Demographic and Health Survey 1988

Geographical Coverage: The EDHS was carried out in 21 of the 26 governorates in Egypt. The Frontier Governorates (Red Sea, New Valley, Matrouh, North Sinai and South Sinai), which represent around two percent of the total population in Egypt, were excluded from coverage because a disproportionate share of EDHS resources would have been needed to survey the dispersed population in these governorates.

The EDHS sample was designed to provide separate estimates of all major parameters for: the national level, the Urban Governorates, Lower Egypt (total, urban and rural) and Upper Egypt (total, urban and rural). In addition, the sample was selected in such a fashion as to yield a sufficient number of respondents from each governorate to allow for governorate-level estimates of current contraceptive use. In order to achieve the latter objective, sample takes for the following governorates were increased during the selection process: Port Said, Suez, Ismailia, Damietta, Aswan, Kafr El-Sheikh, Beni Suef and Fayoum.

Sampling Plan: The sampling plan called for the EDHS sample to be selected in three stages. The sampling units at the first stage were shiakhas/towns in urban areas and villages in rural areas. The frame for the selection of the primary sampling units (PSU) was based on preliminary results from 1986 Egyptian census, which were provided by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics. During the first stage selection, 228 primary sampling units (108 shiakhas/towns and 120 villages) were sampled.

The second stage of selection called for the PSUs chosen during the first stage to be segmented into smaller areal units and for two of the areal units to be sampled from each PSU. In urban PSUs, a quick count operation was carried out to provide the information needed to select the secondary sampling units (SSU) while for rural PSUs, maps showing the residential area within the selected villages were used.

Following the selection of the SSUs, a household listing was obtained for each of the selected units. Using the household lists, a systematic random sample of households was chosen for the EDHS. All ever-married women 15-49 present in the sampled households during the night before the interviewer's visit were eligible for the individual interview.

Quick Count and Listing: As noted in the discussion of the sampling plan, two separate field operations were conducted during the sample implementation phase of the EDHS. The first field operation involved a quick count in the shiakhas/towns selected as PSUs in urban areas. Prior to the quick count operation, maps for each of the selected shiakhas/towns were obtained and divided into approximately equal-sized segments, with each segment having well-defined boundaries. The objective of the quick count operation was to obtain an estimate of the number of households in each of the segments to serve as the measures of size for the second stage selection.

A review of the preliminary 1986 Census population totals for the selected shiakhas/towns showed that they varied greatly in total size, ranging from less than 10,000 to more than 275,000 residents. Experience in the 1984 Egypt Contraceptive Prevalence Survey, in which a similar quick count operation was carried out, indicated that it was very time-consuming to obtain counts of households in shiakhas/towns with large populations. In order to reduce the quick count workload during the EDHS, a subsample of segments was selected from the shiakhas/towns, with 50,000 or more population. The number of segments sub-sampled depended on the size of the shiakha. Only the sub-sampled segments were covered during the quick count operation in the large shiakhas/towns. For shiakhas with less than 50,000 populations, all segments were covered during the quick count.

Prior to the quick count, a one-week training was held, including both classroom instruction and practical training in shiakhas/towns not covered in the survey. The quick count operation, which covered all 108 urban PSUs, was carried out between June and August 1988. A group of 62 field staff participated in the quick count operation. The field staff was divided into ten teams each composed of one supervisor and three to four counters.

As a quality control measure, the quick count was repeated in 10 percent of the shiakhas. Discrepancies noted when the results of the second quick count operation were compared with the original counts were checked. No major problems were discovered in this matching process, with most differences in the counts attributed to problems in the identification of segment boundaries.

The second field operation during the sample implementation phase of the survey involved a complete listing of all of the households living in the 456 segments chosen during the second stage of the sample selection. Prior to the household listing, the listing staff attended a one-week training course, which involved both classroom lectures and field practice. After the training, the 14 supervisors and 32 listers were organized into teams; except in Damietta and Ismailia, where the listers work on their own, each listing team was composed of a supervisor and two listers. The listing operation began in the middle of September and was completed in October 1988.

Segments were relisted when the number of households in the listing differed markedly from that expected based on: (1) the quick count in urban areas or (2) the number of households estimated from the information on the size of the inhabited area for rural segments. Few discrepancies were noted for urban segments. Not surprisingly, more problems were noted for rural segments since the estimated size of the segment was not based on a recent count as it was for the urban segments. All segments where major differences were noted in the matching process were relisted in order to resolve the problems.

Note: See detailed description of sample design in APPENDIX B of the report which is presented in this documentation.