Malawi 2015-16

The information collected in the 2015-16 MDHS will assist policy makers and programme managers in
evaluating and designing programmes and strategies that can improve the health of the country’s
population.
1.2 SAMPLE DESIGN
The sampling frame used for the 2015-16 MDHS is the frame of the Malawi Population and Housing
Census (MPHC), conducted in Malawi in 2008, and provided by the Malawi National Statistical Office
(NSO). The census frame is a complete list of all census standard enumeration areas (SEAs) created for the
2008 MPHC. A SEA is a geographic area that covers an average of 235 households. The sampling frame
contains information about the SEA location, type of residence (urban or rural), and the estimated number
of residential households.
Administratively, Malawi is divided into 28 districts. The sample for the 2015-16 MDHS was designed to
provide estimates of key indicators for the country as a whole, for urban and rural areas separately, and for
each of the 28 districts. Indicators will also be shown for the Northern, Central, and Southern regions of
the country.
The 2015-16 MDHS sample was stratified and selected in two stages. Each district was stratified into
urban and rural areas; this yielded 56 sampling strata. Samples of SEAs were selected independently in
each stratum in two stages. Implicit stratification and proportional allocation were achieved at each of the
lower administrative levels by sorting the sampling frame within each sampling stratum before sample
selection, according to administrative units in different levels, and by using a probability proportional to
size selection at the first stage of sampling.
In the first stage, 850 SEAs, including 173 SEAs in urban areas and 677 in rural areas, were selected with
probability proportional to the SEA size and with independent selection in each sampling stratum. The
SEA size is the number of residential households in the SEA as defined in the 2008 MPHC. A household
listing operation was implemented in all the selected SEAs during August-October 2016. The resulting
lists of households served as a sampling frame for the selection of households in the second stage. Some of
the selected SEAs were large. To minimise the task of household listing, each large SEA (more than 250
households) selected for the 2015-16 MDHS was segmented. One segment was selected for the survey
with probability proportional to the segment size. A household listing was conducted only in the selected
segment. Thus, in the 2015-16 MDHS, a cluster is either an SEA or a segment of an SEA.
In the second stage of selection, a fixed number of 30 households per urban cluster and 33 per rural cluster
were selected with an equal probability systematic selection from the newly created household listing. All
women age 15-49 who were either permanent residents of the selected households or visitors who stayed in
the household the night before the survey were eligible to be interviewed. In one-third of all sampled
households, all men age 15-54, including both usual residents and other persons who stayed in the
household the night before the interview, were eligible for individual interview. In the subsample of
households selected for the male survey, anaemia testing was performed among eligible women who
consented to being tested. With the parent’s or guardian’s consent, children age 6-59 months were also
tested for anaemia. In the same subsample, blood samples were collected for laboratory testing of HIV
from eligible women and men who consented. Height and weight information was also collected from
eligible women and from children age 0-59 months.
1.3 QUESTIONNAIRES
Four questionnaires were used in the 2015-16 MDHS: the Household Questionnaire, the Woman’s
Questionnaire, the Man’s Questionnaire, and the Biomarker Questionnaire. These questionnaires, based on
The DHS Program’s standard Demographic and Health Survey questionnaires, were adapted to reflect the
population and health issues relevant to Malawi. Input was solicited from stakeholders who represented
government ministries and agencies, nongovernmental organisations, and international donors. After the
2 • Introduction and Survey Methodology