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1.4 OBJECTIVES AND ORGANIZATION OF THE SURVEY
The principal objective of the Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) is to provide
current and reliable data on fertility and family planning behavior, child mortality, children’s nutritional
status, the utilization of maternal and child health services, and knowledge of HIV/AIDS. This
information is essential for informed policy decisions, planning, monitoring, and evaluation of programs
on health in general and reproductive health in particular at both the national and regional levels. A
long-term objective of the survey is to strengthen the technical capacity of the Central Statistical
Authority to plan, conduct, process, and analyze data from complex national population and health
surveys. Moreover, the 2000 Ethiopia DHS is the first survey of its kind in the country to provide
national and regional estimates on population and health that are comparable to data collected in similar
surveys in other developing countries. As part of the worldwide DHS project, the Ethiopia DHS data add
to the vast and growing international database on demographic and health variables. The Ethiopia DHS
collected demographic and health information from a nationally representative sample of women and
men in the reproductive age groups 15-49 and 15-59, respectively.
The Ethiopia DHS was carried out under the aegis of the Ministry of Health and was implemented
by the Central Statistical Authority. ORC Macro provided technical assistance through its MEASURE
DHS+ project. The survey was principally funded by the Essential Services for Health in Ethiopia (ESHE)
project through a bilateral agreement between the United States Agency for International Development
(USAID) and the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. Funding was also provided by the United
Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
Using systematic sampling with probabilities proportional to size, 539 enumeration areas
(EAs)—138 in urban areas and 401 in rural areas—were selected initially. A complete household listing
operation was carried out in each selected EA, and a systematic sample of 27 households per EA was
selected in all the regions in the second stage in order to provide statistically reliable estimates of key
demographic and health variables. The Ethiopia DHS used three questionnaires: the Household
Questionnaire, the Women’s Questionnaire, and the Men’s Questionnaire. These questionnaires were
developed in the English language and translated into the five principal languages in use in the
country—Amarigna, Oromigna, Tigrigna, Somaligna, and Afarigna. A four-week training course was
held for interviewers, editors, and supervisors in general interviewing techniques, field procedures, and
monitoring data quality. Data were collected by 38 teams, each comprised of four female interviewers,
one male interviewer, one female editor, and a male team supervisor. The fieldwork was closely
monitored for data quality through actual field visits and through field check tables. The survey was
fielded between February and May 2000. Of the 14,642 households selected, interviews were completed
for 14,072 households, 15,367 women age 15-49, and 2,607 men age 15-59 (see Table 1.2). Details of
the fieldwork and sample design are presented in Appendix A.
Introduction * 3