Category Archives: Data

Everything You Need to Know about DHS Data and More

Written by: The DHS Program

15 May, 2017

So, you’re new to DHS and you’ve registered as a DHS data user, downloaded the free available datasets, but now what? We have the perfect resources to get you started. The following videos provide an overview of DHS data answering key questions such as, what is a data file or dataset? What is the difference between De […]


New Data Available from DHS-7 Questionnaire: Maternal and Pregnancy-Related Mortality

Written by: The DHS Program

11 Apr, 2017
Baby Kabuche, 30 yrs old, 4 months pregnant, outside her house. Baby has 2 children: Eric, 12, living with granparents in Musoma and Judith, 6, living with her and her husband. She works in a factory manufacturing alluminium pots and iron rods. But as she becqme pregnant she took some unpaid leave as the factory uses acid and other toxic materials and she cares for the safety and health of her baby. Baby got malaria only once as she sleeps under mosquito net all the time. This new one makes her happy as it is treated with mosquito repellent and it is more effective.

© 2016 Riccardo Gangale/VectorWorks, Courtesy of Photoshare In 2014, The DHS Program began the process of updating the standard DHS questionnaires. With input from stakeholders, feedback from in-country implementing agencies, and a host of lessons learned from the previous 5-year program, we added, modified, and, in some cases, deleted questions. For many indicators, the actual […]


7 Tips to Matching DHS Final Report Tables

Written by: The DHS Program

21 Mar, 2017

Feeling frustrated because you can’t match DHS Final Report tables in your statistical software?   Our new four-part video series shows the Top 7 Tips & Tricks for Matching DHS Final Report Tables. In this four-part video series, we will be covering the top 7 tips and tricks to matching The DHS Program Final Reports using […]


Where Statistics are Beautiful

Written by: Sunita Kishor

10 Feb, 2017

Hans Rosling created a world where “statistics are beautiful” and data are entertaining. The staff at The DHS Program have always believed these things to be true but found it difficult to convince the masses. And then came Gapminder and the juggernaut of Hans Rosling’s charismatic, informative, and perspective-changing data presentations. The DHS Program was heartbroken […]


Update: Downloadable Citations for DHS Final Survey Reports Now Available

Written by: The DHS Program

08 Feb, 2017

Is this how you look when you’re compiling your references? via GIPHY A recent DHS comparative report included references to 52 Demographic and Health Surveys.  You could spend hours entering bibliographic information, or you can download the citations directly into your reference software. In 2015, The DHS Program announced the availability of downloadable citations for […]


A New DHS Questionnaire: Interviewing Fieldworkers

Written by: The DHS Program

25 Jan, 2017

There’s a new survey in town. But it’s probably not what you expect. For 30 years, The DHS Program has trained thousands of fieldworkers to conduct over 300 surveys – but who are these fieldworkers? It is well documented that interviewers affect the quality of the data being collected, for example, in the areas of […]


Measuring the SDGs: The Role of Household Surveys

Written by: The DHS Program

11 Jan, 2017

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have replaced the Millennium Development Goals with broad and lofty aspirations ranging from health, education, and gender equality to clean energy and responsible consumption. Behind each Sustainable Development Goal is a series of targets and each target can be measured by one or more indicators. Many of the targets in […]


From National to Local: A New Way to Leverage DHS Data

Written by: The DHS Program

16 Nov, 2016

In DHS survey final reports, data are presented on a national or first-level administrative sub-national level. However, this is usually not the level at which program planning and decision making are truly happening. To support more decentralized decision making at lower administrative levels, data need to be presented on a more disaggregated level. The DHS […]


Enfin, STATcompiler et l’Appli Mobile du DHS Program disponibles en français

Written by: The DHS Program

02 Nov, 2016

L’attente est finie! Le STATcompiler et l’Appli Mobile du DHS Program sont désormais disponibles en français.  Saviez-vous que 30 % des enquêtes du DHS Program sont réalisées dans pays francophones ? Notre objectif est d’augmenter l’utilisation de nos données par nos collègues francophones.  Ces deux outils placent plus de 250 enquêtes de 90+ pays au bout de […]


Social Good Summit 2016: How DHS data can help measure progress towards meeting the Global Goals

Written by: The DHS Program

05 Oct, 2016

We were fortunate to have attended the UN Foundation’s Social Good Summit again which, through a variety of vibrant speakers from US UN Ambassador Samantha Power to actor and activist Alec Baldwin, emphasized the recently-adopted 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as the Global Goals. While we thoroughly enjoyed all of the sessions and speakers, we […]