SURVEY DESIGN & OBJECTIVES

LSMS surveys are generally designed to provide snap shots of the living conditions in a country at a specific period in time. Some surveys, however, have been designed to collect information over a 12 month period in order to be able to take into account seasonal variations.

The objective of LSMS surveys is to provide data adequate for the planning, monitoring and analysis of economic policies and social programs with respect to their impact on household living standards, especially those of the poor. The time use module provides importantinformation on the activities in which household members are engaged, how those activities are distributed among household members, and how changes in members' activities can affect other members.

METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION

Direct interviews with respondents

SURVEY INSTRUMENTS
Description

The LSMS household survey is a multi-topic questionnaire that collects information on major aspects of household well-being. It measures welfare through detailed consumption (food, non-food, housing, durable goods) and income (wage, in-kind, self-production, etc) information. It also collects information on individual behavior, such as education, health, migration, fertility, anthropometrics, employment, transportation, housing, access to services, savings and credit, household enterprises, agricultural activities, etc. Time use information is often collected within the individual modules (commuting time to services, waiting time for services, hours worked, etc.). In some surveys, separate time use modules have been included to obtain more comprehensive information about total time use for specific periods (usually 24 hours).

Recording of simultaneous activities

In some surveys simultaneous activities are noted, but not in all surveys.

Context variables

The context of the time use has not been explicitly recorded in the time use modules administered to date, but much context information can be drawn from the other modules included in the survey.

ACTIVITY CLASSIFICATION

To date, the time use modules included in LSMS surveys have included a limited number of specific activities. Some have included an indicator of whether or not some of the activities were done simultaneously.

TIME SAMPLE

To date, the time use modules included in LSMS surveys have asked about the day preceding the interview, or the 7 days preceding the interview.

REFERENCE POPULATION
Description

All LSMS surveys are nationally representative and representative at the urban/rural level. Some LSMS surveys can also be broken down to further levels.

Sample selection

Information for all modules is collected by direct interviews with household members. The time use module should be administered to all family members who have reached the age at which a child might start to participate in household or other unpaid work.

SOURCES

Informal report prepared by D. Steele, World Bank (LSMS).