Below is a list of the documentation that accompanies the MFLS-1 and MFLS-2 databases.
MFLS-1 Documentation
R-2351-AID, The Malaysian Family Life Survey: Summary Report, by William P. Butz and Julie DaVanzo, RAND, 1978. This report provides an overview of the First Malaysian Family Life Survey fielded in 1976-1977.
R-2351/1-AID, The Malaysian Family Life Survey: Appendix A, Questionnaires and Interviewer Instructions, by William P. Butz, Julie DaVanzo, Dorothy Z. Fernandez, Robert Jones, and Nyle Spoelstra, RAND 1978. This document contains the questionnaires used across all three rounds of the MFLS-1 survey along with the interviewer instruction manual.
R-2351/3-AID, The Malaysian Family Life Survey: Appendix C, Field and Technical Report, by Robert Jones and Nyle Spoelstra, RAND 1979. This document describes the sample design, respondent selection and response rates, fieldwork, and data entry.
R-2351/4-AID, The Malaysian Family Life Survey: Appendix D, Descriptions of Sample Communities, by Fahmi Omar, RAND, 1978. This document provides detailed descriptions of each of the 52 communities covered in the MFLS-1 data.
R-2351/5-AID, The Malaysian Family Life Survey: Appendix E, Master Codebook, by Terry Fain and Tan Poh Kheong, RAND, 1982. This document contains descriptions of all variables and their locations in the hierarchical data file structure of the original MFLS-1 data.
N-1815-1-AID, The Malaysian Family Life Survey: Codebook for the Individual-Level Dataset, by Terry Fain, 1996. This document describes a secondary file created from the MFLS-1 data that contains one record for each individual who ever appeared in the household roster of the MFLS-1 survey. Demographic, time allocation, and income and wealth information are available at both the individual and household level. This codebook describes variable locations on the file, code values, and from which section of the MFLS-1 questionnaire (and main codebook) the variable originated.
MR-111-NICHD, The First Malaysian Family Life Survey: Documentation for Subfiles, by Christine Peterson and Nancy Campbell, RAND, 1993. This document describes an alternative format for the MFLS-1 data wherein different card types have been split out into separate subfiles. Users of MFLS-1 data may find this multiple subfile format easier to use than the original single file hierarchical format. The subfiles have the same record layout as described in the MFLS-1 codebook (R-2351/5-AID). In addition, this document describes the repunched and revised MFLS-1 male migration history data from MF10, and describes four new files containing data not included on the original MFLS-1 tape. The four new data files contain some recall test questions and updated infant feeding and amenorrhea information for children under age 3.
MFLS-2 Documentation
MR-106-NICHD/NIA, The Second Malaysian Family Life Survey: Overview and Technical Report, by John Haaga, Julie DaVanzo, Christine Peterson, Tey Nai Peng, and Tan Boon Ann, RAND, 1994. This report describes the purpose, design, field work, and response rates for the MFLS-2. The appendices to the this report contain the specific information regarding questionnaires and the data.
MR-107-NICHD/NIA, The Second Malaysian Family Life Survey: Survey Instruments, by Julie DaVanzo, John Haaga, Tey Nai Peng, Ellen Starbird, and Christine E. Peterson, with the Staff of the Population Studies Center of the National Population and Family Development Board of Malaysia, RAND, 1993. In this document the development of the instruments is discussed, as are the findings of debriefings with the field staff during and after the field work. The document also contains the Interviewers' Instructions manual.
MR-107/1-NICHD/NIA, The Second Malaysian Family Life Survey: Questionnaires, by Julie DaVanzo, John Haaga, Tey Nai Peng, Ellen Starbird, and Christine E. Peterson, RAND, 1993. This document presents the actual questionnaires used in MFLS-2 survey.
MR-108-NICHD/NIA, The Second Malaysian Family Life Survey: Codebook, by Christine Peterson, Jeffrey Sine, and Deborah Wesley, RAND, 1994. This document contains descriptions of all variables and locations for the various subfiles which make up the MFLS-2 database.
MR-109-NICHD/NIA, The Second Malaysian Family Life Survey: User's Guide, by Christine Peterson, RAND, 1993. This document provides descriptions of the MFLS-2 data format and the MFLS-2 data files, and presents guidelines regarding how to use the data, with special focus on identifying individuals of interest and linking the various types of data.
Other Documents of Interest to MFLS Users
N-2157-AID, The Accuracy of Retrospective Data from the Malaysian Family Life Survey, by John Haaga, RAND, 1984. This document assesses the quality of the MFLS-1 retrospective fertility-related data.
MR-110-NICHD, The Second Malaysian Family Life Survey: Quality of Retrospective Data for the New Sample, by Jeffrey Sine and Christine Peterson, RAND, 1994. This document assesses the quality of the retrospective data for the MFLS-2 New Sample on marital status, fertility, infant and fetal mortality, birthweight, contraception, breastfeeding, and education.
CF-109-WFHF, Proceedings of the Seminar on the Second Malaysian Family Life Survey, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, October 1991. This volume contains papers prepared by researchers at the Population Studies Center of the National Population and Family Development Board of Malaysia (Lembaga Penduduk dan Penbangunan Keluarga Negara, or LPPKN) and at RAND that use the data from the MFLS-2 New Sample. Topics covered include marriage, fertility, breastfeeding, contraceptive use, women's labor force participation, child care, investments in education, health status and health care utilization of the elderly, and household amenities.
