Historical dataset of population level and growth rate for the Kathmandu, Nepal metro area from 1950 to 2025.

Abstract

The 2022 Nepal Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) is the sixth survey of its kind implemented in the country as part of the worldwide Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) Program. It was implemented by New ERA under the aegis of the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) of the Government of Nepal with the objective of providing reliable, accurate, and up-to-date data for the country.

The primary objective of the 2022 NDHS is to provide up-to-date estimates of basic demographic and health indicators. Specifically, the 2022 NDHS collected information on fertility, marriage, family planning, breastfeeding practices, nutrition, food insecurity, maternal and child health, childhood mortality, awareness and behavior regarding HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), women’s empowerment, domestic violence, fistula, mental health, accident and injury, disability, and other healthrelated issues such as smoking, knowledge of tuberculosis, and prevalence of hypertension.

The information collected through the 2022 NDHS is intended to assist policymakers and program managers in evaluating and designing programs and strategies for improving the health of Nepal’s population. The survey also provides indicators relevant to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for Nepal.

Geographic coverage

National coverage

Analysis unit

• Household
• Individual
• Children age 0-5
• Woman age 15-49
• Man age 15-49

Universe

The survey covered all de jure household members (usual residents), all women aged 15-49, men ageed 15-49, and all children aged 0-4 resident in the household.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The sampling frame used for the 2022 NDHS is an updated version of the frame from the 2011 Nepal Population and Housing Census (NPHC) provided by the National Statistical Office. The 2022 NDHS considered wards from the 2011 census as sub-wards, the smallest administrative unit for the survey. The census frame includes a complete list of Nepal’s 36,020 sub-wards. Each sub-ward has a residence type (urban or rural), and the measure of size is the number of households.

In September 2015, Nepal’s Constituent Assembly declared changes in the administrative units and reclassified urban and rural areas in the country. Nepal is divided into seven provinces: Koshi Province, Madhesh Province, Bagmati Province, Gandaki Province, Lumbini Province, Karnali Province, and Sudurpashchim Province. Provinces are divided into districts, districts into municipalities, and municipalities into wards. Nepal has 77 districts comprising a total of 753 (local-level) municipalities. Of the municipalities, 293 are urban and 460 are rural.

Originally, the 2011 NPHC included 58 urban municipalities. This number increased to 217 as of 2015. On March 10, 2017, structural changes were made in the classification system for urban (Nagarpalika) and rural (Gaonpalika) locations. Nepal currently has 293 Nagarpalika, with 65% of the population living in these urban areas. The 2022 NDHS used this updated urban-rural classification system. The survey sample is a stratified sample selected in two stages. Stratification was achieved by dividing each of the seven provinces into urban and rural areas that together formed the sampling stratum for that province. A total of 14 sampling strata were created in this way. Implicit stratification with proportional allocation was achieved at each of the lower administrative levels by sorting the sampling frame within each sampling stratum before sample selection, according to administrative units at the different levels, and by using a probability-proportional-to-size selection at the first stage of sampling. In the first stage of sampling, 476 primary sampling units (PSUs) were selected with probability proportional to PSU size and with independent selection in each sampling stratum within the sample allocation. Among the 476 PSUs, 248 were from urban areas and 228 from rural areas. A household listing operation was carried out in all of the selected PSUs before the main survey. The resulting list of households served as the sampling frame for the selection of sample households in the second stage. Thirty households were selected from each cluster, for a total sample size of 14,280 households. Of these households, 7,440 were in urban areas and 6,840 were in rural areas. Some of the selected sub-wards were found to be overly large during the household listing operation. Selected sub-wards with an estimated number of households greater than 300 were segmented. Only one segment was selected for the survey with probability proportional to segment size.

For further details on sample design, see APPENDIX A of the final report.

Mode of data collection

Computer Assisted Personal Interview [capi]

Research instrument

Four questionnaires were used in the 2022 NDHS: the Household Questionnaire, the Woman’s Questionnaire, the Man’s Questionnaire, and the Biomarker Questionnaire. The questionnaires, based on The DHS Program’s model questionnaires, were adapted to reflect the population and health issues relevant to Nepal. In addition, a self-administered Fieldworker Questionnaire collected information about the survey’s fieldworkers.

Input was solicited from various stakeholders representing government ministries and agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and international donors. After all questionnaires were finalized in English, they were translated into Nepali, Maithili, and Bhojpuri. The Household, Woman’s, and Man’s Questionnaires were programmed into tablet computers to facilitate computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) for data collection purposes, with the capability to choose any of the three languages for each questionnaire. The Biomarker Questionnaire was completed on paper during data collection and then entered in the CAPI system.

Cleaning operations

Data capture for the 2022 NDHS was carried out with Microsoft Surface Go 2 tablets running Windows 10.1. Software was prepared for the survey using CSPro. The processing of the 2022 NDHS data began shortly after the fieldwork started. When data collection was completed in each cluster, the electronic data files were transferred via the Internet File Streaming System (IFSS) to the New ERA central office in Kathmandu. The data files were registered and checked for inconsistencies, incompleteness, and outliers. Errors and inconsistencies were immediately communicated to the field teams for review so that problems would be mitigated going forward. Secondary editing, carried out in the central office at New ERA, involved resolving inconsistencies and coding the open-ended questions. The New ERA senior data processor coordinated the exercise at the central office. The NDHS core team members assisted with the secondary editing. The paper Biomarker Questionnaires were compared with the electronic data file to check for any inconsistencies in data entry. The pictures of vaccination cards that were captured during data collection were verified with the data entered. Data processing and editing were carried out using the CSPro software package. The concurrent data collection and processing offered a distinct advantage because it maximized the likelihood of the data being error-free and accurate. Timely generation of field check tables allowed for effective monitoring. The secondary editing of the data was completed by July 2022, and the final cleaning of the data set was completed by the end of August.

Response rate

A total of 14,243 households were selected for the sample, of which 13,833 were found to be occupied. Of the occupied households, 13,786 were successfully interviewed, yielding a response rate of more than 99%. In the interviewed households, 15,238 women age 15-49 were identified as eligible for individual interviews. Interviews were completed with 14,845 women, yielding a response rate of 97%. In the subsample of households selected for the men’s survey, 5,185 men age 15-49 were identified as eligible for individual interviews and 4,913 were successfully interviewed, yielding a response rate of 95%.

Sampling error estimates

The estimates from a sample survey are affected by two types of errors: nonsampling errors and sampling errors. Nonsampling errors result from mistakes made in implementing data collection and in data processing, such as failing to locate and interview the correct household, misunderstanding of the questions on the part of either the interviewer or the respondent, and entering the data incorrectly. Although numerous efforts were made during the implementation of the 2022 Nepal Demographic and Health Survey (2022 NDHS) to minimize this type of error, nonsampling errors are impossible to avoid and difficult to evaluate statistically.

Sampling errors, on the other hand, can be evaluated statistically. The sample of respondents selected in the 2022 NDHS is only one of many samples that could have been selected from the same population, using the same design and expected sample size. Each of these samples would yield results that differ somewhat from the results of the selected sample. Sampling errors are a measure of the variability among all possible samples. Although the exact degree of variability is unknown, it can be estimated from the survey results.

Sampling error is usually measured in terms of the standard error for a particular statistic (mean, percentage, and so on), which is the square root of the variance. The standard error can be used to calculate confidence intervals within which the

Abstract

The objectives of the 1991 Population Census were:

a. to develop a set of benchmark data for different purposes, b. to provide data for small administrative areas of the country on population, housing and household facilities, c. to provide reliable frames for different types of sample surveys, d. to provide sex disaggregated data of the population and other variables related to households, demographic, social and economic conditions of the country, and e. to provide detailed information on women, children, and the aged

Geographic coverage

National coverage Regional Urban and rural areas District Village Development Committee/Municipality

Analysis unit

private household, individual

Universe

The census covered all household members (usual residents) in private households.

Kind of data

Census/enumeration data [cen]

Sampling procedure

The 1991 census collected data based on short form for the complete enumeration of the benchmark information and the long form for the sample enumeration of other socio-economic and demographic information. The long form was administered for population dwellings in about 20 percent of the total housing units. Based on these, estimates were generated at the district level with reliable degree of precision.

The sampling scheme of the 1991 Population Census for the long form is summarized below.

1. The sampling covered the private households only. For the institutional population, Schedule-1 only was administered.

2. For the sampling, 75 administrative districts formed the main strata and VDC's and municipalities within the district formed the domains.

3. There were around 36,000 wards in the country at the time of the census. For the purpose of the census enumeration some of the large wards were further divided into sub-wards. These wards and sub-wards formed the EA's for sampling. The total number of EAs thus formed was around 40,000.

4. Sampling was carried out in each EA; housing unit being the sampling unit.

5. The list of housing units and households served as the sampling frame for the EA. The housing units were selected by systematic sampling method. The sampling interval taken was 8.

6. The list of selected housing units was made available to the enumerator for the enumeration. All households and persons found in the selected units were enumerated.

7. The ratio method was used in making estimates for the sample.

8. Tabulation groups were created separately for tabulation of persons and those for households. The main control variables for the majority of tabulations for persons were two variables: age sex. Tabulation groups for household tabulations were formed in a different manner: taking households as a tabulation group in the domain.

9. To implement the ratio estimation, first weights were calculated. The weights for sample data were computed by dividing the 100 percent counts for the same tabulation groups in the domain by sample counts for the same tabulation groups in the domain. To avoid inconsistency due to rounding, the figures were converted to whole numbers.

This detailed sampling procedure is documented in the Technical Documents.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

In 1991, both household listing and actual census field operation took place simultaneously, unlike in 1981 where household listing preceded total enumeration. Nevertheless, the number of items included in the household list was as comprehensive as before.

Two types of schedules were prepared. Form 1 for complete enumeration and Form 2 for sample enumeration. Both schedules contained questions on household as well as individuals.

FORM 1: (COMPLETE Enumeration) A. Household Information (Question relating to Household), House type & ownership, Agriculture land holding, Livestock/poultry raised for agriculture purpose, Female ownership on house, land and Livestock/Cattle, Small scale economic activities other than agriculture, Absentees from Household (HH), reasons & country of destination. B. Individual Information (Question relating to Individuals), Name, sex, age, relationship to the Household head, Caste/ethnicity, religion, Language spoken and citizen.

FORM 2: (SAMPLE Enumeration) A. Household Information (Question relating to Household), Household facilities (Radio, TV, etc.), Deaths in last 12 months in the Household. B. Individual Information (Question relating to Individuals), Place of birth, Migration, Literacy, Educational attainment, Marital status, Age at first Marriage, Children born, Economic/Non-economic activities, occupation/Industry, employment status, Reasons for not being active, Living arrangement of children below 16 years of age.

Questionnaire contents and the pre-testing of census enumeration procedure were conducted in four districts, Bajura from mountain, Mahottari from terai and Dhankuta as well as Kathmandu from the hilly region.

Cleaning operations

The completed schedules returned to the Headquarters from the field, were carefully edited which was followed by coding operations.

Data editing took place at a number of stages throughout the 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

Response rate

At the time of census there were 3,914 VDC's and 58 municipalities. VDC's contained a total of 35,226 wards while urban areas contained 806 wards. Thus total numbers of wards in the country were 36,032.

For form 2, there is no available data for response rate.

Data appraisal

The quality of the 1991 census data is evaluated in two steps. The first step deals with the evaluation of the quality of the census data on selected aspects such as age reporting, fertility, mortality, etc. The second step examines the extent of coverage in the census enumeration.

A Post Enumeration Survey (PES) was designed to evaluate the 1991 census data quality with respect to completeness of coverage. It was scheduled to be conducted in August 1991 but the actual revisiting of sampled areas for reconciliation of the differences was completed by April 1992.

Abstract

Nepal Living Standards Survey II 2003/2004 (NLSS II) is the second multi-topic national household survey conducted by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) from April 2003 to April 2004. As a follow up to the first NLSS of 1995/96 (NLSS I), the main objective of the NLSS II was to track changes in living standards and social indicators of Nepalese population between 1995/96 and 2003/2004. The survey provides information on the different aspects of households' welfare (consumption, income, housing, labor markets, education, health etc.). NLSS II data are largely comparable to the NLSS I data and follows the methodology of the Living Standards Measurement Survey (LSMS) developed by the World Bank.

Geographic coverage

National Domains: Urban/rural; ecological zones (Mountains, Kathmandu Valley (urban), Hills (urban), Hills (rural), Tarai (urban), Tarai (rural)).

Analysis unit

• Households
• Individuals
• Communities

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

SAMPLE DESIGN The sampling design of the NLSS II included two components. The first one was nationally representative random cross-section sample of 4008 households from six explicit strata of the country. The second one was panel sample of 1232 households drawn from those households interviewed in NLSS I.

SAMPLE FRAME The 2001 Population Census of Nepal provided a basis for this survey's sample frame. The size of each ward (as measured by number of households) was taken as a unit of sample frame. Some larger ards were divided into smaller units (sub-wards) of clearly defined territorial areas supported by reliable cartography while some of the smaller wards with fewer than 20 households were appended to neighbouring wards in the same VDC. The resulting sampling frame consisted of 36,067 enumeration areas (wards or sub-wards) spread over 3 ecological zones, 5 development regions, 75 districts, 58 Municipalities and 3,914 Village Development Committees (VDCs) of the country. The sample frame was sorted by district, VDC, ward and sub-ward and districts were numbered from geographical East to West.

The three ecological zones are Mountains in the north (altitude 4877 to 8848 meters), Hills in the middle (altitude 610 to 4876 meters) and Tarai in the south. Mountains make up 35 percent of total land area of the country, while Hills and Tarai 42 percent and 23 percent respectively.

STRATIFICATION The design of the cross-section part of NLSS II was similar to that of the NLSS I. The total sample size (4,008 households) was selected in two stages: 12 households in each of 334 Primary Sampling Units. The sample of 334 PSUs was selected from six strata using Probability Proportional to Size (PPS) sampling with the number of households as a measure of size. The numbers are all multiples of 12 with the intention of implementing a two-stage selection strategy with that many households per PSU in the second stage. Within each PSU, 12 households were selected by systematic sampling from the total number of households listed.

The NLSS II cross-section sample was allocated into six explicit strata as follows: Mountains (408 households in 34 PSUs), Kathmandu valley urban area (408 households in 34 PSUs), Other Urban areas in the Hills (336 households in 28 PSUs), Rural Hills (1,224 households in 102 PSUs), Urban Tarai (408 households in 34 PSUs) and Rural Tarai (1,224 households in 102 PSUs). The NLSS II panel sample is composed of 100 of the 275 PSUs visited by the NLSS I in 1995/96. The panel PSUs were selected with equal probability within each of the four strata defined by NLSS I, as follows: 12 (out of 33) in the Mountains, 18 (out of 50) in the Urban Hills, 33 (out of 92) in the Rural Hills and 37 (out of 100) in the Tarai.

In NLSS I, the strata were composed of Mountains (424 households), Urban Hills (604 households), Rural Hills (1,136 households) and Tarai (1,224 households). The sampling frame was taken from the Population Census 1991.

CARTOGRAPHIC UPDATING AND HOUSEHOLD LISTING

The NLSS II cartographic updating was conducted between December 2001 and May 2002. There were 334 PSUs from the cross-sectional sample where listing operation provided a precise and up to date measure of households in each PSU. The 235 PSUs contained 400 or fewer households while 99 PSUs had larger than 400 households according to the 2001 Population Census. Those PSUs with more than 400 households were segmented into smaller units containing 150-200 households by means of a cartographic updating operation. The operation defined territorial boundaries for the segments within the PSUs and established a rough measure of the size of each segment based on a quick count of dwellings. One of the segments was then selected randomly with PPS in each PSU, and a complete household listing was conducted in that segment. A new cartographic updating was needed for 59 of the large PSUs since some of the large PSUs corresponded to wards that had already been segmented in 1995 as a part of the NLSS I operations. This updating included verification of the boundaries and quick count of dwellings.

A complete household listing operation was undertaken in all cross-section PSUs during March-May of 2002, about a year prior to the survey. The information collected in the listing included dwelling/household serial number, name of the village/settlement, block number, name and nickname (if any) of the household head, household size and name of the landlord when the housing unit was rented. The cover page for listing was designed to furnish information on the language spoken, the mode of transport and the traveling time to reach the selected ward/sub-ward/segment. This was utilized while preparing schedules of fieldwork. There were 25 teams for listing operation and each team consisted of two enumerators. Field-based 32 enumerators were selected from CBS and Branch Statistical Offices (BSOs) while the rest 18 were hired on contract from outside Kathmandu for listing operation in the selected PSUs under the separate component of the project named "Listing and Cartography Work for NLSS II". Two day training was conducted on listing procedure for the enumerators outside of Kathmandu at Biratnagar (East), Hetaunda (Central) and Nepalgunj (West). Because of insurgency in different parts of the country, listing operation in 10 PSUs could not be completed during the specified period but was completed later.

Sampling deviation

During the implementation of NLSS II, altogether 13 rural enumeration areas (PSUS) could not be interviewed comprising 8 from cross-section and 5 from the panel samples. The missing panel PSUs include 1 from Central Hills, 1 from Mid Western Mountains, 1 from Far Western Mountains, 1 from Far Western Hills and 1 from Far Western Terai. One of these five PSUs, the one from the Far Western Terai (Pipaladi-2 of Kanchanpur), vanished completely due to the merging of enumeration area to the Royal Shukla Phanta Wildlife Reserve. The other four PSUs could not be enumerated due to the ongoing conflict even after the repeated attempts. All together 370 households could not be re-interviewed.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The Household Survey Section of CBS developed an initial questionnaire of NLSS II on the basis of the questionnaires used in the NLSS I and others. The draft questionnaire was subsequently modified through experience gained from pre-tests. Two types of questionnaires were administered in NLSS II: household questionnaire and community questionnaires (urban and rural). In order to generate comparable data with NLSS I, as many of the NLSS I questions as possible were retained in NLSS II. However, some important additions were made on the household questionnaire to address some contemporary issues such as population migration and child labor. Some questions were omitted based on whether such questions were poorly answered or collected in NLSS I. Detailed discussions were made on the household questionnaire with members of NLSS II Technical Committee, representatives from different donor agencies and other stakeholders. For instance, questions on anthropometrics section were dropped for the reason stated above. Questions on new areas of concern and economic activities were added (child labour - merged from a planned ILO "Nepal Child Labor Survey" for members 5 years of age and over). Sections on changes in household composition for the panel component of the survey and children (under 15 years of age) away from home were added. Questions on migration were asked of all members of the household 5 years and older in this survey instead of just the household head in previous survey. Other additions and modifications included own account production of goods, extended economic activities, underemployment status, health information including HIV/AIDS and household facilities. Some gender specific questions were added in agricultural wages whereas a few questions were dropped from the agriculture section. There were separate sets of questionnaires for urban and rural communities, as in NLSS I. Community questionnaires were designed to measure community characteristics and market prices to supplement the information collected through household questionnaire. The questionnaires were revised intensively with the feedback from pre-test in the field. The pre-test was done in different ecological zones, development regions and urban/rural areas during July-August 2002. The pre-test was also designed to track panel households and the tracking was found to be 80 percent.

Household Questionnaire There was a 74-paged household questionnaire with 19 sections and 10 appendices.

Abstract

The Nepal Living Standards Survey, 1995/96 (NLSS-I) was a milestone in the collection of data for the objective measurement of the living standards of the people and for determining the level of poverty in the country. The survey covered a wide range of topics related to “household welfare” (demography, consumption, income, access to facilities, housing, education, health, employment, credit, remittances and anthropometry, etc.).

NLSS-I for the first time, provided a measure of “extent and dimension” of poverty in Nepal. The survey findings became popular among decision makers in the government agencies, the general public and the international agencies as well.

It was realized that a second round of the survey was needed to update the results and to assess the impact of policies and programs on poverty and social indicators over the years (since the NLSS-I was conducted). Accordingly, the second round of the survey (NLSS-II) was carried out in 2003/04 after 8 years of the first survey.

The findings of the NLSS-II helped the government to monitor progress in improving national living standards and the survey became a good basis for monitoring the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) over time.

Realizing the importance of time series data, the Government of Nepal decided to conduct another round of the Nepal Living Standards Survey. Accordingly, the Central Bureau of Statistics for the third time conducted the survey in 2010/11 (NLSS-III). The survey was carried out with the assistance from the World Bank.

Objective of the Survey The main objective of the NLSS-III is to update data on the living standards of the people. The survey aims to assess the impact of various government policies and programs on the socioeconomic changes in the country during the last 7 years. Further, the survey aims to track changes experienced by previously enumerated households during the past fifteen and seven years.

Geographic coverage

National Urban-Rural areas Ecological Zones Development Regions

Analysis unit

• Household
• Individual
• Consumption Expenditure Commodities/Item

Universe

All households in the country were considered eligible for selection in the survey. The survey, however, excluded the households of diplomatic missions. The institutional households (like people living in schools hostels, prisons, army camps and hospitals) were also excluded from the survey. The household members were determined on the basis of the usual place of their residence. Foreign nationals whose usual place of residence is within the country were included in the survey.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

As in the previous two rounds of the NLSS, the NLSS-III followed the Living Standards Measurement Survey (LSMS) methodology developed and promoted by the World Bank (WB). The main features of the methodology include: - a relatively "smaller" sample size compared with the other in-depth household surveys, - an "integrated" multi-topic household questionnaire for collecting a comprehensive data set on household welfare, - an "innovative" data management technique including field based data entry and field verification system, - a "panel" sample in addition to the nationally representative sample of households, and - data collection over a period of 12 months divided into several phases to capture "seasonal variation".

Sampling Frame The initial frame for the NLSS-III survey was based on the frame prepared for the 2008 Nepal Labour Force Survey (NLFS-II). This was done "to take advantage of the cartographic segmentation and household listing operations" conducted by the CBS for the NLFS-II. Number of households at ward level was obtained from the 2001 Population Census. CBS has constructed a data set with basic information (number of households, total population, and male and female population) at the ward level. This data set was used to construct the frame for the selection of primary sampling units (PSUs).

The PSU for the NLFS-II were either individual wards or sub-wards or groups of contiguous wards in the same VDC. A group of wards was considered as single PSU, to ensure that each unit continued at least 30 households.

For the ultimate sample selection of households in the NLFS-II, a frame was prepared in each ward selected at the earlier stage of sampling. A list of all households was prepared in all the wards selected for the survey. Selection of households was carried out from these listings using systematic sampling with a random start. Before the listing, an intensive cartographic work was undertaken (in the urban areas and some of the rural areas) to form appropriate enumeration block having around 200 households.

Stratification For the NLFS-II sample selection, 75 districts along with the urban and rural areas were grouped into six strata - mountains, urban areas of the Kathmandu valley, other urban areas in the hills, rural hills, urban hills, urban Tarai and rural Tarai. These six strata of the NLFS-II were further regrouped into 14 strata for the NLSS-III purposes. The "explicit" strata formed for the NLSS-III were as follows: mountains, urban areas of the Kathmandu valley, other urban areas in the hills, rural eastern hills, rural central hills, rural western hills, rural mid-western hills, rural far-western hills, urban Tarai, rural eastern Tarai, rural central Tarai, rural western Tarai, rural mid-western Tarai, and rural far-western Tarai.

Sample Design The sample design adopted in NLSS-III was modified sub-sample of the sample adopted in NLFS-II. For the NLFS-II, 800 PSUs were selected - 400 PSUs each from urban and rural areas. As mentioned earlier, the PSU for the NLFS-II was a ward or a sub-ward or a combination of wards. The PSUs were selected with probability proportional to size, the measure of size being the number of households.

For the NLSS-III, two independent samples were selected: the first was a cross sectional sample and the second was a panel. The panel sample consisted of PSUs and households previously enumerated in one or both of the past two rounds of the survey.

Cross-section Sample The cross-section sample was selected in three stages: • In the first stage, the enumeration area units (primary sampling units, PSUs) are identical to that of NLFS-II. NLFS selected a sample of 800 PSUs allocated into six explicit strata. Within each stratum, the PSUs were selected with probability proportional to size (pps), the number of households being the measure of size (mos). • In the second stage, 500 of the 800 NLFS PSUs were selected to form the NLSS-III PSUs. As mentioned earlier, for this selection purpose the six strata of NLFS-II were further divided into 14 sub-strata (Box 1.2). Within each sub-stratum, the sample was selected with equal probability. • In the third stage, 12 households were selected with equal probability in each PSU (using the computerized household listings generated by the NLFS-II as a sample frame). An additional 6 households were selected in each PSU, to be used as replacement household for non-response among the 12 originally selected households.

Panel Sample The panel sample of the NLSS-III is composed of all households visited by the NLSS-II in 100 of its primary sampling units (PSU). Fifty of them were taken from the cross-sectional component of the NLSS-II, and the remaining fifty from its panel component. In other words, one half of the NLSS-III panel households were households visited for the first time during the NLSS-II, whereas the other half were the households visited during both the NLSS-I and the NLSS-II.

Sample Size The sample size for the survey was estimated at 7200 households in 600 PSUs. Among them, 100 PSUs with 1200 households interviewed in the NLSS-I or NLSS-II were selected for reinterviewing in the NLSS-III. And, 500 PSUs with 6000 households were selected as the crosssection sample. The PSUs were selected with probability proportional to size, the measure of size being the number of households in each ward. As mentioned earlier, twelve households were selected for the enumeration from each of the selected PSU.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

As in the previous two surveys, NLSS-III used two types of questionnaires: household questionnaire and community questionnaire. There are two separate community questionnaires one each for rural and urban communities.

As many of the NLSS-II questions as possible were retained in the NLSS-III. However, some important additions and modifications were made in these questionnaires to address the contemporary issues.

A new section with questions on anthropometry and breastfeeding was added in the NLSS-III household questionnaire. Other two new sections added were on "jobs and time use" and "employment and unemployment". Additional questions on food consumption during the past 7 days were introduced in "food expenses and home production" section. For some other questions of the NLSS-II, answer categories were modified, expanded or elaborated.

First, draft questionnaires were developed based on the questionnaires used in the NLSS-II. The questionnaires were pre-tested several times to assess their use under actual field conditions. Pretests were conducted in each of the Kanchanpur, Doti, Banke, Rupendehi, Kaski, Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Nuwakot, Dolakha, Dhanusha, Dhankuta, Jhapa and Panchthar districts. Following the experience of the pre-tests and the feedback obtained from potential data users, the questionnaires to be used for the actual survey were finalized.

In line with the project's objective of improving linkages between data users and the data collecting

Abstract

The survey is part of the project work on "Strengthening Central Bureau of Statistics in Socio-economic Statistics and National Accounts," supported by UNDP.

In spite of the efforts made by varioius agencies in producing statistics, a number of key areas are still faced with critical data gaps. While activities of the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) remained tied up for a long time in conducting periodic censuses and their analyses, the demand for current economic statistics for development planning and policy formulation are being felt to be ever increasing. it was realised that the existing critical data gaps, could be fulfilled only by conducting sample surveys in different areas on a regular basis.

The Multipurpose Production Survey is indeed a step forward in thsi direction initiated by the CBS to reduc the critical data gaps gradually. The undertaken survey had envisaged to generate statistics to augment the task of improving National Accounts estimates and serve other users in various fields.

The Multipurpose Production Survey (Urban) includes altogether 1500 sub wards (to be considered as an enumeration block) from the entire 33 towns. Sub-wards consisted of 150-200 dwellings. On the basis of level of urbanization of towns, towns were categorized in three levels - Urban, Semi Urban and Partly Urban. Reference period was the average of the twenty months stretching from April 1989 to November 1990.As shown by the survey result, percentage of households engaged in these type of economic activities is higher (26.3%) in the towns under the category "Urban" and are lower in other categories with 21.9% in the "Semi-urban" and 20.7% in the "Partly urban".

Limitations of the survey

As any statistical investigation, the MPS (Urban) has its own limitations.

Despite the importance of mapping operation carried out for this survey it should be realised that the operation was more experimental and accurate results can not be expected from a firsthand attempt like this. Besides the survey was seriously affected by the poor state of maps and unavialiability of auxiliary informations required. Moreover, there was no clarity of ward boundaries even in among local authorities and residents, as the boundaries were delineated not strictly on a scientific way and were frequently changed for political reas ons. pnder the circumstances, initiation by CBS to prepare subsequent maps for survey purpose faced serious problems . Possibility of omission of some households especially in the large cities cannot be rejected.

The aspect of reference period regarding the necessity of sub-sampling of time over a year for data collection was mentioned in the Report on the MPS (Rural). Situation could not be improved in the MPS (Urban) too. In order to avoid the possibility of seasonal effect, intensity characteristics like number of months worked during the year, number of working days during the month etc. were used while estimating the annual aggregates.

Geographic coverage

National urban areas only

Analysis unit

Households.

Universe

All households in Urban areas of all 33 towns of Nepal.

Though this is basically a household survey in nature, some parts of the investigation necessarily had to be done through establishments and hence an overlap between the two. This was true especially in the case of manufacturing and retail trade.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The complexity in the sampling design of the MPS (Urban) was further simplified by the formation of smaller enumeration blocks from the large municipality wards. A single stage stratified sampling was adopted by maintaining the sample fraction of 1/10 of urban enumeration blocks for all strata. Sub-division of wards was done by distributing the number of dwellings in each ward into blocks consisting of 150-200 dwellings.

For an appropriate area sampling it is necessary that enumeration area be more or less equal in size in population and the characteristics to be investigated be homogeneous to the extent possible. However, existing size of municipality wards are not fit to be considered as an enumeration unit due to various reasons. First of all, high variation in the size of population among the wards is noteworthy. Secondly, most of the urban wards, belonging to big towns like Kathmandu, Biratnagar, Birgunj, etc. are too large and are not manageable even for field operation. So it was decided to form the sub-wards with 15-200 dwellings through an intensive field work in order to prepare a sampling frame for the MPS (Urban). Despite several constraints of resources and lack of experience in such activity, altogether 1500 sub wards (to be considered as an enumeration block) from the entire 33 towns were formed and subsequently maps for these blocks were prepared.

Different level of urbanization of towns was another aspect to be considered for sampling design. In Nepal, some of the towns seem nothing more than an administrative center or major district settlement and are either partly urbanized or yet to be urbanized. The others possess urban characteristics to a large extent but still include some rural type of settlements. Only Kathmandu and Lalitpur can be considered as urbanized municipalities. Hence, the towns were divided into three groups for stratification purposes.

1. Urban - Kathmandu, Lalitpur (2)
2. Semi Urban - (towns with more than 40,000 population according to 1981 census) i.e. Biratnagar, Birgunj, Bhaktapur, Dharan, Pokhara and Mahendranagar (4)
3. Partly urban - Ilam, Bhadrapur, Damak, Dhankuta, Inarwa, Rajbiraj, Malangwa, Kalaiya, Lahan, Janakpur, Jaleswore, Hetauda, Bharatpur, Banepa, Dhulikel, Bidur, Tansen, Bhairawa, Butwal, Taulihawa, Trivhuvan Nagar, Nepalgunj, Birendra Nagar, Dhangadi, Dipayal (25)

After formation of sub-wards and subsequent mapping operation it became possible to avoid complicated sampling procedure. A single stage sampling of enumeration areas was adopted for all three strata. The details of the sampling scheme are found in the Report.

Selection of sub-wards was made according to the method for linear systematic sampling where the towns were arranged in the order of economically active population.

The stratification adopted here has been vindicated by results of the survey also. Percentage of households engaged in these four sectors of economic activities is higher (26.3%) in the towns under the category "Urban" and are lower in other categories with 21.9% in the "Semi-urban" and 20.7% in the "Partly urban" as shown by the survey results.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The Multipurpose Production Survey (Urban) employed a different questionnaire for each of the three sectors covered:

Questionnaire No. 11 - Small-scale Manufacturing and Cottage Industry Questionnaire No. 12 - Retail Trade Questionnaire No. 13 - Non-mechanised Transport

For a copy of the Questionnaires in Nepali please refer to the attached file of the Report: Questionnaire No. 10 - Listing Sheet Questionnaire No. 11 - Small-scale Manufacturing and Cottage Industry Questionnaire No. 12 - Retail Trade Questionnaire No. 13 - Non-mechanised Transport

Cleaning operations

All the questionnaires were edited thoroughly prior to processing in the computer. Number of rejections, i.e. those that did not fall within the scope was negligible. Efforts were made to make the classification and tabulation as much comparable to those as presented in the report of the MPS (Rural).

Abstract

The main objective of the NLSS-III is to update data on the living standards of the people. The survey aims to assess the impact of various government policies and programs on the socioeconomic changes in the country during the last 7 years. Further, the survey aims to track changes experienced by previously enumerated households during the past fifteen and seven years. The Nepal Living Standards Survey, 1995-1996 (LSS-I) was a milestone in the collection of data for the objective measurement of the living standards of the people and for determining the level of poverty in the country. The survey covered a wide range of topics related to “household welfare” (demography, consumption, income, access to facilities, housing, education, health, employment, credit, remittances and anthropometry, etc.). LSS-I for the first time, provided a measure of “extent and dimension” of poverty in Nepal. The survey findings became popular among decision makers in the government agencies, the general public and the international agencies as well. It was realized that a second round of the survey was needed to update the results and to assess the impact of policies and programs on poverty and social indicators over the years (since the NLSS-I was conducted). Accordingly, the second round of the survey (LSS-II) was carried out in 2003/04 after 8 years of the first survey.

The findings of the LSS-II helped the government to monitor progress in improving national living standards and the survey became a good basis for monitoring the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) over time. Realizing the importance of time series data, the Government of Nepal decided to conduct another round of the Nepal Living Standards Survey. Accordingly, the Central Bureau of Statistics for the third time conducted the survey in 2010/11 (LSS-III). The survey was carried out with the assistance from the World Bank.

Geographic coverage

National

Analysis unit

Households

Universe

All households in the country were considered eligible for selection in the survey. The survey, however, excluded the households of diplomatic missions. The institutional households (like people living in schools' hostels, prisons, army camps and hospitals) were also excluded from the survey. The household members were determined on the basis of the usual place of their residence. Foreign nationals whose usual place of residence is within the country were included in the survey.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

(a) SAMPLING FRAME

The initial frame for the LSS-III survey was based on the frame prepared for the 2008 Nepal Labour Force Survey (NLFS-II). This was done "to take advantage of the cartographic segmentation and household listing operations" conducted by the CBS for the NLFS-II. Number of households at ward level was obtained from the 2001 Population Census. CBS has constructed a data set with basic information (number of households, total population, and male and female population) at the ward level. This data set was used to construct the frame for the selection of primary sampling units (PSUs). The PSU for the NLFS-II were either individual wards or sub-wards or groups of contiguous wards in the same VDC. A group of wards was considered as single PSU, to ensure that each unit continued at least 30 households. For the ultimate sample selection of households in the NLFS-II, a frame was prepared in each ward selected at the earlier stage of sampling. A list of all households was prepared in all the wards selected for the survey. Selection of households was carried out from these listings using systematic sampling with a random start. Before the listing, an intensive cartographic work was undertaken (in the urban areas and some of the rural areas) to form appropriate enumeration block having around 200 households.

(b) STRATIFICATION

For the NLFS-II sample selection, 75 districts along with the urban and rural areas were grouped into six strata - mountains, urban areas of the Kathmandu valley, other urban areas in the hills, rural hills, urban hills, urban Tarai and rural Tarai. These six strata of the NLFS-II were further regrouped into 14 strata for the NLSS-III purposes. The "explicit" strata formed for the NLSS-III were as follows: mountains, urban areas of the Kathmandu valley, other urban areas in the hills, rural eastern hills, rural central hills, rural western hills, rural mid-western hills, rural far-western hills, urban Tarai, rural eastern Tarai, rural central Tarai, rural western Tarai, rural mid-western Tarai, and rural far-western Tarai.

(c) SAMPLE DESIGN

The sample design adopted in LSS-III was modified sub-sample of the sample adopted in NLFS-II. For the NLFS-II, 800 PSUs were selected - 400 PSUs each from urban and rural areas. As mentioned earlier, the PSU for the NLFS-II was a ward or a sub-ward or a combination of wards. The PSUs were selected with probability proportional to size, the measure of size being the number of households. For the LSS-III, two independent samples were selected: the first was a cross sectional sample and the second was a panel. The panel sample consisted of PSUs and households previously enumerated in one or both of the past two rounds of the survey.

(d) SAMPLE SIZE

The sample size for the survey was estimated at 7200 households in 600 PSUs. Among them, 100 PSUs with 1200 households interviewed in the LSS-I or LSS-II were selected for re-interviewing in the LSS-III. 500 PSUs with 6000 households were selected as the cross-section sample. The PSUs were selected with probability proportional to size, the measure of size being the number of households in each ward. As mentioned earlier, twelve households were selected for the enumeration from each of the selected PSU.

Mode of data collection

Computer Assisted Personal Interview [capi]

Cleaning operations

Each of 20 field teams consisted of 5 members in which one person was specially trained for data entry and consistency checking. The supervisor of the team was responsible for final editing and consistency checks at the field level. Each field teams were provided with a laptop computer for data entry and they were required to complete the data entry and editing at the respective locality of data collection(PSU). CSPro version 3.3 was used for designing data entry codes. The data management package was embedded with specially designed consistency check codes for possible errors. The data collectors were required to revisit the households to verify for any missing or inconsistent values that were detected while running consistency checks. As in the previous two rounds of the survey, a distinctive feature of the LSS-III was the use of personal computer in the field. A data entry programme developed specifically for the survey was installed on each computer provided to the field teams. The data entry programme enabled the data entry operator as well as the team supervisor to find out mistakes and missing data (if any) and to perform inconsistency checks. When problems or errors were found, the interviewers returned to the households to correct the errors. The field supervision from the CBS included the real time check and verification of data entry work in the field. This process of real time entering, checking and correcting data in the field helped to enhance the quality of data collected. It also reduced the time lag between data collection and data processing. This also helped to make data available for processing shortly after the completion of the collection phase. After the completion of the field work (including data entry), the data diskettes were sent back to the CBS from the field. Data processing and analysis was done in the CBS using STATA statistical software package.

Wealth characteristics of migrant and settled population.

Abstract

The study was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, focus group discussions were utilized to identify all the different reasons for non-use of contraception among women identified as having an unmet need for family planning. The information obtained from these discussions was used to design questions for inclusion in the second phase, a nationally representative sample survey.

The objective of the study was to move beyond previous research on the KAP-GAP by conducting an in-depth investigation which would identify the reasons for non-use of family planning among women in Nepal who wanted to space or limit their births. This objective was realized through the application of focus group methods followed by a survey which included an open-ended question regarding reasons for non-use.

Geographic coverage

National coverage

Analysis unit

• Household
• Woman age 15-49 years

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The sample design utilized in the study was the same design used in the Nepal Fertility and Family Planning Survey (NFFS) of 1986. This multi-stage design was applied to rural and urban areas where at each stage of selection the sample was drawn on the basis of the probability proportional to the size (PPS) of the particular units.

The selection of the rural sample involved several stages. In the first stage 27 districts were selected from a total of 75 districts which were first arranged in serpentine order from east to west for Terai (Plains) districts, west to east for Hill districts and east to west for Mountain districts. The selection of districts was based on the 1981 population census and carried out with a systematic random sampling procedure.

The second stage involved the selection of two village panchayats from each district selected. At this stage a total of 54 village panchayats were selected. The third stage selected a total of 108 village wards from each selected village panchayat (i.e., 2 wards from one village panchayat). Village panchayats and wards were selected based on the number of households listed in the 1985 electoral list. At the final stage of sample selection, a complete listing of households was prepared for each selected village ward and approximately 40 households were selected with a systematic random sampling procedure.

The urban sample was also drawn at several stages. In the first stage 14 of the 29 town panchayats were selected. The Kathmandu town panchayat was selected three times because of its population size. A total of 48 wards (3 from each town panchayat) were selected at the second stage. Each of the wards selected was divided into sub-wards based on maps and field reconnaissance. This was followed by the random selection of a sub-ward and a systematic random selection of 30 households from a household list.

From the household list of the NFFS 3,836 rural households and 1,568 urban households were identified. These households were contacted to list all currently married women who resided the previous night at the house. In order to reduce the incidence of non-response, enumerators were required to make a minimum of three visits to complete the interview. All 156 sample points except one were visited to complete the survey. The reason for not completing the one sample point was an unfavorable situation for conducting interviews in the area.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The survey utilized three data collection instruments, a household questionnaire, a screening questionnaire and an in-depth questionnaire. The household questionnaire was used to identify all eligible women to whom the screening questionnaire would be administered.

Response rate

Of the 3836 rural households, 89.5 percent were successfully while 81.4 percent of the 1,568 urban households were interviewed. Approximately 10 percent and 19 percent of non-responses, respectively, of rural and urban households, were largely attributed to two reasons: household not found and moved elsewhere. Altogether, 3432 rural households and 1277 urban households were successfully completed.

From the 3432 rural households, 4009 currently married women aged 15-49 years were identified as eligible women; and 1268 women from 1277 urban households were identified as eligible. Of these women, 97.3 percent in rural areas and 98.9 percent in urban areas were successfully interviewed.

Abstract

The major aim of the 2008 Nepal Labour Force Survey was to update a set of comprehensive statistics on employment, unemployment, under-employment. As essential tools, such information play key role in assessing the impact of various government policies and programs planned for employment generation. Likewise, the results from the survey do provide information required for skill development, for managing the flow of migrant workers, for improving the status of women and children, and for assessing the role and importance of the informal sector. However, this time, the scope was further extended to generate information required to improve infrastructure of households and for appropriate management of remittances flowing into the country.

Geographic coverage

National

Analysis unit

• Households
• Individuals

Universe

The survey covered all households excluding households of diplomatic missions and institutional households such as school hostels, prisons, army camps and hospitals. The homeless and those people living for six months or more away from the households were not considered eligible and hence were excluded from the survey.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

Sample design The sampling design adopted in NLSS-II is slightly modified from NLFS-I. The design is based on two stages stratified sampling technique with equal PSUs or households distributed between urban and rural areas as done in NLFS-I considering the heterogeneous labour force activities to provide a detailed picture of employment situation in the urban areas. So the prescribed 800 PSUs are divided equally in two parts, i.e., 400 PSUs each for urban and rural. Urban areas are stratified into three strata as Urban Kathmandu Valley, Other Urban Hills and Urban Tarai, and rural areas are stratified into Rural Mountains, Rural Hills and Rural Tarai. The sample size of 400 PSUs in each urban and rural area will be proportionately distributed within their respective strata. In the first stage, the prescribed PSUs (wards or sub-wards or combination of wards) are selected by Probability Proportional to Size (PPS) from each stratum, i.e. the number of households in the ward as the measure of the size. Using PPS at the first stage is followed by selecting a fixed number of households at the second stage that provides a convenient workload for each field team. This design has the benefit that the sample, in principle, is self-weighted. In the second stage, 20 households are selected from each PSU (ward) of urban and rural strata with systematic random sampling procedure giving a total of 16000 households from 800 PSUs.

The minimum sample size required is estimated as 244 households for urban and 361 households for rural domain based on the currently economically active population taken from Nepal Living Standards Survey 2003-04. Based on employment status of the population of this fresh survey information, the minimum households to be selected turns out to be 265 for urban and 277 for rural. However, 400 households each in urban and rural area have been allocated in this survey to provide reliable estimates for lower level of disaggregation up to 5 years age group (10 groups) by sex (2 groups). There will be altogether 8000 households in each urban and rural area.

Note: See Annex A (in the final survey report) for the details of the sample design.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The questionnaire for the survey was prepared in Nepali language. The questionnaire was based on the survey questionnaire used in the first Nepal Labour Force Survey 1998/99. There were some additional subjects such as household characteristics, migration and remittances and absentees information included in the questionnaire for this second round.

The NLFS-I questionnaire (which was developed on the basis of an ILO manual and comprised of 77 questions) provided a concrete base for developing the NLFS-II questionnaire. The NLFS-II questionnaire was substantially expanded to 130 questions in eight sections. The questionnaire structure ensured that respondents (other than heads of households who also had a few additional questions) generally answered a maximum of about 80 questions and most were asked significantly fewer questions.

For the sake of maintaining comparability many questions that were asked in the NLFS-I were retained. However, some important additions were made to address some contemporary issues such as household amenities, absentee population and remittances flowing into the country. Some questions were modified in order to have better response than in the previous survey. The eight sections in the NLFS-II questionnaire were designed to capture data on general information, household information, current activities, unemployment, activity in last 12 months, past employment record, absentee information and remittances received by households. The sections on household information, absentee information and remittances were asked only to head of household.

As already indicated, some modifications were made on questions that aimed to collect accurate and reliable information on informal activity and usual activity. Questions relating to usual activity were asked to collect the number of months he/she had spent in three different categories of activity (working, not working but available for work, and not working and not available for work) over the last 12 months. A month was considered to be "worked" if the person spent most days in that month at work. A month was considered to be "not working but available for work" if the person spent most days in that month not working but available to work. This method of determining usual activity status is simpler than that used in the NLFS-I (see footnote 1) but remains comparable with the international standards on labour statistics. In the household information, some of the questions are intended to provide statistics for monitoring selected Millennium Development Goals. Furthermore, some questions that have been added relate to ownership of house, type of energy used for cooking, lighting source and size of agriculture land. A copy of the questionnaire is mentioned in Annex B, while Annex C contains a detailed flow chart which can be used to identify the paths followed through the questionnaire by people with different characteristics.

As in the NLFS-I, the lower age cut-off point for the questions on economic activity was maintained at 5 years. This enables in the collection of data on the economic activities of children. This time as well, the objective to make the questionnaire more gender sensitive has been retained. Information on those activities such as cooking, cleaning and childminding which are performed without pay for the household, mainly by women, was collected.

Initially, the draft questionnaire was presented to the Technical Committee and underwent several rounds of discussions. Improvements and modifications were made according to the suggestions and comments received from members of the Technical Committee representing various interest groups. The questionnaire thereafter was pre-tested several times and revised intensively in accordance to the feedback received from each pre-test. The pre-tests were carried out to cover a wide range of areas and included different ecological zones, development regions and urban/rural areas. The questionnaire in the final Nepali version was translated into English to see if there were any misunderstandings likely to emerge. Probable confusions were removed in the final Nepali version of the questionnaire that was to be administered to the field for data collection so that there would be less chance of misunderstanding about the intended meaning of each question. At the same time an interviewers manual was prepared to elaborate the concept and objective of each question that led to collect reliable and accurate information.

Cleaning operations

A centralised data processing system was used for this survey. There could have been some advantages in using decentralised processing, since it would have permitted field editing immediately after the fieldwork. However, as in the past, the need to maintain a careful control over data entry and verification of all coding, especially of difficult topics such as occupation, industry, and subject of training was difficult to resolve in the field.

The data entry exercise in whole was carried out by at most three data entry operators for 12 months simultaneously with the field work. The data entry activity was supervised by an experienced computer officer in the section. Labour force surveys generally use very technical definitions of key terms (such as the ‘currently active’) and as in the past, special programs were therefore written in CSPro to produce these derived variables, based on how each person responded to various different questions.

Response rate

There was very little non-response on the survey, with data not collected for only 24 households out of 16,000. Twenty of these households are accounted for by one PSU in the Far-western region. This PSU could not be covered in the third season because the selected households had been evicted to other wards of next VDC in order to declare it a wildlife conservation area. The eviction had taken place after the 2001 Population Census. The weights for the two other PSUs selected in that area were therefore adjusted at the analysis stage to compensate for the 20 missing households.

Sampling error estimates

As with all surveys, the results from