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Ghana, 1979-80 (WFS)

The following description of this survey appeared in the 1991 edition of Dynamic Database: A Catalogue of Survey Data Files, Voorburg: International Statistical Institute.

Basic Information

• Name of survey: Ghana Fertility Survey
• Executive agency: Central Bureau of Statistics
• Date of fieldwork: 1979-80
• Universe: All women, 15-49
• Coverage: National, 100%
• Size: 6125
• Weights: Self-weighting
• Contents: WFS Core Mark 1 + FOTCAF and family planning modules
• Supplementary surveys: Household members (n = 28,825, self-weighting)

Additional Information

This country was chosen as the site for an extensive pilot survey of the WFS core questionnaire and FOTCAF module (see reference 3 below). Partly as a result of this experience, it was decided to use a largely male field force for survey execution.

The fieldwork duration was prolonged to 14 months because of political and industrial crises. Nine printed linguistic versions of the questionnaire were used, but despite this effort, the use of interpreters was found necessary in about 15 per cent of interviews, particularly in the north of the country.

In addition to the FOTCAF and most of the family planning module, the abortion module was used and the SR file contains a complete non-live birth history.

Other miscellaneous country-specific information includes: place of and medical assistance with delivery of last two births; whether current marriage is monogamous or polygynous (but not respondent's rank); whether husband lives in the same household; and desired spacing of next child.

The household file includes a set of derived variables on household composition.

Release Conditions

Data may be used for academic research, provided that credit is given in any publication resulting from the research to the agency that conducted the survey and that two copies of any publication are sent to:

Dr. Kwaku A. Twum-Baah Central Bureau of Statistics P.O. Box 1350 Accra Ghana

Public Use Files

Available files include the household data and dictionary, and the individual standard recode data and dictionary, in the original WFS format. In addition, the individual standard recode data and dictionary dictionary are available in DHS/ISSA format. The table below lists the file names and descriptions.

Key References

1. Central Bureau of Statistics, Ghana Fertility Survey 1979-80: First Report, Accra, 1983.

2. Owusu, J.Y., Evaluation of the Ghana Fertility Survey 1979-80, WFS Scientific Reports no 69, 1984.

3. Gaisie, S.K., Child-Spacing Patterns and Fertility Differentials in Ghana, in Page, H.J. and R.J. Lesthaeghe, eds Child Spacing in Tropical Africa: Traditions and Change, Academic Press, 1981.

4. Singh, S., J.Y. Owusu and I.H. Shah, eds Demographic Patterns in Ghana: Evidence from the Ghana Fertility Survey 1979-80, ISI, 1985.