Korea, Republic of, 1974 (WFS)

The following description of this survey appeared in the 1991 edition of Dynamic Database: A Catalogue of Survey Data Files, Voorburg: International Statistical Institute.

Basic Information

• Name of survey: Korean National Fertility Survey
• Executive agency: National Bureau of Statistics, Economic Planning Board
• Date of fieldwork: 1974
• Universe: Ever-married women, -49
• Coverage: National, 99%
• Size: 5430
• Weights: Self-weighting
• Contents: WFS Core Mark 1 + fertility regulation and family planning (part) modules
• Supplementary surveys: Household members (n = 104,892, self-weighting); Community (n = 120 villages)

Additional Information

Fieldwork for the enlarged household survey and the individual survey was performed by the same interviewers in a single operation. A subsample of 1-in-3 ever-married women aged 15-49 identified in the household survey was selected for the individual survey. The household survey collected information on fertility, mortality, nuptiality, education and dwelling characteristics. The individual survey is one of the few in the WFS developing country programme to have collected a reasonably complete history of contraceptive use. For each pregnancy interval, information is available on the (last) method used if any, and the reason for stopping use. No information is available on precise dates or durations of use-episodes, The abortion module was supplemented with additional questions on knowledge of abortion sources, means of transport and travelling time. A complete history of non-live births is available on the SR file.

A rich variety of information on indirect fertility determinants was collected: co-residence and contact with husband's and respondent's parents; mother's family size; number of sons born to mother-in-law and whether husband is the eldest son; expectations about sons' and daughters' education and perceived financial burden; expectations about various types of support from children; hours worked by respondent in last/current job; respondent's attitude to employment; husband's fertility preferences; respondent's fertility preferences at time of first marriage and desired timing of first birth; household ownership of consumer durables; size of dwelling; area of paddy/dry land owned/rented.

The community questionnaire was administered in rural clusters. Information was collected on: demographic, social, economic and cultural characteristics of the community; access to family planning, health and other facilities; and school enrollment details.

Release Conditions

Data may be used for academic research, provided that credit is given in any publication resulting from the research to the agency that conducted the survey and that two copies of any publication are sent to:

Public Use Files

Available files include the household members data and dictionary, and the individual standard recode data and dictionary, in the original WFS format. In addition, the individual standard recode data and dictionary dictionary are available in ISSA format. The table below lists the file names and descriptions.

Key References

1. National Bureau of Statistics of the Economic Planning Board, The Korean National Fertility Survey, 1974: First Country Report, Seoul, 1977.

2. Kim, H.S., The Consistency Level of Pregnancy History Data from the 1974 Korean World Fertility Survey Data, Journal of Population and Health Studies 2(2), 1982.