• Factsheet
  • 18 July 2017

Key facts on household surveys

An overview of the main international household surveys: what they are, when and where they're carried out, and what some of their data limitations are.

In this factsheet we provide an overview of the main international household surveys, laying out what they are, when and where they are carried out, and what some of their data limitations are. Download or use the menu below.

Notes

[1] UNICEF. A promise to children. Available at: https://www.unicef.org/wsc/

[2] Anderson, JE and Cleland, JG, 1984. The World Fertility Survey and Contraceptive Prevalence Surveys: A Comparison of Substantive Results. Studies in Family Planning. 15(1), pages 1–13. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1965479?seq=1#fndtn-page_scan_tab_contents

[3] Available at: http://opendatawatch.com/knowledge-partnership/state-of-development-data-funding-2016/

[4] Development Initiatives and Publish What You Fund (Lisowska, B), 2016. ‘Household surveys: do competing standards serve country needs?’ Available at: http://juds.joinedupdata.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/160628-Final-DP4-for-publication.pdf

[5] See note 4.

[6] Inter-secretariat Group on Household Surveys, see: https://unstats.un.org/iswghs/

[7] Sustainable Development Solutions Network, 2015. Data for Development: A Needs Assessment for SDG Monitoring and Statistical Capacity Development. Available at: http://unsdsn.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Data-for-Development-Full-Report.pdf

[8] See Carr-Hill, R, 2013. Missing Millions and Measuring Development Progress. World Development. https://www.lidc.org.uk/sites/default/files/Missing%20millions.pdf