DOI: 10.3886/icpsr33506.v1
title: Vietnam Longitudinal Survey, 1995-1998
title: Version 1

description: The Vietnam Longitudinal Survey, 1995-1998 (VLS) sought to analyze the impact of changing household economies on demographic phenomena such as marriage, pregnancy, and family composition in Vietnam. The VLS was the first longitudinal sociological survey and one of the largest sociological surveys ever conducted in Vietnam. The study was part of a long-term collaborative research program between the Institute of Sociology (IOS), Hanoi - Vietnam, and Professor Charles Hirschman from the University of Washington-Seattle. The VLS emerged as the result of extensive exchange between IOS researchers and Charles Hirschman following their first collaborative project, the <em>Vietnam Life History Survey (VLHS)</em>, which was conducted in 1991 (ICPSR 31101). During the 1994-95 academic year, Hirschman and IOS jointly developed a detailed plan for the VLS based on their previous experiences from the <em>VLHS</em>. Ten communes in the provinces of Nam Ha and Ninh Binh were selected for the VLS survey using probability sampling methods. In July 1995, the pretest survey was carried out in the Dai Xuyen commune approximately 40km south of Hanoi. Baseline interviews were conducted from September to November of 1995, with 1,855 households and 4,464 individuals surveyed for the first round. The second round of interviewing was carried out from August to September of 1996, with 1,820 households and 4,340 individuals successfully re-interviewed. The third round was carried out in July and August of 1997, with 1811 households and 4309 individuals re-interviewed. The fourth and final round of the survey was conducted in July and August of 1998, with a final household count of 1,795 and 4,222 individual respondents. Data were collected at the individual and household level for each survey year. Household-level variables measured several household attributes, including size of land and living space, house construction materials, number of rooms and amenities, ownership of appliances, vehicles, and livestock, types and amount of agricultural production. Individual-level variables measured traditional courtship and wedding customs, familial marriage negotiations, marital history, pregnancy and birth history, as well as experiences with abstinence, various contraceptive methods, abortion, pregnancy, and breastfeeding. Household-level demographic variables provide information on household composition, including number of members, age, sex, ethnicity, education level, marital status, and occupation of each household member, as well as total household income. Individual-level demographic variables include age, sex, ethnicity, religion, education level, occupation, job history, income, marital status, and information on children of respondents.
description: The aims of the VLS project were to: (1) design an area probability sample survey to collect high quality demographic and social data for a representative sample of households and adults in one region of Vietnam; (2) collect baseline data for approximately 2,000 households and all resident adults in the household with detailed questionnaires on social and economic activities (past and current) and demographic behavior; (3) track all respondents and re-interview them with focused questionnaires annually for four years; (4) construct a clean and organized data file for release to the scholarly community in Vietnam and elsewhere; and (5) analyze the impact of the changing household economy on demographic phenomena in Vietnam.
description: The 1995 baseline survey was designed as a probability sample survey of approximately 2000 households from 10 communes in Nam Ha and Ninh Binh provinces. A two-stage, stratified random sample selection procedure was designed using 1989 census data, which indicated that the two provinces consisted of 471 communes with 773,308 households. For detailed sampling information, please see the Sample Design section of the Original P.I. Documentation, which is contained within the ICPSR Codebook.
description: Datasets: DS1: 1995-1998 Combined Data
description: Households and resident adults in the Nam Ha and Ninh Binh provinces of Vietnam. Smallest Geographic Unit: commune
description: face-to-face interviewFieldwork costs for the VLS were supported by a grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (for Dr. Hirschman at the University of Washington); the project also received substantial support and leadership from the Institute of Sociology in Hanoi, Vietnam.Interview date variables in the dataset contain several out-of-range dates that appear to be miscodes; therefore, Collection Dates and Time Frames have been approximated using a combination of interview dates in the dataset and dates provided in the study documentation.The related data collection, <em>Vietnam Life History Survey, 1991</em>, is available as ICPSR #31101.