Demographic and Health Surveys Methodology - Measure DHS

Median: Women with a missing value for number of living children at first use are excluded from boththe numerator and the denominator of the percentages used to calculate the median number of livingchildren at first use.Notes and ConsiderationsUse of an interpolated median value for integer response categories is illogical since no respondent canhave a non-integer value (i.e., no woman can have 2.4 children). For these types of calculations a meanvalue would likely be preferred to a median.Changes over TimeIn the latter tabulations for Measure DHS+ (DHS IV), the median has been dropped.Note that when tabulating by current age of respondent or variables correlated with current age ofrespondent, the results may be misleading since ever use of contraception varies by age as well as bynumber of living children, changing the denominator in addition to the numerator.Guide to DHS Statistics 48 Updated September 2006