
CSPro is used in The DHS Program in all steps of data processing with no need for another package or computer language. CSPro is specifically designed to meet the data processing needs of complex surveys such as DHS, and one of its key features is its ability to handle hierarchical files. CSPro is developed by the US Bureau of the Census, ICF, and SerPro SA with funding from USAID. The DHS Program uses a software package, CSPro, to process its surveys. Additionally, data on children may be collected in the Household Questionnaire and in the birth history within a Woman’s Questionnaire – these data can be linked in analysis.

Similarly for men, some basic characteristics are collected in the Household Questionnaire and in the Man’s Questionnaire. For example, data about women may be collected in the Household Questionnaire, and also in the Woman’s Questionnaire. Within this hierarchy, data may be collected about the same person in more than one questionnaire. The data from a DHS survey naturally forms a hierarchy of households within a cluster, household members within each household, interviewed women and men as a subset of household members, and children of each interviewed woman, as shown in the example figure below.

The birth history is then the basis for selecting children under certain ages for the maternal health, immunization, child health, and nutrition sections of the questionnaire. The Woman’s Questionnaire, in addition to questions about the woman, contains a birth history that is used to list all children (alive or dead) that the respondent has given birth to, with the child’s sex, date of birth, age, and survival status. Women and men age 15-49 (age range varies for men) are interviewed using the Woman’s Questionnaire and Man’s Questionnaire respectively.


Eligible household members are typically children under age 5, and women and men age 15-49. The Biomarker Questionnaire collects information for each eligible household member on anthropometric measurements and levels of hemoglobin, and records information about samples for biomarker testing. The household roster within this questionnaire captures key characteristics of each household member and is used to select women and men eligible for individual interviews. The Household Questionnaire collects data on the characteristics of the household and list all household members. Organization of DHS Data Organization of DHS DataĭHS surveys collect data through four main questionnaires.
