Qualité et comparabilité des données. Afrique subsaharienne

Organisation: Véronique Hertrich, Bruno Masquelier et Bruno Schoumaker

le 20 Mars 2012

 Over the last thirty years, the availability of demographic data in sub-Saharan Africa has expanded considerably, particularly with DHS and MICS survey programs. To a large extent, demographic trends can now be estimated without the need to have recourse to indirect techniques. However, data remain plagued with inaccuracies and omissions. For instance, the estimation of ages and dates remains a problem in countries where the civil registration system is deficient, both in terms of quality of information and distortions of the sample composition when eligibility is based on age. In view of the atypical trends in some demographic phenomena (stalls and reversals in the fertility transition, mortality reversals...), a renewed interest in methodological issues has emerged in recent years. This one-day workshop will offer an opportunity to discuss these issues and address the quality and comparability of survey data in sub-Saharan Africa. We will focus on the source of errors, on the nature of the distortions that result from these errors, and on the responses that can be made.