Description

FPTALKCOUS indicates whether the woman has recently discussed the practice of family planning with her cousin(s).

Comparability

FPTALKCOUS differs across samples in question wording, which may reduce the variable's comparability.

Most commonly, the surveys asked, "In the last few months, have you discussed the practice of family planning with your friends, neighbors, or relatives?"
If the woman said "yes," she was then asked, "With whom? Anyone else?" FPTALKCOUS captures whether the woman mentioned her cousin(s) in response to the open-ended question.

In the standard question wording, the exact number of months is not specified, and the question refers to an ambiguous time interval. However, some samples refer to a specific number of months. For example, some samples ask about the discussion of family planning in the last 12 or 6 months.

Varying time intervals could lead to variation in the frequency of responses. Researchers interested in using FPTALKCOUS should take the reference period into consideration when comparing across samples. See Survey Text.

Comparability - Standard DHS

An open-ended question about the woman's discussion of family planning is included in the standard DHS questionnaire for Phases III and IV, though FPTALKCOUS is a country-specific response and is not included in the standard DHS modules.

Universe