Comparability — Argentina [top]

The 1991-2010 samples combined all finished floors except cement or brick into a single category.

Comparability — Botswana [top]

The 2001 and 2011 samples include the category for "brick/stone", which was not considered in previous samples.

Comparability — Cameroon [top]

The universe for the 1976 sample includes both private and collective occupied households, but it is restricted to only private households in the two more recent samples. The 2005 sample refers to ordinary households since it excludes nomadic households and homeless people in addition to collective households.

Comparability — Chile [top]

The 1992 and 2002 samples have similar categories; the 2017 sample differs considerably. In 2017, most cases are included in "other."

Comparability — Côte d'Ivoire [top]

The 1988 sample provided only "clay", "hard floor" and "other" as response categories. We interpreted the "clay" as unfinished floor, "hard floor" and "others" are finished floors, but not specified.

Comparability — Dominican Republic [top]

The universe varies slightly across samples. In the 1981 source variable, mosaic, granite and marble are combined as one category. This category is coded as "Ceramic, marble, granite" in FLOOR. The 1981 source variable also included a separate category for brick that is not included in later samples. The 2010 sample differentiated between granite, ceramic, and marble; this detail is available in the unharmonized source variable.

Comparability — Ecuador [top]

The data are generally comparable across samples. In the Ecuador 2001 census sample the wood category includes parquet, which was in a different category in previous samples; the 2010 census sample has separate categories for finished and unfinished wood.

Comparability — El Salvador [top]

The 2007 census contains an additional response category for ceramic tile that the 1992 census does not include.

Comparability — Ethiopia [top]

The universe differs significantly across samples: in 1984 and 1994 it includes only urban households; in 2007 it includes only households that responded to the long questionnaire.

The 1984 sample included a response category for stone, which was dropped from the 1994-2007 response categories. Marble tile was included in the 1984 sample, not included in 1994 and then included in 2007 under a similar title: "ceramic or marble tiles."

Comparability — Ghana [top]

This variable is comparable across samples. "None" includes mud bricks in the 2000 sample and mud in the 2010 sample.

Comparability — Guatemala [top]

The "brick" category includes both clay and cement bricks in the 1981, 1994, and 2002 samples.

Comparability — Honduras [top]

The 1961 census is a sample of individuals, not households. Information is only available for households consisting of a head.

Comparability — Indonesia [top]

From the 1990 census onward, the category "ceramic, marble, granite" was added.

Comparability — Kenya [top]

The data are comparable across samples. The Kenya 1989 and 2009 samples include private households (and refugee camps in the latter) and exclude travelers, vagrants, and collective households, while the 1999 sample includes all households.

Comparability — Malawi [top]

The categories differ significantly between the 1987 and 2008 samples. Malawi collected information about multiple dwellings for a household. This variable includes information about floor material in the first dwelling only. Information about floor material was not collected in the 1998 sample.

Comparability — Mali [top]

Cement and tile are combined in 1987 and separated in 1998 and 2009.

Comparability — Mexico [top]

The materials found in the "Other finished, n.e.c" integrated category include "Wood, mosaic, or other coverings" as defined in the original source variables. The universe for 1990 is all dwellings except shelters. The universe for 2005 survey is all dwellings except shelters, mobile dwellings, and non-habitable dwellings. The universe for 2010 survey is all habitable dwellings.

Comparability — Nicaragua [top]

The category "cement, tile, or brick" contains progressively more specific materials over time.

Comparability — Paraguay [top]

The source variable for the code "tile" changes slightly over time. In 1982, the source variable code is "tile," in 1992 the source variable code is "common tile or flagstone," and in 2007 the source variable code is "common floor tile." The mosaic category was added to the 1992-2002 samples to distinguish types of tile.

Comparability — Senegal [top]

Categories are comparable across census years in Senegal. In 1998-2013, the "none/unfinished" category is a recode of the "earth/adobe" response. Sand floors are distinguished from other unfinished floors. Additional response categories are available in 2013 with respect to 1988 and 2002.

The universe of the 2014 sample is "ordinary households" while it is "all households" in 1988 and 2002.

Comparability — Uganda [top]

The universe includes private households in 1991 and 2002, and all households in 2014.

Comparability — Uruguay [top]

The materials represented in each integrated category vary slightly across samples -- see the unharmonized source variable documentation for details. The "brick or stone" and "concrete" categories in 1963 were merged for the 1985 and 1996 censuses into the "cement, tile, or brick" category. The 2006 and 2011 censuses include the responses "earth," "no floor underlayment" and "only subfloor without floor" in the unfinished floor category.

Comparability — Zambia [top]

The 1990 sample included fewer response categories than the later samples. Cement includes cement or concrete in 1990, while these materials were differentiated in later samples. The later samples also include brick, terrazzo and tile, which were not response options in 1990.