Comparability — Armenia [top]

The 2011 sample includes additional categories including a distinction of "monoliths" from "stone".

Comparability — Benin [top]

"Semi-hard" materials for the 1992, 2002, and 2013 samples were coded to "mixed materials". The 2013 sample groups all plant-based materials (wood, board, or bamboo) in one category, while the 1979, 1992, and 2002 samples distinguish between bamboo and other plant-based materials.

Comparability — Botswana [top]

The 1981 and 1991 samples are generally comparable with the 1991 sample distinguishing between different mud, reed, and pole type of materials.

The 2001 and 2011 samples are comparable with both samples including different categories for conventional bricks or blocks as well as stones. In earlier samples, there was no differentiation between these different categories.

Comparability — Brazil [top]

The data are comparable across samples. The Brazil 2010 distinguishes between coated and uncoated masonry and taipa, which were combined in the same category in previous samples.

Comparability — Chile [top]

The 2017 source data identify "partition walls" with and without lining, which receive distinct codes within "other material"; these categories are closer to responses classified as "wood" in the 1960-2002 samples.

Comparability — Dominican Republic [top]

The universe changes slightly across samples. There were additional categories in the 1981 sample that were not included in later samples.

Comparability — Ethiopia [top]

There are significant universe differences across samples. The universe is restricted to only long-form questionnaire respondents in 2007 and only urban households in 1984. The 1994 sample integrated variable includes two unharmonized variables, one for rural and one for urban households. The categories change slightly across sample years.

Comparability — Guatemala [top]

The data are largely comparable across samples. The more recent samples include more response categories than the earlier samples. In the 1981 sample, the "Bark, sticks, or cane" category also includes lepa.

Comparability — Haiti [top]

The Haiti 2003 sample includes more detailed categories than the 1971 sample, and few materials are directly comparable across 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 — Iran [top]

The 2006 Iran sample does not collect information on wall materials. Instead, it collects information on the "construction materials," by which is intended the entire framework of the dwelling. In dwellings with multiple households, only the first household in the dwelling provided a response for construction materials.

Comparability — Jamaica [top]

The variable is comparable across Jamaican samples with one exception. "Stone" and "brick" are two separate categories in the 1982 and 1991 samples, while they form a single category in the 2001 sample.

Comparability — Kenya [top]

The data are comparable across samples. In 2009, the enumeration instructions indicate that "mud/dung" should be coded as "other".

Comparability — Malawi [top]

The 1987 and 2008 samples are generally comparable. In 1987, Malawi collected information about each of several dwellings occupied by a household. This variable integrates information about the wall material of the first dwelling. Wall materials were not recorded in the 1998 sample.

Comparability — Mexico [top]

The universes change between the different samples. The 1960 sample is a sample of individuals, not households and only heads of households have most household-level information. The 1970, 1995, and 2000 samples include all households. The universe of the 1990 sample is dwellings except for shelters while the universes for the 2010, 2015 and 2020 samples include private dwellings built for habitation.

The categories between the samples are generally comparable with some slight differences in the mud or adobe and clay or clay-covered sticks categories. See source variables for more details.

Comparability — Morocco [top]

The category for "stone" specifies that the material be stone without any other material (cement or earth). Stone with cement/mortar is combined with brick or concrete in 1982 and 1994, but separately identified in 2014. The category for "mixed material" includes wood, iron sheets, branches, or reeds; all other materials would be classified in "other".

The universe in 1982 and 2014 is "all households", while it only includes "non-tent households" in 2014.

Comparability — Nepal [top]

The unharmonized source variable for 2011 distinguishes brick walls with mud mortar and brick walls with cement mortar.

Comparability — Nicaragua [top]

The censuses progressively add more categories. See the unharmonized source variables for labels and definitions. The 1971 census allows responses for adobe and taquezal (coded into "mud with wood/wattle") separately, whereas these two responses are combined in later censuses (coded into "wood and earth adobe").

Comparability — Panama [top]

The Panama 1960, 1980, and 1990 samples have a single category that combines other materials and dwellings without walls, while these are separate categories in the more recent samples. In the Panama 2010 sample the category "other materials" includes "material of inferior quality not included in previous categories".

Comparability — Paraguay [top]

The 1972-1982 samples include a category for Wattle that is not included in the later year samples. The 1992 and 2002 unharmonized samples include a category for "Stretched leather" which becomes "Other material" in the integrated variable.

Comparability — Peru [top]

The 1993 and 2007 samples combine adobe and rammed earth into one category, while these are separate responses in 2017.

Comparability — Romania [top]

There are differences in the universes between samples. The 1992 and 2011 samples are of all households while the 2002 sample excludes non-conventional housing units.

The categories between samples are generally comparable with the 2011 sample having more detailed response options for adobe and mixed or other materials. The 1992 and 2002 samples include adobe as part of a category that includes other materials such as clay and mud bricks. See source variables for more detail.

Comparability — Senegal [top]

The 2013 sample identifies additional walls materials with respect to 1988 and 2002.
The universe in 2013 is "ordinary households" while it is "all households" in 1988 and 2002.

Comparability — Sierra Leone [top]

The categories between 2004 and 2015 samples are generally comparable, with the 2015 sample having one more option for burned bricks.

Comparability — Tanzania [top]

The universes for the 2002 and the 2012 samples are private households and all households, respectively. These samples are generally comparable except that the 2012 sample has a distinct cloth and mixed material category. See the source variable, TZ2012A_WALLS , for details.

Comparability — Thailand [top]

The universe for the 1970 sample is all urban and a sample of rural private households, while the universe in subsequent census years was all private households.

Comparability — Togo [top]

For the 2010 sample, the "Other plant-based materials" category in includes brushwood, woven mats, claies, leaves or bamboo.

Comparability — Trinidad and Tobago [top]

The universes vary across samples. The universe for the 1970 and 1980 samples are all households. The universe for the 2000 sample is households that completed the interview, while it is private households in 2011.

There are differences in the categories across samples. The 1970 and 1980 samples are more comparable.

Comparability — Uganda [top]

The universe in 2014 is "all households" while it is "private households" in 1991 and 2002.

Comparability — Uruguay [top]

The data are generally comparable across samples. The masonry category is split into finished and unfinished blocks for the 2006 and 2011 samples.

Comparability — Zambia [top]

Several categories change across samples. "Cement blocks" is present in later samples but not in 1990. The 2010 sample also includes additional categories. The enumeration instructions for the 2010 samples contain detailed definitions for each category in the unharmonized source variable.