- ABOUT THE DATA
- UNDERSTANDING SURVEY STATISTICS
- WORKING WITH DATASETS
- DATASET ACCESS
MEASURE DHS is authorized to distribute, at no cost, unrestricted survey data files for legitimate academic research. Registration is required for access to data.
Distribution Files
Survey datasets are distributed as compressed .ZIP files. A distribution .ZIP file contains multiple working files which generally include a data file, various data definition files, and other documentation. This page includes instructions on how to work with distribution .ZIP files.
On this page
Distribution File Naming Convention
Country Codes
Data File Type Codes
Data Version Codes
File Format Codes
Working Files
The types of "working files" that are contained in each distributed .ZIP file include a data file, various data definitions, and other documentation. The exact type of files that are included will vary depending on the associated data type and file format.
Working files must be extracted from the distributed .ZIP file. The files can be extracted using PKUNZIP, Winzip, or other data compression software. You can download the Winzip Evaluation Version for free.
Types of Working Files
Examples of Working File Types
Distribution File Naming Convention
An individual .ZIP file is distributed for each dataset type (e.g. household, women, men, children, couples, etc.) and file format (e.g. hierarchical, flat, SPSS, SAS, Stata.) Each .ZIP distribution file is uniquely named with a standard naming convention.
Dataset files are named according to the following convention: [CC][DD][VV][FF].ZIP
Code Description:
[CC] Country Code
[DD] Dataset Type (e.g. HR–Household, PR-Household Member, IR–Women, MR–Men, BR-Births, KR–Children under 5, and CR–couples)
[VV] Dataset Version (First Character - DHS Phase) (Second Character - Release version)
[FF] File Format (eg. FL-Flat, SV-SPSS, DT-Stata, SD-SAS)
Example:
To give an example of how distribution files for a survey are organized, the following table shows the available files, along with the names that they are given for the Kenya 2003 DHS survey.
| Kenya 2003 DHS Survey | |||||
| ASCII File Types | Software-Specific Data File Types | ||||
| Unit of Analysis | Hierarchical | Flat | SAS | SPSS | Stata |
| Households | KEHR42FL.ZIP | KEHR42SD.ZIP | KEHR42SV.ZIP | KEHR42DT.ZIP | |
| Household Members | KEPR42FL.ZIP | KEPR42SD.ZIP | KEPR42SV.ZIP | KEPR42DT.ZIP | |
| Women | KEIR42.ZIP | KEIR42FL.ZIP | KEIR42SD.ZIP | KEIR42SV.ZIP | KEIR42DT.ZIP |
| Men | KEMR42.ZIP | KEMR42FL.ZIP | KEMR42SD.ZIP | KEMR42SV.ZIP | KEMR42DT.ZIP |
| Births | KEBR42FL.ZIP | KEBR42SD.ZIP | KEBR42SV.ZIP | KEBR42DT.ZIP | |
| Children | KEKR42FL.ZIP | KEKR42SD.ZIP | KEKR42SV.ZIP | KEKR42DT.ZIP | |
| Couples | KECR42FL.ZIP | KECR42SD.ZIP | KECR42SV.ZIP | KECR42DT.ZIP | |
| HIV Test Results | KEAR42.ZIP | KEAR42FL.ZIP | KEAR42SD.ZIP | KEAR42SV.ZIP | KEAR42DT.ZIP |
The following reference tables contain the descriptions for the four different types of filename codes (country, data type, data version, and file format).
Country Codes - [CC]DDVVFF.ZIP
| CC: Country Code Description |
|||
| Code | Country Name | Code | Country Name |
| AF | Afghanistan | MD | Madagascar |
| AL | Albania | MW | Malawi |
| AO | Angola | MV | Maldives |
| AM | Armenia | ML | Mali |
| AZ | Azerbaijan | MR | Mauritania |
| BD | Bangladesh | MX | Mexico |
| BJ | Benin | MB | Moldova |
| BO | Bolivia | MA | Morocco |
| BT | Botswana | MZ | Mozambique |
| BR | Brazil | MM | Myanmar |
| BF | Burkina Faso | NM | Namibia |
| BU | Burundi | NP | Nepal |
| KH | Cambodia | NC | Nicaragua |
| CM | Cameroon | NI | Niger |
| CV | Cape Verde | NG | Nigeria |
| CF | CAR | OS | Nigeria (Ondo State) |
| TD | Chad | PK | Pakistan |
| CO | Colombia | PY | Paraguay |
| KM | Comoros | PE | Peru |
| CG | Congo (Brazzaville) | PH | Philippines |
| CD | Congo Democratic Republic | RW | Rwanda |
| CI | Cote d'Ivoire | WS | Samoa |
| DR | Dominican Republic | ST | Sao Tome and Principe |
| EC | Ecuador | SN | Senegal |
| EG | Egypt | SL | Sierra Leone |
| ES | El Salvador | ZA | South Africa |
| EK | Equatorial Guinea | LK | Sri Lanka |
| ER | Eritrea | SD | Sudan |
| ET | Ethiopia | SZ | Swaziland |
| GA | Gabon | TJ | Tajikistan |
| GE | Georgia | TZ | Tanzania |
| GH | Ghana | TH | Thailand |
| GU | Guatemala | TL | Timor-Leste |
| GN | Guinea | TG | Togo |
| GY | Guyana | TT | Trinidad and Tobago |
| HT | Haiti | TN | Tunisia |
| HN | Honduras | TR | Turkey |
| IA | India | TM | Turkmenistan |
| ID | Indonesia | UG | Uganda |
| JO | Jordan | UA | Ukraine |
| KK | Kazakhstan | UZ | Uzbekistan |
| KE | Kenya | VN | Vietnam |
| KY | Kyrgyz Republic | WB | WestBank/Gaza |
| LA | Lao People's Democratic Republic | YE | Yemen |
| LS | Lesotho | ZM | Zambia |
| LB | Liberia | ZW | Zimbabwe |
Data File Types - CC[DD]VVFF.ZIP
| DD: Data File Types |
|
| Data Type | Description |
| AH | Adult Health* |
| AR | HIV Test Results Recode |
| BR | Births Recode |
| CH | Children's Raw* |
| CP | Couples' Raw* |
| CR | Couples' Recode |
| EX | Experimental* |
| GE | Geographic Data |
| HT | HIV Test Results Raw |
| HW | Height and Weight Scores - WHO Child Growth Standards |
| KR | Children's Recode |
| HH | Household Raw |
| HR | Household Recode |
| ID | In-depth* |
| IH | Individual/Household Raw |
| IQ | Individual Raw |
| IR | Individual Recode |
| ML | Male Raw |
| MR | Male Recode |
| OB | Other Biomarkers |
| OD | Other Data* |
| PG | Parent/Guardian Raw |
| PQ | Household Member Raw |
| PR | Household Member Recode |
| SC | Screening* |
| SM | Safe Motherhood |
| SQ SP |
Service Availability Raw Service Provision Assessment (SPA) - Raw |
| SR | Service Provision Assessment (SPA) – Recode |
| VA | Verbal Autopsy* |
| VR | Village Recode |
| WI | Wealth Index |
| WS | Women's Status* |
| XP | Expenditure* |
| XR | Child Under 5 Recode |
Data Versions - CCDD[VV]FF.ZIP
| VV: Version Number |
|
| Version No. | Description |
| Phase 1 | |
| 0(1 - 9) | First survey conducted under DHS-I 00 – Release version 0 01 – Release version 1 02 – Release version 2 03 – Release version 3 [...] |
| Phase 2 | |
| 2(1 - 9) | First survey conducted under DHS-II 20 – Release version 0 21 – Release version 1 22 – Release version 2 23 – Release version 3 [...] |
| Phase 3 | |
| 3(0 - 9) | First survey conducted under DHS-III 30 – Release Version 0 31 – Release version 1 32 – Release version 2 33 – Release version 3 [...] |
| 3(A – H) | Second survey conducted under DHS-III 3H – Release Version 0 3A – Release version 1 3B – Release version 2 3C – Release version 3 [...] |
| 3(I - Q) | Third survey conducted under DHS-III 3Q – Release Version 0 3I – Release version 1 3J – Release version 2 3K – Release version 3 [...] |
| Phase 4 | |
| 4(0 - 9) | First survey conducted under DHS-IV 40 – Release Version 0 41 – Release version 1 42 – Release version 2 43 – Release version 3 [...] |
| 4(A – H) | Second survey conducted under DHS-IV 4H – Release Version 0 4A – Release version 1 4B – Release version 2 4C – Release version 3 [...] |
| 4(I - Q) | Third survey conducted under DHS-IV 4Q – Release Version 0 4I – Release version 1 4J – Release version 2 4K – Release version 3 [...] |
| Phase 5 | |
| 5(0 - 9) | First survey conducted under DHS-V 50 – Release Version 0 51 – Release version 1 52 – Release version 2 53 – Release version 3 [...] |
| 5(A – H) | Second survey conducted under DHS-V 5H – Release Version 0 5A – Release version 1 5B – Release version 2 5C – Release version 3 [...] |
| 5(I - Q) | Third survey conducted under DHS-V 5Q – Release Version 0 5I – Release version 1 5J – Release version 2 5K – Release version 3 [...] |
| 5(R - Z) | Fourth survey conducted under DHS-V 5Z – Release version 0 5R – Release version 1 5S – Release version 2 5T – Release version 3 [...] |
| Phase 6 | |
| 6(0 - 9) | First survey conducted under DHS-VI 60 – Release Version 0 61 – Release version 1 62 – Release version 2 63 – Release version 3 [...] |
| 6(A – H) | Second survey conducted under DHS-VI 6H – Release Version 0 6A – Release version 1 6B – Release version 2 6C – Release version 3 [...] |
| 6(I - Q) | Third survey conducted under DHS-VI 6Q – Release Version 0 6I – Release version 1 6J – Release version 2 6K – Release version 3 [...] |
| 6(R - Z) | Fourth survey conducted under DHS-VI 6Z – Release version 0 6R – Release version 1 6S – Release version 2 6T – Release version 3 [...] |
File Formats - CCDDVV[FF].ZIP
| FF: Format of the Data |
|
| Format Code |
Description |
| __ | Hierarchical (no format indicator) |
| FL | Flat Data File |
| SV | SPSS Data File |
| DT | Stata Data File |
| SD | SAS Data File |
Types of Working Files
The following reference table lists the types of working files that are included in a distributed dataset .ZIP file, depending of the data format.
| XXX: File Extension |
|||||||
| File Extension | Description | Flat ASCII File | Hierarchical File | SPSS Data File | SAS Data File | Stata Data File | Notes |
| .DAT | ASCII data file | YES | YES | ||||
| .DCF | Dictionary file for use with CSPro | YES | YES | not in all files | |||
| .DCT | Stata dictionary file (syntax) | YES | |||||
| .DO | Stata syntax file | YES | |||||
| .DOC | Microsoft word document with country information | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | |
| .DTA | STATA system file | YES | |||||
| .FRQ | Unweighted frequency distribution (open with a text editor) | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | |
| .FRW | Weighted frequency distribution (open with a text editor) | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | |
| .MAP | File layout or codebook (open with a text editor) | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | |
| .SAS | SAS data description file (syntax) | YES | |||||
| .SAV | SPSS system file | YES | |||||
| .SD2 | SAS system file | YES | |||||
| .SPS | SPSS data description file (syntax) | YES | |||||
Please note that the .DOC file is only present in the Individual Recode(IR) and Men's Recode(MR) files.
Examples of Working File Types
Using the Kenya 2003 MEASURE DHS+ as an example, the following table shows the Individual Recode files distributed for each file format.
| Kenya 2003 MEASURE DHS+ |
||||
| Hierarchical Data (KEIR41) | Flat ASCII Data (KEIR41FL) | SPSS Data File (KEIR41SV) | SAS Data File (KEIR41SD) | Stata Data File (KEIR41DT) |
| n/a | n/a | SPSS data file (.SAV) | SAS data file (.SD2) | Stata data file (.DTA) |
| ASCII data file (.DAT) | ASCII data file (.DAT) | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Dictionary file for use with CSPro (.DCF) | Dictionary file for use with CSPro (.DCF) | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| n/a | Stata dictionary file (.DCT) | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| n/a | Stata syntax file (.DO) | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| n/a | SAS data description file (syntax) (.SAS) | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| n/a | SPSS data description file (syntax) (.SPS) | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| File layout or codebook (.MAP)* | ||||
| Unweighted frequency distribution (.FRQ)* | ||||
| Weighted frequency distribution (.FRW)* | ||||
| Microsoft word document with country information (.DOC) | ||||
* .MAP, .FRQ and .FRW files may be opened using an ASCII text editor, such as Notepad.
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