Description

TOTALROOMS reports the number of rooms in the household's dwelling. Question wording varies across samples; see Comparability.

The information in TOTALROOMS 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

GENERAL Angola Bangladesh

Egypt Morocco

Nigeria Yemen

Comparability

Along with universe differences, TOTALROOMS varies across samples in question wording. Some surveys simply asked, "How many rooms are in your household?" Other surveys, discussed below, explicitly excluded some types of rooms, such as kitchens, bathrooms, and hallways. Still other surveys (again discussed below) used inclusive wording, such as "including rooms for sleeping and all other rooms." Finally, some surveys asked about the number of rooms for the family's exclusive use. IPUMS-DHS users are encouraged to review the Survey Text tab for samples of interest.

The various qualifications added to the question about the number of rooms in the household's dwelling indicate that users should be cautious in comparing results for TOTALROOMS across countries or survey years. Rooms such as bathrooms, kitchens, hallways, and stairways may have been included or excluded; rooms for non-family members, such as boarders, and common areas in apartment buildings or duplexes were explicitly excluded in some surveys and implicitly included in others.

Comparability - Standard DHS

TOTALROOMS in a country-specific variable not included in the standard questionnaire for any phase of the DHS.

Universe