New Course using IPUMS PMA and IPUMS DHS Data

Professor Kathryn Grace (geography) is providing a unique opportunity for students to conduct independent research this semester through a brand-new course, “Applied Quantitative Methods Using Survey Data.” In the course, which is open to both graduates and undergraduates, students develop a research question related to global health and, using IPUMS PMA or IPUMS DHS data, learn the steps for answering it.

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IPUMS USA: County Variable Name Changes

“What’s in a name? That which we call a COUNTYFIPS by any other name would still be accurate” ~ Steve Shakespeare (the lesser known, quantitative Shakespeare).

Couldn’t have said it better myself. Though, when you are sharing your variable names with tens of thousands of researchers who really just want their analysis to work you may want to be cautious about changing variable names. This is exactly the reason our (now re-named) COUNTY variable held onto that moniker for so long. And when you do change variable names you better try your hardest to let everyone know, so let’s start with that part.

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IPUMS DHS at Work | “Child Stunting: National Figures Conceal Subnational Heterogeneity”

While summary national-level statistics from sources such as the World Bank are a useful tool, these national-level figures may conceal great heterogeneity across subnational units such as provinces and large urban areas.  Such differences are displayed in the figures below, with data on the percentage of stunted children under age 5, nationally and by region within countries. For example, while 40 to 50 percent of Tanzanian children overall are stunted, the figures range from under 20 percent to 50 percent or more across Tanzanian regions.

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IPUMS DHS Now Releasing Data Multiple Times per Year

The Demographic and Health Survey program is continually collecting and releasing new data; at this writing, nineteen countries are collecting or processing data for standard DHS surveys. Researchers want the latest data for countries of interest, as soon as those data become available. To minimize the wait between the original DHS data release and the release of integrated data, IPUMS DHS is now releasing data multiple times a year.

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Researchers Study How Context Affects Health with New IPUMS DHS Variables

Are you interested in how environmental or social contexts affect women’s and children’s health and behavior? IPUMS-DHS now makes it easy to investigate such questions. Using GPS coordinates, we’ve linked contextual variables drawn from many data sources directly to individual DHS respondent records. All context variables describe the features of a small geographic area (5-10 kilometers) surrounding each DHS cluster location.

By doing the technical stuff for you, we’ve freed you up to focus on your important substantive questions—like how climate change influences human health and survival. Our innovation eliminates the need for you to buy or learn geographic software. Even if you’re an ARCGIS whiz, the new IPUMS DHS’ linked data will make your research process simpler and faster.

What new data are available?

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