Living Standards Measurements Survey 1992

The LSMS questionnaire contained the following modules:

• Household Roster: The LSMS was administered approximately two weeks following the HIES. Much of the cover section of the LSMS household information was copied directly from the HIES prior to the interview. This was to minimize the possibility of a household's LSMS not being matched with its HIES. Following the cover section, the LSMS contained five modules. The "Interviewer Manual" provides detailed descriptions of all items in the survey.

• Health Module : This schedule contained items concerning the health status of all members of the household, specifically about any illness experienced during the previous 30 days: its length; the use of medical facilities for the illness; the amount spent on its treatment; the kinds and costs of medications; and the satisfaction with medical interventions. Also collected were data concerning the use of the National Insurance Scheme, preventive care, and specific items regarding pregnancy, breastfeeding and the presence of infants.

• Education Module: Information concerning the schooling of each household member over the age of three years was collected, including the level completed, type of school, years repeated, access to meals and textbooks, distance traveled, and several categories of associated expenditures. Attention should be paid to the expenditure data. Some items request monthly expenditures. Others collect annual expenditures.

• Migration Module. This section collected information about individuals who at the time of the interview had lived away from the household for more than six months. These individuals were not counted on the household roster and did not appear in HIES data. Information regarding the location of the individual, her/his reason for leaving, and whether or not contributions to the family were made. Because data on international remittances were collected in the HIES, the amount of the remittances was not recorded here. It was felt that respondents would be unwilling to answer too many questions about transfers from abroad.

• Fertility Module. This section collected information about the pregnancy, birthing, and contraceptive practices of women in the household between the ages 13 and 49. Only one member of the household was interviewed for this section. The interviewer consulted a previously prepared list of randomly ordered ID numbers and selected the first one corresponding to an eligible member of the household being interviewed. ID numbers were established when the household roster was completed using information from the HIES. The ID code was a number between 01 and 12. Selecting a number randomly avoided selection bias on the part of the interviewer.

• Anthropometry Module. During the initial LSMS interview, the interviewer indicated whether any children under the age of five years were present. For households with such children, a return visit by a team of nursing students, was made to collect data on the children.

• Anthropometric measurements gathered were standing height (taken for children between two and five years of age), recumbent length (taken lying down on children less than two years of age) and weight of pre-school age children (less than five years of age). Immunizations received, breastfeeding, other dietary and vitamin supplement data were also collected.