Description

DWELLTYPE reports the type of dwelling where the household lives. While most surveys distinguish between apartments, houses, and unspecified "other" dwellings, some surveys recognize additional types of dwellings, such as barracks or temporary shelters. See Comparability.

The information in DWELLTYPE is taken from the household record and applies to regular household residents, not temporary visitors. Researchers may wish to exclude visitors using the RESIDENT variable (with visitors coded "2") when women, children, or births are the unit of analysis, and using the HHRESIDENT variable when household members are the unit of analysis.

Comparability — Index

Comparability

Along with universe differences, DWELLTYPE differs across samples in the number and specific nature of response categories. To maximize comparability across samples, IPUMS-DHS uses composite coding for DWELLTYPE. For example, all responses falling under the general heading of "house" have a first digit of 2, while more specific detail about the type of house is retained in the second digit (e.g., "hut" is coded "22").

IPUMS-DHS users are encouraged to review the Survey Text to uncover more detail in the responses. For example, some surveys combine responses for a rented room in a house and for an independent house, while others treat occupying one or two rooms in a larger dwelling as a separate "other" category.

Comparability - Standard DHS

DWELLTYPE is a country-specific variable not included in the standard DHS household questionnaire.

Universe