a multi-person household. The persons may be related by blood or marriage, or unrelated, or a combination of both.
- Group quarters: Living quarters which is built or converted for living (e.g. house, flat, apartment, shophouse, makeshift hut, hotel, hostels, etc.).
Version
Version 7.6. The datasets contain selected variables from the original microdata plus harmonized variables from the IPUMS-International database.
2025-05-09
Scope
Additional notes on a sample that is part of this study: Malaysia 1970
Note: Excludes 2 states: Sabah and Sarawak
| Topic | Vocabulary |
|---|---|
| Demographic Variables -- PERSON | IPUMS |
| Appliances, Mechanicals, Other Amenities Variables -- HOUSEHOLD | IPUMS |
| Geography: Global Variables -- HOUSEHOLD | IPUMS |
| Nativity and Birthplace Variables -- PERSON | IPUMS |
| Fertility and Mortality Variables -- PERSON | IPUMS |
| Work Variables -- PERSON | IPUMS |
| Technical Household Variables -- HOUSEHOLD | IPUMS |
| Education Variables -- PERSON | IPUMS |
| Constructed Family Interrelationship Variables -- PERSON | IPUMS |
| Ethnicity and Language Variables -- PERSON | IPUMS |
| Utilities Variables -- HOUSEHOLD | IPUMS |
| Geography: F-N Variables -- HOUSEHOLD | IPUMS |
| Group Quarters Variables -- HOUSEHOLD | IPUMS |
| Constructed Household Variables -- HOUSEHOLD | IPUMS |
| Migration: F-N Variables -- PERSON | IPUMS |
| Migration: Global Variables -- PERSON | IPUMS |
| Household Economic Variables -- HOUSEHOLD | IPUMS |
| Technical Person Variables -- PERSON | IPUMS |
| Technical Household Variables -- HOUSEHOLD | IPUMS |
| Geography: F-N Variables -- HOUSEHOLD | IPUMS |
| Household Economic Variables -- HOUSEHOLD | IPUMS |
| Other Household Variables -- HOUSEHOLD | IPUMS |
| Utilities Variables -- HOUSEHOLD | IPUMS |
| Appliances, Mechanicals, Other Amenities Variables -- HOUSEHOLD | IPUMS |
| Group Quarters Variables -- HOUSEHOLD | IPUMS |
| Technical Person Variables -- PERSON | IPUMS |
| Demographic Variables -- PERSON | IPUMS |
| Ethnicity and Language Variables -- PERSON | IPUMS |
| Work Variables -- PERSON | IPUMS |
| Work: Industry Variables -- PERSON | IPUMS |
| Education Variables -- PERSON | IPUMS |
| Nativity and Birthplace Variables -- PERSON | IPUMS |
| Other Person Variables -- PERSON | IPUMS |
| Migration: Global Variables -- PERSON | IPUMS |
| Work: Occupation Variables -- PERSON | IPUMS |
| Fertility and Mortality Variables -- PERSON | IPUMS |
Coverage
Districts with 20,000+ population
The 1970 Population Census was de facto count of all persons in the country on the midnight of August 24/25, 1970. However, the manner in which certain categories of persons were enumerated varied. Nomads - In Malaysia, nomads are to be found amongst the Orang Asli. (Aborigines). The Department of Orang Asli assisted in enumerating the Orang Asli. Persons living in remote areas (a) The problem of persons living in remote and inaccessible areas was a particular problem in Sabah and Sarawak. In these areas, the two-stage system of enumeration was not employed, and the count was undertaken as a single operation. Resident merchant, seamen and fishermen at sea on Census Night – In the Census these persons were designated as persons afloat. They were categorised into the following groups and with the exception of the last group (e), they were included in the Census Count: (a) Crew and passengers on coastal ships sailing in Malaysian waters or at Malaysian ports or sailing between two Malaysian ports, (b) Crew and passengers on vessels registered in Malaysia and engaged in regional trade, (c) Persons living on boats and vessels moored in harbours, rivers or creeks, (d) Fishermen at sea on Census Night, and (e) Crew and passengers on foreign registered ships in port or in Malaysian waters. Civilian residents who cross a frontier daily to work in another country – This category of persons was included in the Census in conformity with the principle of counting all persons present in the country on the night of August 24/25, 1970. Civilian aliens who were temporarily in the country as seasonal workers were included in the Census count. So were all other Civilian aliens, other than those already listed, working in the country. Also, civilian aliens, other than those already listed, temporarily in the country were included in the count. Foreign military, naval and diplomatic personnel and their families located in the country – All persons in this category were included in the Census count with the exception of persons claiming diplomatic immunity. Wayfarers, homeless people and persons in hotels were included in the Census count – Special arrangements were made with the police and railway authorities to enumerate these persons. Recourse was made to road blocks to count travellers. Military, naval and diplomatic personnel and their families located outside Malaysia were excluded from the Census count. Given the de facto approach, which requires only a count of persons present within Malaysia, these categories of persons were excluded from the count. Similarly, civilians who were temporarily away from the country on the night of the Census, were excluded. Civilian residents, other than those already listed, working in another country were also excluded from the count. So were civilian residents, other than those already listed, temporarily absent from the country. Civilian aliens who cross a frontier daily to work in Malaysia were omitted from the count.
Producers and sponsors
| Name | Affiliation |
|---|---|
| Department of Statistics Malaysia | |
| IPUMS | University of Minnesota |
Sampling
MICRODATA SOURCE: Department of Statistics Malaysia
SAMPLE SIZE (person records): 175997.
SAMPLE DESIGN: With 2 per cent as the sampling fraction, or a sample interval of 50, the sample was selected using the living quarters serial number starting from 1, 51, 101, 151, 201 ……. N. **Note: The states of Borneo (Sabah and Sarawak) are excluded from the sample.
Self-weighting. Expansion factor = 50.
Survey instrument
Five separate forms constitute the total questionnaire. There was a House Listing Book, a Living Quarters Form, an Agricultural Census Form, a Household Census Form and a Persons Form. For ease of reference those were designated as Forms 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 respectively.
Data collection
| Start | End |
|---|---|
| 1970-07-27 | 1970-09-07 |
| Start date | End date |
|---|---|
| 1970-08-25 | 1970-08-25 |
- Face-to-face [f2f]
de facto, CENSUS DAY: 1970-08-25 00:00:00
Data Access
| Name |
|---|
| Department of Statistics Malaysia |
| Is signing of a confidentiality declaration required? | Confidentiality declaration text |
|---|---|
| yes |
IPUMS International distributes integrated microdata of individuals and households only by agreement of collaborating national statistical offices and under the strictest of confidence. Before data may be distributed to an individual researcher, an electronic license agreement must be signed and approved. To gain access to the data, a researcher must agree to the following: (1) Implement security measures to prevent unauthorized access to census microdata. Under IPUMS International agreements with collaborating agencies, redistribution of the data to third parties is prohibited. (2) Use the microdata for the exclusive purposes of scholarly research and education. Researchers must explicitly agree to not use microdata acquired for any commercial or income-generating venture. (3) Maintain the confidentiality of persons, households, and other entities. Any attempt to ascertain the identity of persons or households from the microdata is prohibited. Alleging that a person or household has been identified is also prohibited. (4) Report all publications based on these data to IPUMS International, which will in turn pass the information on to the relevant national statistical agencies. Once a project is approved, a password is issued and data may be acquired through the Internet. Penalties for violating the license include: revocation of the license, recall of all microdata acquired, filing of a motion of censure to the appropriate professional organizations, and civil prosecution under the relevant national or international statutes. These safeguards mirror the principles from the Joint ECE/Eurostat Work Session on Statistical Data Confidentiality. Employees of the Minnesota Population Center who work with the census microdata to produce the harmonized database also sign agreements to respect the confidentiality of the data. IPUMS International works with each country's statistical office to minimize the risk of disclosure of respondent information. The details of the confidentiality protections vary across countries, but in all cases, names and detailed geographic information are suppressed and top-codes are imposed on variables such as income that might identify specific persons. In addition, IPUMS International uses a variety of technical procedures to enhance confidentiality protection. These include the following: (1) Swapping an undisclosed fraction of records from one administrative district to another to make positive identification of individuals impossible. (2) Randomizing the placement of households within districts to disguise the order in which individuals were enumerated or the data processed. (3) Aggregating codes of sensitive characteristics (e.g., grouping together very small ethnic categories) (4) Top- and bottom-coding continuous variables to prevent identification of extreme cases. The safety record for public-use census microdata is apparently perfect. In almost four decades of use, there has not been a single verified breach of statistical confidentiality. The measures implemented by the IPUMS International are designed to extend this record. |
An adapted version of the dataset, harmonized for international comparability, is available from IPUMS International (https://international.ipums.org/international/) under the following conditions:
IPUMS International distributes integrated microdata of individuals and households only by agreement of collaborating national statistical offices and under the strictest of confidence. Before data may be distributed to an individual researcher, an electronic license agreement must be signed and approved. To gain access to the data, a researcher must agree to the following:
(1) Implement security measures to prevent unauthorized access to census microdata. Under IPUMS International agreements with collaborating agencies, redistribution of the data to third parties is prohibited.
(2) Use the microdata for the exclusive purposes of scholarly research and education. Researchers must explicitly agree to not use microdata acquired for any commercial or income-generating venture.
(3) Maintain the confidentiality of persons, households, and other entities. Any attempt to ascertain the identity of persons or households from the microdata is prohibited. Alleging that a person or household has been identified is also prohibited.
(4) Report all publications based on these data to IPUMS International, which will in turn pass the information on to the relevant national statistical agencies.
Once a project is approved, a password is issued and data may be acquired through the Internet. Penalties for violating the license include: revocation of the license, recall of all microdata acquired, filing of a motion of censure to the appropriate professional organizations, and civil prosecution under the relevant national or international statutes.
These safeguards mirror the principles from the Joint ECE/Eurostat Work Session on Statistical Data Confidentiality. Employees of the Minnesota Population Center who work with the census microdata to produce the harmonized database also sign agreements to respect the confidentiality of the data.
Steven Ruggles, Lara Cleveland, Rodrigo Lovaton, Sula Sarkar, Matthew Sobek, Derek Burk, Dan Ehrlich, Quinn Heimann, Jane Lee, and Nate Merrill. Integrated Public Use Microdata Series, International: Version 7.6 [dataset]. Minneapolis, MN: IPUMS, 2025. https://doi.org/10.18128/D020.V7.6
Researchers should also acknowledge the statistical agency that originally produced the data: Malaysia, Department of Statistics Malaysia. 1970 Population and Housing Census
The licensing agreement for use of IPUMS International data requires that users supply IPUMS International with the title and full citation for any publications, research reports, or educational materials making use of the data or documentation.
Copies of such materials are also gratefully received at ipums@umn.edu.
Printed matter should be sent to:
IPUMS International
Minnesota Population Center
University of Minnesota
50 Willey Hall
225 19th Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55455
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.
(c) Copyright 1970, Department of Statistics Malaysia and Minnesota Population Center
Contacts
| Name |
|---|
| Department of Statistics Malaysia |
Metadata production
DDI_MYS_1970_PHC_v01_M_v7.6_A_IPUMS
| Name | Abbreviation | Affiliation | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| IPUMS | IPUMS | University of Minnesota | Integration Harmonization Documentation |
April 1, 2025
Metadata version
Version 7.6 October 2025 : NEW FEATURES.
--NO "new features" listed in Revision History
NEW SAMPLES.
--Six new census samples for Honduras (2013), Kenya (2019), Malawi (2018), Mongolia (2010, 2020), and Mozambique (2017) were added to the data series. All census samples extend pre-existing series for those countries.
--91 quarterly labor force surveys from the Philippines (1997 - 2019) were added to IPUMS.
SUPPLEMENTAL DATA.
--No "supplemental data" listed in revision history
NEW VARIABLES.
--New spatially harmonized birthplace and previous-residence variables are available for samples in this data release. More information is available here (https://international.ipums.org/international/geo_mig.shtml).
--Users should note that many older migration and birthplace variables are available by different names. Refer to this table for a crosswalk of old and corresponding new migration variables. For birthplace variables refer to this table (https://international.ipums.org/international/resources/misc_docs/migCrosswalk_names.pdf).
EDITED SAMPLES.
--For the Zambia 2000 sample, an error in the household breaks was corrected, resulting in the creation of 1,988 new households (1% increase) that were previously combined with other households. The person records included in the sample did not change. Due to an inconsistency in the original file, no household-level information other than geographic location is available for these newly identified households, necessitating the addition of "unknown" values for this sample to the following variables: BEDROOMS, ELECTRIC, FLOOR, FUELCOOK, FUELHEAT, OWNERSHIP, PHONE, RADIO, REFRIG, ROOMS, SEWAGE, TRASH, WATSRC, TV, TOILET, GQ, ROOF, WATSUP, BIKE, MOTORCYCLE, KITCHEN, GQTYPE, AUTOS, and WALL.
EDITED VARIABLES.
--For the 1998 and 2008 Malawi samples, the family interrelationship pointer variables MOMLOC and POPLOC were modified to allow a "Spouse/partner" of the household head to be linked as a parent to an "Other relative", because the enumeration instructions specify that adopted and stepchildren were categorized as "Other relative". These samples are now consistent with the links made in the newly released 2018 Malawi sample, which had the same enumeration instructions for adopted and stepchildren.
--In the samples for Côte d'Ivoire 1988 and 1998, Rwanda 1991 and 2002, Togo 1960 and 2010, and South Africa 2001, for the harmonized variable POLYGAM, persons in consensual unions were previously coded as "No, in monogamous union". Because there was no response option in these samples for polygamous consensual unions, it is more appropriate to treat these cases as not-in-universe, so they have been recoded to "NIU (not in universe)".
--MARST has been edited for Honduras 1974 to reclassify the source variable responses "married, wife lives separately" and "consensual union, companion lives separately" as separations. The documentation suggests that "separately" actually indicates a relationship separation and not an absent spouse or companion. Other minor edits were implemented for MARST for Mozambique 1997 and 2007.
--In the Mozambique 1997 sample, an error was corrected that recoded persons with a relationship of "Unknown" in the source data to "Other relative or non-relative" (6000) in the harmonized variable RELATE. These persons are now coded as "Not Stated/Unknown" (9999).
--In the Malawi 1987, 1998, and 2008 samples, for variable WATSUP, a programming error was corrected such that any households who reported having piped water in either the wet or the dry season are classified as having access to piped water. This programming was also applied to the newly released 2018 sample.
--The NATIVITY variable has been edited in the Chile 2017 sample to correct a programming error that mistakenly classified as foreign-born about 20 thousand person records that were actually native-born.
--The MIGRATE5 variable has been edited in the Chile 2017 sample, given a programming error that classified most migrants as having changed their major geographic unit. The MIGRATE5 variable for the Chile 1982 and 1992 samples has been edited to use spatially harmonized geographic units to calculate migration status.
--In the 1989, 1999, and 2009 Kenya samples, households who indicated that their lighting type or fuel was "Solar" were recoded from "No" to "Yes" in ELECTRIC, based on secondary sources documenting the spread of home solar energy systems in Kenya beginning in the mid-1980s. In the 1989 and 1999 Kenya samples, programming was removed that previously recoded households that reported using electricity as their main cooking fuel to "Yes" in the access to electricity variable ELECTRIC, making it more consistent across samples. Other minor edits were implemented for ELECTRIC in Botswana 2011, Ethiopia 1984 and 1994, Mongolia 1989, Mozambique 2007.
--Some samples in DISCARE classified responses indicating "some" difficulty into "yes". These cases were revised to consistently include in "yes" only responses indicating "a lot of difficulty" or "cannot do at all".
--Some codes were improperly labeled for municipalities in Honduras 1961 and 1974, which affect variables on place of residence, birthplace, and previous residence.