Variable Names

Most CHNS variable names consist of an alphabetic prefix (A, B, etc.) followed by a number. Each table/section of the questionnaire employs a different prefix. Variable names are normally printed below or to the right of the corresponding question on the questionnaire.

Some variables have been renamed to facilitate use of the data. For example, variables which identify line numbers in tables have been renamed "LINE" (see ID Variables). The suffix "_91" has been added to 1991 variables to distinguish them from similarly-named 1989 variables, and "_93" has been added to 1993 variables. However, "_97" and "_00" suffixes have not been added to 1997 and 2000 variables. Suffixes are not indicated in the questionnaires.

Note that some variables documented in the questionnaires are not found in the data files, particularly in 1989 data sets. Many of these variables were never entered into a computer file. Also note that variables T1-T5 have been dropped from 1989, 1991 and 1993 files since they have been combined to form household and community identifiers (see ID Variables). T1-T5 have not been dropped from 1997 and 2000 files.

Variables are not necessarily in the same order in the data files as they appear in the documentation.