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A New Methodological Approach to Study Household Structure From Census and Survey Data

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  • Simona Bignami-Van Assche
  • Virginie Boulet
  • Charles-Olivier Simard

Abstract

How household-level data from censuses and surveys are analyzed to study household structure is an issue that has received little attention. The present study proposes a new methodological approach to address this gap. Specifically, we introduce the idea of the household configuration as a mathematical representation of observations from the household roster that uses the tools of sequence analysis to study relationships between household members. This “household configuration approach†is statistically efficient, captures the heterogeneity of family forms in a population, and is computationally simple. An application to Canadian census data for Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples shows that our approach can yield interesting insights into household structure, otherwise not readily obtained.

Suggested Citation

  • Simona Bignami-Van Assche & Virginie Boulet & Charles-Olivier Simard, 2023. "A New Methodological Approach to Study Household Structure From Census and Survey Data," Sociological Methods & Research, , vol. 52(2), pages 587-605, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:somere:v:52:y:2023:i:2:p:587-605
    DOI: 10.1177/0049124120986192
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Sara Randall & Ernestina Coast, 2015. "Poverty in African Households: the Limits of Survey and Census Representations," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(2), pages 162-177, February.
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