University of Maryland
Sociology 699J: Surveys in Developing Countries  

Living Standards Measurement Surveys

The World Bank has sponsored a series of developing country surveys to improve the quality of household data collected by government statistical offices. The first Living Standards Measurement Survey was fielded in in Côte d'Ivoire in 1985. As of 1997, surveys with several, if not all, of the hallmarks of the Living Standards Measurement Study had been conducted in about two dozen countries.

The main objective of LSMS surveys is to collect household data that can be used to assess household welfare, to understand household behavior, and to evaluate the effect of various government policies on the living conditions of the population. Three different kinds of questionnaires are normally used:

The web pages for the LSMS are: http://www.worldbank.org/lsms/

A complete description of these survey can be found in our texts:

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Last updated September 3, 2003
comments to: Reeve Vanneman. reeve@cwmills.umd.edu