Alfredo Aliaga 

Ruilin Ren

Optimal Sample Sizes for Two-stag

Cluster Sampling in Demographic a

Health Surveys

July 2006

This document was produced for review by the United States Agency for 

International Development. 

DEMOGRA

AND

HEALT

RESEAR
The DHS Working Papers series is an unreviewed and unedited prepublication series of papers reporting on research 

in progress based on Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) data. This research was supported by the East-West 

Center. Additional support was provided by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) 

through the MEASURE DHS project (#GPO-C-00-03-00002-00). The views expressed are those of the authors and 

do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID, the United States Government, or the organizations with which the 

authors are affiliated. 

MEASURE DHS assists countries worldwide in the collection and use of data to 

monitor and evaluate population, health, and nutrition programs. Additional 

information about the MEASURE DHS project can be obtained by contacting ORC 

Macro, Demographic and Health Research Division, 11785 Beltsville Drive, Suite 300, 

Calverton, MD 20705 (telephone: 301-572-0200; fax: 301-572-0999; e-mail: 

reports@orcmacro.com; internet: www.measuredhs.com). 
The Optimal Sample Sizes for Two-Stage Cluster Sampling in 

Demographic and Health Surveys 

Alfredo Aliaga and Ruilin Ren 

ORC Macro 

July 2006 

Corresponding author: Alfredo Aliaga, Demographic and Health Research Division, ORC Macro, 11785 

Beltsville Drive, Suite 300, Calverton, MD 20705. Phone: 301-572-0940, Fax: 301-572-0999, Email: 

alfredo.aliaga@orcmacro.com.
iii

Abstract

 This paper examines the optimal sample sizes in a two-stage cluster sampling, a sampling 

procedure used in most Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), which are interview surveys of 

household members in a certain age group. Determining optimal sample size is a critical step in a DHS 

survey because it requires a trade-off between the budget available and the desired survey precision 

 The households in a survey area are stratified according to type of residence (urban-rural) crossed 

by administrative/geographical regions. In the first stage, a number of primary sampling units (PSUs), or 

clusters, are selected from a sampling frame independently in each stratum. The sampling frame is usually 

a complete list of enumeration areas (EAs) created in a recent population census. After the selection of 

EAs and before the second-stage selection, a household listing and mapping operation is conducted in 

each of the selected EAs. This operation updates the outdated population information in the sampling 

frame and provides a list of all of the households residing in each EA with a location map. In the second 

stage, a fixed number of households are selected from the newly constructed household list in each of the 

selected EAs, and all household members in a certain age group (e.g., all women age 15-49 and all men 

age 15-59) in the selected household are selected for the survey. 

 This two-stage sampling procedure has several advantages: it provides good coverage, is simple 

to implement, and allows for control of field-work quality. In order to achieve both economy and good 

precision, sample sizes at both stages of the survey must be determined in such way that they minimize 

the sampling error under a given sampling cost. 

 This paper investigates the optimal sample sizes in different situations in DHS surveys, based on 

experiences of actual surveys. The results show that for an average cluster size of 100-300 households, for 

moderate intracluster correlation and cost ratio, the optimal second-stage sample size is about 20 women 

per cluster. The results also show that for most of the DHS surveys the sample sizes met the optimal 

standard or were within tolerable limits of relative precision loss. 

Key Words: Cluster; Cost Ratio; Demographic and Health Survey (DHS); Enumeration Area (EA); 

Intracluster Correlation; Primary Sampling Unit (PSU); Sampling Design; Two Stage Cluster Sampling. 
1

1. Introduction 

Over the past 20 years, the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) program of ORC Macro 

(Macro) has implemented and/or provided technical assistance for about 200 surveys in about 80 

countries in Africa, South America, Southeast Asia, and West Asia. Macro has accumulated a great deal 

of experience in sampling design, data collection, and data analysis. Our experience tells us, for example, 

that in a two-stage sample, a second-stage sample of 20-30 women of a certain age group per cluster is 

adequate for gathering data on most of the survey indicators covering contraception prevalence, fertility 

preferences, infant and child mortality, and knowledge and behavior regarding sexually transmitted 

infections. 

Because determining optimal sample size is a trade-off between the budget available and the 

desired survey precision, it is important to establish theoretical support for the practice of two-stage 

cluster sampling. In this paper, we present research results concerning optimal sample sizes in DHS 

surveys of different populations. Our results prove that the empirical second-stage sample size in DHS 

surveys meets the need for both cost control and survey precision, or are within the tolerable limits of 

relative precision loss. 

All DHS surveys are in developing countries where statistics are often incomplete or not up to 

date. Due to the fact that sampling frames, which are statistical categories derived from a national census, 

are usually outdated, Macro’s policy is to use simple sampling design to facilitate exact implementation 

and control of the fieldwork. Thus most DHS surveys are based on stratified two-stage cluster samplings. 

In the first stage, primary sampling units (PSUs) are selected from a frame list with probability 

proportional to a size measure; in the second stage, a fixed number of households (or residential 

dwellings) are selected from a list of households obtained in an updating operation in the selected PSUs. 

A PSU is usually a geographically constructed area, or a part of an area, called an enumeration area (EA), 

containing a number of households, created from the most recent population census. In most cases, a 

complete list of the EAs is available with such basic information as their geographical location, ruralurban characteristics, total population, and total number of households. Cartographic materials 

delimitating the boundaries of the EAs are also available. However, in most cases, because a population 

census is only conducted every ten years, the important information concerning an EA (e.g., number of 

households residing within it) is often outdated and needs to be updated. The updating operation consists 

of listing all of the households residing in the selected EAs and recording for each household the basic 

information, such as name of household head, street address, and type of residence. The listing procedure 

provides a complete list of the households residing in the selected EAs, which then serves as the sampling 

frame for the second-stage sampling for household selection. 
2

Due to the cost of conducting a listing operation, it is not possible to do one for the entire 

sampling frame. A standard practice of Macro is to conduct a listing operation only on the EAs selected in 

the first stage. But the cost of listing the selected EAs still represents a major expense. It is important 

therefore to determine, at the sampling design stage, the number of clusters to be selected and the number 

of individuals (the sample take) to be interviewed in each cluster, in order to achieve the desired precision 

within the survey budget. The optimal sample take is a function of the cost ratio and the intracluster 

correlation. 

The cost ratio of a DHS survey represents the cost of interviewing a cluster compared to the cost 

of interviewing an individual. (The costs of interviewing a cluster mainly include the cost of household 

listing and of traveling between clusters for household listing and for individual interviews; the costs of 

individual interviews are mainly the interview cost and the travel cost within a cluster). The cost ratio 

varies from country to country depending on the population density, the level of urbanization, and the 

infrastructure of the country. When the cost ratio is high, it means that travel between clusters is 

expensive, and it is desirable to select fewer clusters and interview more individuals per cluster. To the 

contrary, better precision is achieved by selecting more clusters and interviewing fewer individuals per 

cluster. 

The intracluster correlation on survey characteristics plays an important role in determining the 

sample size in the second stage. The intracluster correlation measures the similarity of the individuals on 

the survey characteristic within a cluster. A high intracluster correlation means that there are strong 

similarities between the individuals within the same cluster; therefore a large sample take per cluster will 

decrease the survey’s precision. A low intracluster correlation means weak similarities between the 

individuals within the same cluster; therefore a large sample take will decrease the survey cost. 

We suggest that it become a standard practice in a DHS survey to implement, in between the two 

sampling stages and within each selected PSU, a household listing and mapping operation to detect any 

distributional changes that might have occurred since the sampling frame was created. If the sampling 

frame is outdated, this operation is extremely important for calculating correct sampling weight. It also 

provides a sampling frame for the second-stage sampling and guarantees an exact implementation. 

2. Optimal sample size in different stages 

Determining optimal sample size is a trade-off between the budget available and the desired 

survey precision. Since almost all of the indicators in DHS surveys are proportions, it is easy to determine 

the total sample size—for example, the total number of women age 15-49 to be interviewed—needed for 

a specified precision for several main indicators, at either the national level or at the specific domain 

level. However, for a given total sample size, the survey cost varies a great deal depending on the number 
3

of PSUs to be selected and how the sample individuals are distributed within the selected PSUs. The 

number of PSUs needed for obtaining the specified number of individuals varies according to the number 

of households to be selected in each selected PSU. For simplicity, in DHS surveys the numbers of 

households to be selected are constants for both urban and rural areas, except for some special cases 

where self-weighting is requested for disclosure concerns. An equal second-stage sample size simplifies 

the determination of the total sample size. For simplicity, we will assume that the PSUs are all of equal 

size (in practice, the variation of the PSU size is rarely important). Suppose a simple cost function: 

C = c1n + c2 nm (1) 

where 

C is the total cost of the survey not including the fixed cost 

1 c is the unit cost per PSU for household listing and interview 

2 c is the unit cost per individual interview 

n is the total number of PSUs to be selected 

m is the number of individuals to be selected in each PSU 

Apart from the fixed cost of the survey, which is subtracted from the total cost, 1 c represents the cost per 

PSU including mainly the cost associated with activities for updating the household list (the listing cost) 

and the cost associated with traveling between the PSUs to implement the survey; while 2 c represents the 

cost per individual interview (the interviewing cost) and the cost of traveling within the PSU. 

Our objective is to determine the optimal sample sizes in different sampling stages in order to 

minimize the sampling error under the constraint of a fixed budget. The DHS surveys are two-stage 

surveys: the first stage is a systematic sampling with probability proportional to the EA size; the second 

stage is a systematic sampling of equal probability and fixed size across the EAs. This sampling 

procedure is usually more precise than simple random sampling at both stages. A conservative solution to 

the problem is to suppose that the samplings in the two stages are simple random sampling without 

replacement. Furthermore, for simplicity, assume that the PSUs are all of equal size M. The variance of 

the sample mean is given by Cochran (1977): 

2

1

2

2

2 2

2

2 2

1

1 1 1 1 1 1 )

ˆ

( S

N

S nm S

n S nm

f S nf Var Y = u + − − + − = (2) 

where f1 = n / N and f 2 = m / M are the first and second stages’ sampling fractions, respectively. The 

variance among the PSU means and the variance among subunits within the PSU, respectively, are: 

∑ ( − ) − = N

Yi Y

N

S 1

2 2

1 1

1 , 

∑ ∑ ( ) − − = N M

Yij Yi N MS 1 1

2 2

2 ( 1)

1
4

The minimization of the variance in expression (2) under given total cost gives the solution (Cochran 

1977): 

⎪

⎪

⎩

⎪

⎪

⎨

⎧

+ =

=

opt

opt

u

opt

c c m

C n

c c

S

S m

1 2

1 2

2 /

 with 2

2

2

1

2 1 S

M

Su = S − (3) 

We know from practice the value of 1 2 c / c , but we do not know the value of S Su / 2 . To calculate the 

optimal value of mopt , we must find a way to estimate this variance ratio. Let ρ be the intracluster 

correlation coefficient, defined as: 

( )( )

2 1 1

2

( M )( NM )S

Y Y Y Y i k j

ij ik

− −

− −

=

∑∑<

ρ

After some basic algebraic calculations, it is easy to find that: 

[ ]

⎪

⎪

⎪

⎩

⎪

⎪

⎪

⎨

⎧

≅

≅ −

≅ + −

ρ

ρ

ρ

2 2

2 2

2

2 2

1

(1 )

1 ( 1) 1

S S

S S

S M

M

S

u

 (4) 

Therefore the variance ratio 2 2

2 / u S S is given by: 

ρ

− ρ ≅1 2

2

2

u S

S (5) 

Using this approximation in expression (3), we have the approximate optimal sample sizes given by: 

⎪

⎪

⎩

⎪

⎪

⎨

⎧

+ =

> = ≤ − =

opt

opt

opt opt

c c m

C n

m c / c , ; m M ,

1 2

1 2 if 0 if 0 1

ρ ρ

ρ

ρ

 (6) 

It is interesting to note that the optimal sample take depends explicitly on the cost ratio 1 2 c / c and 

the intracluster correlation ρ , but not on the cluster size (the number of second-stage sampling units in 

the cluster). In fact, the cluster size has little effect on the sampling error if the second-stage sample size 

is fixed. The optimal sample take is an increasing function of 1 2 c / c and a decreasing function of ρ . This 

means that if the sampling cost of drawing a PSU is high, we draw fewer PSUs and more subsampling 

units within each PSU. If ρ > 0 , there is a strong intracluster homogeneity, and we draw fewer secondary 

sampling units and more PSUs. If ρ ≤ 0 , there is a strong intracluster heterogeneity, and we take all of the 

secondary sampling units in the selected PSU and use fewer PSUs to decrease the sampling cost. 
5

3. Calculation of the optimal sample size 

The calculation of the optimal sample size has now been turned to the calculation of the 

intracluster correlation. Intracluster correlation is not a measurement of sampling error, and it is rarely 

calculated in survey data analysis. But it is closely related to design effect (deft), which is another 

parameter for measuring survey design efficiency. Design effect is sometimes calculated along with 

sampling error calculation. For example, design effects are calculated for most of the key indicators in 

DHS surveys. Therefore, the calculation of the intracluster correlation can be achieved through the 

calculation of the design effect. The design effect of complex surveys was first considered by Kish (1965) 

and then studied by Kish and Frankel (1974), and it is now widely used as a measure of efficiency of 

complex survey designs. (See Särndal, Swensson and Wretman 1992; more detailed studies are found in 

Park and Lee 2001, 2002, and 2004). Let deft denote the design effect of the survey, which is defined by 

Kish (1995) as: 

S nm

Var Y deft /)

ˆ

(

2 = (7) 

where )

ˆ Var(Y is the actual variance of a mean estimator for the two-stage survey; S / nm 2 is the 

approximate variance of the mean estimator if the sample had been drawn by simple random sampling 

without replacement with the same total sample size nm : 

1 1 2 2 S nmf f Y

ˆ VarSRSWOR

− ⎟ =

⎠

⎞ ⎜

⎝

⎛ (8) 

with 2 S denoting the total population variance. Using the results given in expression (4), the variance of 

the sample mean for a two-stage sampling given in expression (2) can be written as: 

[ ] (1 ) 1 1 ( 1) ˆ 1 1 1 2 2 2 ρ − ρ − + − + − ⎟ ≅

⎠

⎞ ⎜

⎝

⎛ S nm

f S M n Mf Var Y (9) 

According to the definition of deft in (7), it can be calculated that the value of deft for a two-stage 

sampling is given by: 

(1 ) [ ] 1 ( 1) (1 )(1 ) deft = − f1 f 2 + M − ρ + − f 2 − ρ (10) 

If the first-stage sampling fraction is negligible f1 ≅ 0 , the above expression of deft can be simplified as: 

deft ≅ 1+ (m −1)ρ (11) 

This compares to a single-stage cluster sampling, where the deft is given by: 

1 ( 1)ρ * deft = + M −
6

It is interesting to note that the deft for a two-stage sampling depends on the intracluster correlation and 

the sample take, but not on the cluster size. For a given intracluster correlation ρ > 0 , the smaller the 

second stage’s sample size is, the more precise the survey will be. Therefore, a two-stage sampling is 

better than a cluster sampling if the intracluster correlation is positive, since we have * deft < deft if 

m ≠ M . When m = M , the two-stage sampling is degenerated to a cluster sampling; when m = 1, the twostage sampling is approximately equivalent to a simple random sampling. 

The value of deft may depend on other survey parameters, such as sampling weights. The 

variation of sampling weights contributes to the sampling variance and therefore to the deft (see Kish 

1987; Park and Lee 2004). The sampling weight’s influence on the deft is very small for DHS surveys 

because the surveys are usually designed for self-weighting. But the self-weighting property is broken 

down by the differences between the number of households listed and the census number of households in 

each cluster. The difference is usually small if the population census is not too old. Therefore, for 

simplicity, in this study we ignore the influence of sampling weight on the deft . 

The value of the deft is calculated for most of the important indicators in DHS surveys. This 

information can be used to estimate the value of ρ for a survey. Supposing that the deft and the sample 

take per cluster for a specific indicator in a country’s previous DHS were deft0 and m0 , respectively, 

according to expression (11) the value of ρ can be estimated by: 

1

1 ˆ

0

2

0

−

− = mdeft ρ (12) 

Therefore an approximate solution of the optimal sample take is given by: 

⎪

⎩

⎪

⎨

⎧

= <

> − =

, ˆ 0

/ , ˆ 0 ˆ

1 ˆ 1 2

ρ

ρ

ρ

ρ

m M if

m c c if

opt

opt (13) 

The optimal sample size for the first stage’s sampling is then: 

opt

opt c c m

C n

1 + 2

= (14) 

Using 1 2 c / c and ρˆ obtained from previous surveys, Table 3.1 describes the calculation of the 

optimal sample take for eight different countries based on the indicator currently married women 15-49 

currently using any contraceptive method, which has a moderate deft among all other indicators. Table 

3.2 gives the optimal sample take in function of 1 2 c / c and the intracluster correlation. 
7

Table 3.1 Optimal sample take calculated for currently married women age 15-49 currently 

using any contraceptive method, based on deft0 , m0 and 1 2 c / c from past surveys 

Country 1 2 c / c deft0 m0 ρˆ mopt

Cambodia 10 1.34 33 0.025 20 

Uganda 10 1.37 25 0.037 16 

Jordan 12 1.32 12 0.067 13 

Ethiopia 12 1.65 34 0.052 15 

Haiti 15 1.92 33 0.084 13 

Turkey 27 1.26 20 0.031 29 

Burkina Faso 48 1.67 32 0.058 28 

Togo 52 1.30 31 0.023 47 

Average 201 1.48 28 0.047 23 

1

 The average value of the cost ratio is a weighted average reached 

by using the number of clusters in the survey as weights. 

Table 3.2 Optimal sample take based on different values of 1 2 c / c and ρ

Intracluster correlation ρ

1 2 c / c

0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.08 0.10 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.20 0.25 0.30

2 14 10 8 7 6 6 5 4 4 4 3 3 2 2 

3 17 12 10 8 8 7 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 3 

5 22 16 13 11 10 9 8 7 6 6 5 4 4 3 

7 26 19 15 13 12 10 9 8 7 7 6 5 5 4 

10 31 22 18 15 14 13 11 9 9 8 7 6 5 5 

12 34 24 20 17 15 14 12 10 9 9 8 7 6 5 

15 39 27 22 19 17 15 13 12 10 10 9 8 7 6 

17 41 29 23 20 18 16 14 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 

20 44 31 25 22 19 18 15 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 

25 50 35 28 24 22 20 17 15 14 12 11 10 9 8 

30 54 38 31 27 24 22 19 16 15 14 13 11 9 8 

35 59 41 34 29 26 23 20 18 16 15 14 12 10 9 

40 63 44 36 31 28 25 21 19 17 16 14 13 11 10 

45 67 47 38 33 29 27 23 20 18 17 15 13 12 10 

50 70 49 40 35 31 28 24 21 19 18 16 14 12 11 

A study of selected indicators from 48 surveys shows that the overall average value of the 

intracluster correlation is 0.06 (see Table 5.1). In Table 3.2, for the cost ratio 1 2 c / c between 20-25, the 

optimal sample take is 18-20 women age 15-49. But in all DHS surveys, the second-stage sampling unit is 

the household, so we need to convert this number to the optimal number of households to be selected in 

each PSU according to the average number of women age 15-49 per household in the country being 

surveyed. The DHS surveys show that the number of women age 15-49 per household varies from 0.9 to 

1.4. In order to get the expected total number of successful interviews of women age 15-49 in the survey, 
8

we must also take the nonresponse into account. Our experience shows that the total response rate 

(household response rate multiplied by woman response rate) is approximately 90 percent. This means 

the optimal sample take by adding the nonresponse is 22-25 households if the average number of women 

age 15-49 per household is 0.9, and 14-16 households if the average number is 1.4 women.

4. Evaluation of precision loss when using a non-optimal sample size 

In Section 3 we showed that the optimal sample take can only be calculated approximately from 

previous surveys, and therefore the sample size actually used is usually different from the optimal one. 

We thus must consider the loss of precision due to the use of a nonoptimal sample take. Assuming that 

the actually used sample takes are 0 0 m , n , with design effect noted as deft0 , from the results obtained in 

Section 3 it is easy to see that the variance of the mean estimate is approximately equal to: 

[ ] 1 ( 1)ρ ˆ 1 1 0

2

0 0

2 01 02

0 0

2 01 02

0 + − − = − =⎟

⎟

⎠

⎞ ⎜

⎜

⎝

⎛ ′ S m

n m

f f S

n m

f f Var Y deft

with 1 2 0

0 c c m

C n + = . While the variance of the mean estimate on using the optimal sample sizes is: 

[ ] 1 ( 1)ρ ˆ 2 1 1 2 2 1 1 2 2 + − − = − =⎟

⎟

⎠

⎞ ⎜

⎜

⎝

⎛ opt

opt opt opt opt

S m n m

f f S n mf f Var Y deft

with 

opt

opt c c m

C

n

1 + 2

= . Assuming that f1 f 2 ≅ 0, f 01 f 02 ≅ 0 , the variance ratio is: 

ρ

ρ

1 ( 1)

1 ( 1)

1 ( / ) /

1 ( / ) /

ˆ

ˆ

0

1 2

1 2 0

+ −

+ −

+

+ =

⎟

⎠

⎞ ⎜

⎝

⎛

⎟

⎠

⎞ ⎜

⎝

⎛ ′

opt mopt

m

c c m

c c m

Var Y

Var Y

 

The relative precision loss (RPL) is defined to be the ratio of the standard error minus 1: 

1

1 ( 1)

1 ( 1)

1 ( / ) /

1 ( / ) / 0

1 2

1 2 0 − + −

+ −

+

+ = ρ

ρ

opt mopt

m

c c m

c c m RPL (15) 

The RPL is thus a measure of the increase of the half-length of the confidence interval due to not using 

the optimal sample take. For example, a value of 0.25 for RPL means that the half-length of the 

confidence interval will be increased by 25 percent, compared with the case where an optimal sample take 

is used. Table 4.1 describes the precision loss for the eight countries’ data used in Table 3.1. The 

maximum RPLs occur for Ethiopia and Haiti, with losses of 9 percent and 11 percent, respectively. For 

these two countries, the actual sample take is more than twice as large as the optimal sample take. For 

other countries, the RPL is less than 5 percent. Table 4.2 lists the RPL values for various combinations of 

m0 , mopt , ρ and 1 2 c / c . From Table 4.2, for the average intracluster correlation 0.05 and the cost ratio 
9

1 2 c / c between 10 and 15, the average optimal sample take is between 14 and 17. The precision loss is 

not important if the actual sample take is between 20 and 30, which are the most frequent sample takes in 

DHS surveys, where the RPL varies from 2 to 7 percent. 

Table 4.1 Precision loss due to not using the optimal sample take for 

the eight countries studied in Table 3.1 

Country 1 2 c / c m0 ρˆ mopt RPL 

Cambodia 10 33 0.025 20 0.03 

Uganda 10 25 0.037 16 0.02 

Jordan 12 12 0.067 13 0.00 

Ethiopia 12 34 0.052 15 0.09 

Haiti 15 33 0.084 13 0.11 

Turkey 27 20 0.031 29 0.02 

Burkina Faso 48 32 0.058 28 0.00 

Togo 52 31 0.023 47 0.02 
10

Table 4.2 Precision loss for various combinations of m0 , mopt , ρ and 1 2 c / c

c1 / c 2 = 5 c1 / c 2 = 10 c1 / c 2 = 15 c1 / c2 = 20

ρ = 0.01

m0 mopt RPL m0 mopt RPL m0 mopt RPL m0 mopt RPL

25 22 0.00 35 31 0.00 40 39 0.00 45 44 0.00 

30 22 0.01 40 31 0.01 45 39 0.00 50 44 0.00 

35 22 0.02 45 31 0.01 50 39 0.01 55 44 0.00 

40 22 0.03 50 31 0.02 55 39 0.01 60 44 0.01 

ρ = 0.02

m0 mopt RPL m0 mopt RPL m0 mopt RPL m0 mopt RPL

20 16 0.01 25 22 0.00 30 27 0.00 35 31 0.00 

25 16 0.02 30 22 0.01 35 27 0.01 40 31 0.01 

30 16 0.04 35 22 0.02 40 27 0.02 45 31 0.02 

35 16 0.06 40 22 0.04 45 27 0.03 50 31 0.03 

ρ = 0.03

m0 mopt RPL m0 mopt RPL m0 mopt RPL m0 mopt RPL

15 13 0.00 20 18 0.00 25 22 0.00 30 25 0.00 

20 13 0.02 25 18 0.01 30 22 0.01 35 25 0.01 

25 13 0.05 30 18 0.03 35 22 0.03 40 25 0.03 

30 13 0.08 35 18 0.05 40 22 0.04 45 25 0.04 

ρ = 0.04

m0 mopt RPL m0 mopt RPL m0 mopt RPL m0 mopt RPL

15 11 0.01 20 15 0.01 20 19 0.00 25 22 0.00 

20 11 0.04 25 15 0.03 25 19 0.01 30 22 0.01 

25 11 0.07 30 15 0.05 30 19 0.03 35 22 0.03 

30 11 0.11 35 15 0.08 35 19 0.05 40 22 0.05 

ρ = 0.05

m0 mopt RPL m0 mopt RPL m0 mopt RPL m0 mopt RPL

15 10 0.02 15 14 0.00 20 17 0.00 20 19 0.00 

20 10 0.06 20 14 0.02 25 17 0.02 25 19 0.01 

25 10 0.10 25 14 0.04 30 17 0.04 30 19 0.02 

30 10 0.15 30 14 0.07 35 17 0.07 35 19 0.04 

ρ = 0.10

m0 mopt RPL m0 mopt RPL m0 mopt RPL m0 mopt RPL

10 7 0.02 10 9 0.00 15 12 0.01 15 13 0.00 

15 7 0.08 15 9 0.03 20 12 0.04 20 13 0.02 

20 7 0.15 20 9 0.07 25 12 0.07 25 13 0.05 

25 7 0.22 25 9 0.12 30 12 0.11 30 13 0.08 

ρ = 0.15

m0 mopt RPL m0 mopt RPL m0 mopt RPL m0 mopt RPL

10 5 0.05 10 8 0.01 10 9 0.00 15 11 0.01 

15 5 0.14 15 8 0.06 15 9 0.03 20 11 0.05 

20 5 0.23 20 8 0.12 20 9 0.07 25 11 0.08 

25 5 0.31 25 8 0.18 25 9 0.12 30 11 0.13 

 
11

5. Urban and rural differences in sample take in DHS surveys 

All DHS surveys use a region crossed by urban-rural stratification. The consideration of 

demographic differences in urban and rural areas supports the relatively independent designs in urban and 

rural areas and therefore the region crossed by urban-rural stratification. To save costs, the sample take in 

the second-stage sampling in urban clusters is always smaller than, or at maximum equal to, the sample 

take in rural clusters. From equation (6), the optimal sample take is an increasing function of the cost ratio 

1 2 c / c and a decreasing function of the intracluster correlation. The combined effect of the two factors on 

the optimal sample take is difficult to determine. Table 5.1 illustrates that for most of the selected 

indicators the intracluster correlation is stronger in rural areas than in urban areas. Therefore, on assuming 

the same cost ratio 1 2 c / c , the sample take in rural clusters should be smaller than that in urban clusters 

(see Table 5.2). However, it is obvious that the cost ratio 1 2 c / c in urban areas is usually smaller than that 

in rural areas because of lower travel expenses. Although we are not able to calculate the cost ratio by 

urban and rural areas separately because the survey budget was considered for a country as a whole, Table 

5.3 illustrates the optimal sample take on the assumption that the cost ratio is c1 / c2 = 10 in urban areas 

and c1 / c2 = 15 and c1 / c2 = 20 in rural areas, respectively. The calculated optimal sample takes show that, 

in general, the sample takes in urban areas are smaller than those in rural areas. A small sample take in an 

urban area will result in a relatively larger number of urban clusters being selected if a fixed number of 

individuals is to be selected in the urban area. Because the urban area of most developing countries 

represents only a small proportion of the whole country, a smaller sample size is usually allocated to the 

urban area. The strategy of selecting a relatively larger number of PSUs with a smaller sample take in an 

urban area will benefit the estimation precision and compensate for the relatively smaller sample size in 

the urban area. 
12

Table 5.1 Intracluster correlations and their group averages for selected indicators averaged over 

48 different surveys for total, urban, and rural samples 

Intracluster correlation ρ Variable 

Total Urban Rural 

Medical care 0.16 0.13 0.16 

Medically delivered 0.22 0.22 0.19 

Mother received tetanus 0.12 0.09 0.12 

Have health card 0.15 0.08 0.16 

Immunized 0.21 0.12 0.24 

Given ORS 0.12 0.15 0.10 

Knowledge of contraception 0.14 0.11 0.11 

Know modern method 0.15 0.12 0.12 

Know any method 0.14 0.11 0.11 

Know source for method 0.12 0.11 0.10 

Background or lifetime variables 0.07 0.08 0.06 

Illiterate 0.08 0.07 0.08 

Ever used contraception 0.08 0.08 0.08 

Ideal family size 0.06 0.06 0.06 

Age at first marriage 0.05 0.06 0.04 

Children ever born to women age 40-49 0.08 0.11 0.06 

Current use of contraception 0.04 0.03 0.05 

Using any method 0.05 0.04 0.06 

Using modern method 0.04 0.03 0.06 

Using IUD 0.04 0.04 0.04 

Using pill 0.04 0.02 0.05 

Using condom 0.03 0.02 0.09 

Using public source 0.03 0.03 0.04 

Sterilized 0.03 0.02 0.04 

Child health 0.04 0.04 0.03 

Had diarrhea in past 2 weeks 0.03 0.03 0.03 

Height for age 0.05 0.07 0.04 

Weight for age 0.04 0.04 0.04 

Weight for height 0.02 0.02 0.02 

Fertility 0.02 0.03 0.02 

Births in past 5 years 0.03 0.04 0.02 

Currently married 0.03 0.03 0.02 

Children 0-4 years 0.02 0.03 0.02 

Births 1-4 years 0.02 0.03 0.02 

Children ever born 0.02 0.02 0.02 

Children weighted 0.02 0.02 0.02 

Births 5-9 years 0.01 0.02 0.01 

Children 1-2 years 0.01 0.01 0.00 

Current fertility intentions 0.02 0.02 0.02 

Want no more children 0.02 0.02 0.02 

Want to delay next child 0.01 0.01 0.01 

Infant mortality 0.02 0.02 0.01 

Infant mortality past 1-4 years 0.02 0.01 0.01 

Infant mortality past 5-9 years 0.01 0.02 0.01 

Dead 0.02 0.02 0.02 

Total average 0.06 0.055 0.06 

Note: The bold figures are the group average or total average values. 
13

Table 5.2 Optimal sample take for selected indicators given in Table 4.1 

according to different levels of the cost ratio 

c1 / c2 = 10 c1 / c2 = 15 c1 / c2 = 20

Variable

Urban Rural Urban Rural Urban Rural 

Medical care 8 7 10 9 11 10 

Medically delivered 6 7 7 8 8 9 

Mother received tetanus 10 9 12 10 14 12 

Have health card 11 7 13 9 15 10 

Immunized 9 6 10 7 12 8 

Given ORS 8 9 9 12 11 13 

Knowledge of contraception 9 9 11 11 13 13 

Know modern method 9 9 10 10 12 12 

Know any method 9 9 11 11 13 13 

Know source for method 9 9 11 12 13 13 

Background or lifetime variables 11 12 14 15 16 17 

Illiterate 12 11 14 13 16 15 

Ever used contraception 11 11 13 13 15 15 

Ideal family size 13 13 15 15 18 18 

Age at first marriage 13 15 15 19 18 22 

Children ever born to women 40-49 9 13 11 15 13 18 

Current use of contraception 18 13 23 16 26 19 

Using any method 15 13 19 15 22 18 

Using modern method 18 13 22 15 25 18 

Using IUD 15 15 19 19 22 22 

Using pill 22 14 27 17 31 19 

Using condom 22 10 27 12 31 14 

Using public source 18 15 22 19 25 22 

Sterilized 22 15 27 19 31 22 

Child health 15 17 19 21 22 24 

Had diarrhea in past 2 weeks 18 18 22 22 25 25 

Height for age 12 15 14 19 16 22 

Weight for age 15 15 19 19 22 22 

Weight for height 22 22 27 27 31 31 

Fertility 20 25 24 30 28 35 

Births in past 5 years 15 22 19 27 22 31 

Currently married 18 22 22 27 25 31 

Children 0-4 years 18 22 22 27 25 31 

Births 1-4 years 18 22 22 27 25 31 

Children ever born 22 22 27 27 31 31 

Children weighted 22 22 27 27 31 31 

Births 5-9 years 22 31 27 39 31 44 

Children 1-2 years 31 39 44 

Current fertility intentions 26 26 31 31 36 36 

Want no more children 22 22 27 27 31 31 

Want to delay next child 31 31 39 39 44 44 

Infant mortality 24 27 30 33 34 38 

Infant mortality past 1-4 years 31 31 39 39 44 44 

Infant mortality past 5-9 years 22 31 27 39 31 44 

Dead 22 22 27 27 31 31 

Total average 11 10 14 12 16 14 

Note: The bold figures are the group average or total average sample take computed 

based on the respective average intracluster correlation given in Table 5.1. 
14

Table 5.3 Urban and rural differences in optimal sample take 

for selected indicators given in Table 5.1 

Urban 

c1 / c2 = 10

Rural 

Variable c1 / c2 = 15 20 

ρ mopt ρ mopt mopt

Medical care 0.13 8 0.16 9 10 

Medically delivered 0.22 6 0.19 8 9 

Mother received tetanus 0.09 10 0.12 10 12 

Have health card 0.08 11 0.16 9 10 

Immunized 0.12 9 0.24 7 8 

Given ORS 0.15 8 0.10 12 13 

Knowledge of contraception 0.11 9 0.11 11 13 

Know modern method 0.12 9 0.12 10 12 

Know any method 0.11 9 0.11 11 13 

Know source for method 0.11 9 0.10 12 13 

Background or lifetime variables 0.08 11 0.06 15 17 

Illiterate 0.07 12 0.08 13 15 

Ever used contraception 0.08 11 0.08 13 15 

Ideal family size 0.06 13 0.06 15 18 

Age at first marriage 0.06 13 0.04 19 22 

Children ever born to women 40-49 0.11 9 0.06 15 18 

Current use of contraception 0.03 18 0.05 16 19 

Using any method 0.04 15 0.06 15 18 

Using modern method 0.03 18 0.06 15 18 

Using IUD 0.04 15 0.04 19 22 

Using pill 0.02 22 0.05 17 19 

Using condom 0.02 22 0.09 12 14 

Using public source 0.03 18 0.04 19 22 

Sterilized 0.02 22 0.04 19 22 

Child health 0.04 15 0.03 21 24 

Had diarrhea in past 2 weeks 0.03 18 0.03 22 25 

Height for age 0.07 12 0.04 19 22 

Weight for age 0.04 15 0.04 19 22 

Weight for height 0.02 22 0.02 27 31 

Fertility 0.03 20 0.02 30 35 

Births in past 5 years 0.04 15 0.02 27 31 

Currently married 0.03 18 0.02 27 31 

Children 0-4 years 0.03 18 0.02 27 31 

Births 1-4 years 0.03 18 0.02 27 31 

Children ever born 0.02 22 0.02 27 31 

Children weighted 0.02 22 0.02 27 31 

Birth 5-9 years 0.02 22 0.01 39 44 

Children 1-2 years 0.01 31 0.00 

Current fertility intentions 0.02 26 0.02 31 36 

Want no more children 0.02 22 0.02 27 31 

Want to delay next child 0.01 31 0.01 39 44 

Infant mortality 0.02 24 0.01 33 38 

Infant mortality past 1-4 years 0.01 31 0.01 39 44 

Infant mortality past 5-9 years 0.02 22 0.01 39 44 

Dead 0.02 22 0.02 27 31 

Total average 0.055 11 0.06 12 14 
15

6. A more general cost function model 

Although the application of the previous approach is under a simple cost function model which 

does not treat separately the travel cost between clusters, its simplicity makes it easier to understand 

several aspects of the problem. A more general cost function model was discussed by Hansen, Hurtwiz 

and Madow (1953). For n selected clusters and a sample take of m units, the total survey cost is: 

C = c0 n + c1n + c2 nm

 providing optimal m as 

ρ

+ − ρ = 1

2

1 0

c

c c a

mopt

where 

⎭

⎬

⎫

⎩

⎨

⎧ +

⎪⎭

⎪

⎬

⎫

⎪⎩

⎪

⎨

⎧ − + = +

0

1 2

0

1 2

0

1 4 1 /

c

c c m

c

c c m

c

C

a opt opt

and 

 4

2

a

nopt = 

The optimal values mopt and nopt can be calculated in a recursive way. 

The first term in the above cost function model reflects the travel cost between clusters and is 

proportional to the square root of the number of PSUs selected. The 0 c , coefficient of n , is a value that 

is proportional to the square root of the survey area, i.e., c0 = k A , where A is the covered area, and k is 

a constant value reflecting the total cost per mile traveled. The other coefficients, 1 c and 2 c , are defined 

as in the first cost model. Examples of the 0 c values are given in Table 6.1. We can apply the following 

four steps to compute optimal values for m and n : 

i. Obtain the values of C, 0 c , 1 c and 2 c from the last survey. We will assume homogeneity of 

transport cost per mile and of interviewer cost per mile traveled among all the countries. The 

value of 0 c can be calculated as in the following table. 
16

Table 6.1 Average travel cost per mile traveled and the coefficient 0 c

Country Area (square 

miles) 

Average 

transport 

cost per mile

Average 

interviewer 

cost per 

mile 

Average total 

cost per mile 

Estimated 

c0 value 

Cambodia 69,898 0.45 0.30 0.75 198 

Uganda 91,134 0.45 0.30 0.75 226 

Jordan 35,467 0.45 0.30 0.75 141 

Ethiopia 471,778 0.45 0.30 0.75 515 

Haiti 10,714 0.45 0.30 0.75 78 

Turkey 300,948 0.45 0.30 0.75 411 

Burkina Faso 105,869 0.45 0.30 0.75 244 

Togo 21,925 0.45 0.30 0.75 111 

ii. Find the estimate value of ρ for the indicator needed in the country under consideration. A 

useful source for such values is “An analysis of sample designs and sampling errors of the 

Demographic and Health Surveys” (Lê and Verma 1997). In Table 8.1 of that study, the 

estimated ρ for using modern methods characteristics is about 0.04. With not much variation 

in the estimated ρ value, as an illustration we assume homogeneity throughout the countries. 

iii. Substitute the values of 0 c , 1 c and 2 c and use an initial value of m in the expression for the 

initial value of a : 

⎭

⎬

⎫

⎩

⎨

⎧ +

⎪⎭

⎪

⎬

⎫

⎪⎩

⎪

⎨

⎧ − + = +

0

1 2

0

1 2

0

1 4 1 /

c

c c m

c

c c m

c

C

a

iv. Calculate the optimal value mopt for given a by: 

 

ρ

+ − ρ = 1

2

1 0

c

c c a

mopt

and then calculate 

4

2

a

nopt =

Steps (iii) and (iv) must be performed in a recursive way by using mopt obtained in the previous step as 

initial value of m in the next step, until mopt and nopt converge. 

So far we have assumed that a fixed budget was available for a survey, and the problem was to 

find the values for m and n that provide the smallest standard error (or variance). However, in some 
17

situations a consideration may be to minimize the cost budget for a specific standard error. Cochran 

(1977) shows that these two apparently different problems are essentially the same and have the same 

solution apart from the value of a. Assuming that the given precision ε is specified as the relative 

standard error (or the coefficient of variation) of the mean estimator, then mopt and nopt are given by the 

above formula except that now a is calculated by 

⎥

⎦

⎤ ⎢

⎣

⎡ − = +

ρ

ρ

ε

ρ

m

C

a v 1 1 4

2

2

where 2 Cv represents the coefficient of variation of the population. 
18

References 

Cochran, W.G. 1977. Sampling techniques. New York: John Wiley & Sons Inc. 

Hansen, M., N. Hurwitz, and W. Madow. 1953. Sample survey methods and theory, Volume 1, Chapter 6, 

Sections 12-21. New York: John Wiley & Sons. 

Kish, L. 1965. Survey sampling. New York: John Wiley & Sons Inc. 

Kish, L. 1987. Weighting in Deft2. The Survey Statistician. June. 

Kish, L. 1995. Methods for design effects. Journal of Official Statistics 11:55-77. 

Kish, L., and M.R. Frankel. 1974. Inference from complex samples. Journal of the Royal Statistical 

Society 36, Ser B:1-22. 

Lê, T.N., and V.K. Verma. 1997. An analysis of sample designs and sampling errors of the Demographic 

and Health Surveys. Demographic and Health Surveys Analytical Reports, No. 3. Calverton, Maryland, 

USA: Macro International Inc. 

Park, I., and H. Lee. 2001. The design effect: do we know all about it? Proceedings of the Section on 

Survey Research Methods, American Statistical Association. 

Park, I., and H. Lee. 2002. A revisit of design effects under unequal probability sampling. The Survey 

Statistician 46:23-26. 

 Park, I., and H. Lee. 2004. Design effects for the weighted mean and total estimators under complex 

survey sampling. Survey Methodology 30:183-193. 

Särndal, C.-E., R. Swensson, and J. Wretman. 1992. Model assisted survey sampling. New York: 

Springer-Verlag.