Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2005 - Belarus

Abstract
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The Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) is a household survey programme developed by UNICEF to assist countries in filling data gaps for monitoring human development in general and the situation of children and women in particular. MICS is capable of producing statistically sound, internationally comparable estimates of social indicators. The current round of MICS is focused on providing a monitoring tool for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the World Fit for Children (WFFC), as well as for other major international commitments, such as the United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on HIV/AIDS and the Abuja targets for malaria.

Survey Objectives
The 2005 Belarus Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey has as its primary objectives:
- To provide up-to-date information for assessing the situation of children and women in Belarus
- To furnish data needed for monitoring progress toward goals established in the Millennium Declaration, the goals of A World Fit For Children (WFFC), and other internationally agreed upon goals, as a basis for future action;
- To contribute to the improvement of data and monitoring systems in Belarus and to strengthen technical expertise in the design, implementation, and analysis of such systems.

Survey Content
MICS questionnaires are designed in a modular fashion that can be easily customized to the needs of a country. They consist of a household questionnaire, a questionnaire for women aged 15-49 and a questionnaire for children under the age of five (to be administered to the mother or caretaker). Other than a set of core modules, countries can select which modules they want to include in each questionnaire.

Survey Implementation
The survey was carried out by the Ministry of Statistics and Analysis of the Republic of Belarus, and Research Institute of Statistics of the Ministry of Statistics and Analysis of the Republic of Belarus with the support and assistance of UNICEF and Ministry of Health. Technical assistance and training for the surveys is provided through a series of regional workshops, covering questionnaire content, sampling and survey implementation; data processing; data quality and data analysis; report writing and dissemination.

Geographic coverage
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The survey is nationally representative and covers the whole of Belarus.

Analysis unit
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Households (defined as a group of persons who usually live and eat together)

De jure household members (defined as memers of the household who usually live in the household, which may include people who did not sleep in the household the previous night, but does not include visitors who slept in the household the previous night but do not usually live in the household)

Women aged 15-49

Children aged 0-4

Universe
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The survey covered all de jure household members (usual residents), all women aged 15-49 years resident in the household, and all children aged 0-4 years (under age 5) resident in the household.

Kind of data
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Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure
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The principal objective of the sample design was to provide current and reliable estimates on a set of indicators covering the four major areas of the World Fit for Children declaration, including promoting healthy lives; providing quality education; protecting against abuse, exploitation and violence; and combating HIV/AIDS. The population covered by the 2005 MICS is defined as the universe of all women aged 15-49 and all children aged under 5. A sample of households was selected and all women aged 15-49 identified as usual residents of these households were interviewed. In addition, the mother or the caretaker of all children aged under 5 who were usual residents of the household were also interviewed about the child.

The 2005 MICS collected data from a nationally representative sample of households, women and children. The primary focus of the 2005 MICS was to provide estimates of key population and health, education, child protection and HIV related indicators for the country as a whole, and for urban and rural areas separately. In addition, the sample was designed to provide estimates for each of the 7 regions for key indicators. Belarus is divided into 7 regions. Each region is subdivided into big cities, small towns and rural areas (selskie sovety). In addition each unit was subdivided into polling stations in urban areas and rural settlements in selskie sovety. In total Belarus includes 20 big cities, 187 small cities and 1388 selskie soveties.

MICS3 is utilizing the sample frame of household surveys that is being used in the republic. To provide uniform distribution of the sample allocation of the households in the republic the selection was carried out in Brest, Vitebsk, Gomel, Grodno, Minsk, Mogilev regions and in Minsk city.

Three stage sampling has been carried out. At the first stage in each of the regions (oblasts) three sampling strata has been created: big cities, small towns and rural areas (selskie sovety); at the second stage - polling stations in urban areas and rural settlements in selskie sovety; at the third stage in the selected settlements the households were selected. Within the strata of big cities, at first stage, 20 big cities were selected with the probability equalling to 1. Within the strata of small towns 29 small towns were sampled systematically with pps and the measure of size was total population of the small towns. The number of small towns in every region (oblast) was selected based on division of the total number of population of all small towns of each region into average household size (2,6), sample share (1/600) and average load of interviewer (40).

Within the strata of rural settlements (selskie sovety) at the first stage of sampling 53 rural settlements were selected systematically with pps and the measure of size was number of households in the rural settlement.

On the second stage of sampling within the big cities and the small towns the polling stations were selected as sampling unit, in the rural settlements - settlements in rural area (selskie sovety).

To cover the whole territory of the selected city the cartographical materials were used on the second stage of sampling within the big cities. The number of the polling stations was calculated based on division of the population of the city into the average size of the family (2,6), sample share (1/600) and estimated number of the households in each polling station (20).

Three polling stations were selected in each small town from the list of the polling stations, ranking by number of voters. In rural areas, taking into account the difficulty of access and scattered nature of settlements, the territories of the rural areas (selskie sovety) were divided into zones and the closest rural settlements were grouped. One zone was selected in each rural area (selskie sovety) and within this zone all settlements were investigated.

Throughout the Republic of Belarus there were 304 polling stations and the rural zones in selskie sovery selected in 2005.

On the third stage of sampling, households were selected from the updated lists systematically taking into account the size of the cluster. In big cities the size of the cluster which is selected from the updated list households within the territory of polling station is 19-20 households, in small towns the size of the cluster is 13-14 households, and in rural areas the size of the cluster is 39-40 households.The size of clusters is not uniform. Variation in cluster sizes for urban and rural settlements was done on purpose since existing sampling plan was considering load of one interviewer, as one of the parameters, and distribution of sampled population into the sampling domains - proportionally to the distribution in general population.

Besides, taking into account the limited representation of children under 5 in the household sample, the additional sub-sample of households with children aged 0-4 was formed. For this purpose, in each of the 304 clusters the lists of households was updated with the information on households with under 5 children through local out-patient health institutions. From these lists with higher probability then for households without children, the households with children aged 0-4 were selected.

The resulting number of households for MICS3 sample in the Republic of Belarus was 7,000, including 2,857 households with children aged 0-4.

Following standard MICS data collection rules, if a household was actually more than one household when visited, then a) if the selected household contained two households, both were interviewed, or b) if the selected household contained 3 or more households, then only the household of the person named as the head was interviewed.

Sampling deviation
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No major deviations from the original sample design were made. All sample enumeration areas were accessed and successfully interviewed with good response rates.

Mode of data collection
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Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument
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The questionnaires for the Belarus MICS were structured questionnaires based on the MICS3 Model Questionnaire. A household questionnaire was administered in each household, which collected various information on household members including sex, age, relationship, and orphanhood status. The household questionnaire includes household listing, education, water and sanitation, household characteristics, child labour, and child discipline.

In addition to a household questionnaire, questionnaires were administered in each household for women age 15-49 and children under age five. For children, the questionnaire was administered to the mother or caretaker of the child.

The women's questionnaire include women's characteristics, child mortality, maternal and newborn health, marriage/union, contraception, and HIV/AIDS.

The children's questionnaire includes children's characteristics, early learning, breastfeeding, care of Illness, immunization and anthropometry.

The questionnaires were developed in English from the MICS3 Model Questionnaires, and were translated into Russian. After an initial review the questionnaires were translated back into English by an independent translator with no prior knowledge of the survey. The back translation from the Russian version was independently reviewed and compared to the English original. Differences in translation were reviewed and resolved in collaboration with the original translators.

The Russian questionnaires were both piloted as part of the survey pretest.

All questionnaires and modules are provided as external resources.

Cleaning operations
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Data editing took place at a number of stages throughout the processing (see Other processing), including:
a) Office editing and coding
b) During data entry
c) Structure checking and completeness
d) Secondary editing
e) Structural checking of SPSS data files

Detailed documentation of the editing of data can be found in the data processing guidelines

Response rate
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Of the 7,000 households selected for the sample, 100% were found to be occupied. Of these, 6,707 were successfully interviewed for a household response rate of 95.8% percent. In the interviewed households, 5,906 women (age 15-49) were identified. Of these, 5,895 were successfully interviewed, yielding a response rate of 99.8 percent. In addition, 3,051 children under age five were listed in the household questionnaire. Of these, questionnaires were completed for 3,051 which corresponds to a response rate of 100 percent. Overall response rates of 95.6% and 95.8% are calculated for the women's and under-5's interviews respectively.

Differentials in household response rates by regions were from 94.4 % in Mogilev region to 96.7% in Gomel region.

Sampling error estimates
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Estimates from a sample survey are affected by two types of errors: 1) non-sampling errors and 2) sampling errors. Non-sampling errors are the results of mistakes made in the implementation of data collection and data processing. Numerous efforts were made during implementation of the 2005 MICS to minimize this type of error, however, non-sampling errors are impossible to avoid and difficult to evaluate statistically.

Sampling errors can be evaluated statistically. The sample of respondents to the 2005 MICS is only one of many possible samples that could have been selected from the same population, using the same design and expected size. Each of these samples would yield results that differe somewhat from the results of the actual sample selected. Sampling errors are a measure of the variability in the results of the survey between all possible samples, and, although, the degree of variability is not known exactly, it can be estimated from the survey results.
The sampling erros are measured in terms of the standard error for a particular statistic (mean or percentage), which is the square root of the variance. Confidence intervals are calculated for each statistic within which the true value for the population can be assumed to fall. Plus or minus two standard errors of the statistic is used for key statistics presented in MICS, equivalent to a 95 percent confidence interval.

If the sample of respondents had been a simple random sample, it would have been possible to use straightforward formulae for calculating sampling errors. However, the 2005 MICS sample is the result of a multi-stage stratified design, and consequently needs to use more complex formulae. The SPSS complex samples module has been used to calculate sampling errors for the 2005 MICS. This module uses the Taylor linearization method of variance estimation for survey estimates that are means or proportions. This method is documented in the SPSS file CSDescriptives.pdf found under the Help, Algorithms options in SPSS.

Sampling errors have been calculated for a select set of statistics (all of which are proportions due to the limitations of the Taylor linearization method) for the national sample, urban and rural areas, and for each of the five regions. For each statistic, the estimate, its standard error, the coefficient of variation (or relative error -- the ratio between the standard error and the estimate), the design effect, and the square root design effect (DEFT -- the ratio between the standard error using the given sample design and the standard error that would result if a simple random sample had been used), as well as the 95 percent confidence intervals (+/-2 standard errors).

Details of the sampling errors are presented in the sampling errors appendix to the report and in the sampling errors table presented in te external resources.

Data appraisal
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A series of data quality tables and graphs are available to review the quality of the data and include the following:
Age distribution of the household population
Age distribution of eligible women and interviewed women
Age distribution of eligible children and children for whom the mother or caretaker was interviewed
Age distribution of children under age 5 by 3 month groups
Age and period ratios at boundaries of eligibility
Percent of observations with missing information on selected variables
Presence of mother inthe household and person interviewed for the under 5 questionnaire
School attendance by single year age
Sex ratio at birth among children ever born, surviving and dead by age of respondent
Distribution of women by time since last birth

The results of each of these data quality tables is shown in the appendix of the final report and is also given in the external resources section.

The general rule for presentation of missing data in the final report tabulations is that a column is presented for missing data if the percentage of cases with missing data is 1% or more. Cases with missing data on the background characteristics (e.g. education) are included in the tables, but the missing data rows are suppressed and noted at the bottom of the tables in the report (not in the SPSS output, however).

摘要
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联合国儿童基金会（UNICEF）开发的多个指标群组调查（MICS）是一项旨在协助各国填补监测人类发展数据空白、特别是儿童和妇女状况数据空白的家庭调查项目。MICS 能够产生统计上可靠、国际上可比的社会指标估计值。当前轮次的 MICS 旨在为千年发展目标（MDGs）、世界适宜儿童（WFFC）以及其他主要国际承诺（如联合国大会特别会议（UNGASS）关于艾滋病和 Abuja 疟疾目标）提供监测工具。

调查目标
2005 年白俄罗斯多个指标群组调查的主要目标是：
- 提供最新的信息，以评估白俄罗斯儿童和妇女的状况
- 提供数据，用于监测实现千年宣言、世界适宜儿童（WFFC）目标以及其他国际共识目标（如联合国大会特别会议关于艾滋病和 Abuja 疟疾目标）的进展，作为未来行动的基础
- 为改进白俄罗斯的数据和监测系统做出贡献，并加强此类系统的设计、实施和分析的技术专长。

调查内容
MICS 问卷采用模块化设计，易于根据国家需求进行定制。它们包括家庭问卷、15-49 岁女性问卷和 5 岁以下儿童问卷（由母亲或监护人填写）。除了核心模块外，各国可以自行选择每个问卷中包含哪些模块。

调查实施
该调查由白俄罗斯共和国统计局和国家统计局研究所实施，并在联合国儿童基金会和卫生部的支持下进行。通过一系列区域研讨会提供调查的技术援助和培训，涵盖问卷内容、抽样和调查实施；数据处理；数据质量和数据分析；报告撰写和传播。

地理覆盖范围
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调查是全国代表性的，覆盖整个白俄罗斯。

分析单位
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家庭（定义为通常生活在一起并共同用餐的一组人）

法定家庭成员（定义为通常居住在家庭中的人，可能包括前一天晚上没有在家庭中过夜但通常居住在家庭中的人，但不包括前一天晚上在家庭中过夜但通常不住在家庭中的访客）

15-49 岁女性

0-4 岁儿童

总体
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调查覆盖了所有法定家庭成员（常住居民）、所有居住在家庭中的 15-49 岁女性以及所有居住在家庭中的 0-4 岁儿童。

数据类型
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样本调查数据 [ssd]

抽样程序
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样本设计的首要目标是提供一套指标的最新和可靠的估计值，这些指标涵盖了世界适宜儿童宣言的四大主要领域，包括促进健康生活；提供优质教育；防止虐待、剥削和暴力；以及抗击艾滋病。2005 年 MICS 的覆盖人口定义为所有 15-49 岁的女性和所有 5 岁以下的儿童。选择了一组家庭样本，并采访了这些家庭的所有 15-49 岁的常住女性。此外，还采访了所有 5 岁以下常住儿童的母亲或监护人。

2005 年 MICS 从全国代表性的家庭、女性和儿童样本中收集数据。2005 年 MICS 的主要重点是提供全国以及城市和农村地区的关键人口和健康、教育、儿童保护和艾滋病相关指标的估计值。此外，样本设计旨在为每个地区的关键指标提供估计值。白俄罗斯分为 7 个地区。每个地区分为大城市、小城镇和农村地区（selskie sovety）。此外，每个单位还分为城市地区的投票站和 selskie sovety 的农村定居点。总共白俄罗斯包括 20 个大城市、187 个小城镇和 1388 个 selskie sovety。

MICS3 正在利用共和国正在使用的家庭调查样本框架。为了在共和国中提供样本分配的均匀分布，选择在布列斯特、维捷布斯克、戈梅利、格罗德诺、明斯克、戈梅利地区和明斯克市进行。

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