Most series are not economic, so there is a high level of cross national comparability. Economic data are not very comparable, as values are given in national currencies and are not standardized. Availability CD-ROM Data Available Data are survey data from 26 developing and several developed countries countries of an original 42 countries that conducted surveys between 1974 and 1982. For most countries in the WFS, household and individual level data are available. Household data provide broader demographic information, and individual level data cover such factors as education, occupation, and number of children of the female respondents.
All data files have machine readable codebooks, and most also have spss control cards.
An extensive cross-sectional data source that contains house hold surveys for 29 countries, personal surveys for 28 countries. Currently, only a single time period is availiable for each country. Dates of Coverage Surveys were compiled between 1972 and 1974, the surveys were conducted between 1974 and 1982. Each country was able to administer the surveys according to it own standards.