The Kish Method

Selecting the Participant

If you have pre-selected the participant for the sample then

the data collection team only has to interview the selected
person.

However, what if the participant has not been preselected? How can the participant randomly be selected
without bias from the data collection team?

The Kish Method

A method that allows the data collection team to randomly

select participants from the household.

Easy method that does not allow data collection bias.

Provides proper documentation so the sample can be

weighted during data analysis.

Using the Kish Method

Each household in the cluster will receive a number.

The Kish Household List will determine which Kish table should be
used for each household based on the number of the household.
The Kish Household Coversheet will be prepared for the data
collection team for each cluster prior to the interviews taking place.
The data collection team will fill out the household information on the
coversheet and select a participant based on the Kish table *
available on the coversheet.

* The Kish table is the Kish Summary of Eight Tables and is used to select the
participant based on the number of individuals in the household and the selected table number.

Materials for This Exercise

To complete the Kish exercise you should have:

Kish Household List
Kish Summary of Eight Tables
Kish Household Coversheet, Exercise 1
Kish Household Coversheet, Exercise 2
Kish Household Coversheet, Exercise 3 (2x)

Components of the Kish Method

Kish Household List

Kish Summary of Eight Tables

Kish Household Coversheet

Kish Household List

The selected households in each cluster should receive

cluster unique household numbers (i.e. if there are 35
selected households in a cluster then the households
should be numbers 1-35).
Each number is associated with a specific Kish Table.
The Kish household list only presents 49 households, if
you need to add more households the Kish Table list
repeats every 12 numbers.

Kish Summary of Eight Tables

The Summary of Eight Tables determines which individual

from a household should be selected based on the
assigned Kish Table number and the number of adults in a
household.

For example if you are using table C and there are four
eligible adults in the household, then you would select the
second adult in the list.

Kish Household Coversheet

The Household coversheet includes components of the

Household List and the Summary of Eight Tables.
The coversheet is used to
rank the eligible individuals in the household and
select the individual to be interviewed (regardless of
presence during the initial contact).

The coversheet should be partially filled out by the data

collection team supervisor prior to field work.

Preparing the Household Coversheet

The data collection team supervisor should

number the households in each cluster, if it has not already
been done,
create a coversheet for each selected household,
fill in the household number, cluster number, and participant
ID section of the coversheet, and
use the Kish Household List to circle that appropriate Kish
Table on each coversheet.

Filling out the Household Coversheet

during Household Visits

After introducing themselves and the project the

interviewer should
ask for the age and sex of each eligible participant in the
household,
list the household members on the coversheet,
rank the household members by decreasing age (rank all the
men and then all the women), and
select the participant by using the circled Kish Table.

Ranked Household List

Sex

Age

Adult
Number

61

31

27

58

35

Selected
Respondent

Exercise 1: Rank the Household

During a household visit you receive this information

The age and sex of my family is:

Male

age 61
Female age 61
Male age 28
Male age 37

List all the individuals in the household on the

Kish Household Coversheet, Exercise 1.

Exercise 1: Answer
Sex

Age

Adult
Number

61

37

28

61

Selected
Respondent

Exercise 2: Select the Participant

Use the Kish Coversheet, Exercise 2 to complete this exercise.

The household composition is

Female age 27
Male age 35
Female age 61
Male age 44
Male age 57

The circled table on the coversheet is the table you should use to
select the participant.

Exercise 2: Answer

You should have selected the 61-year-old female.

Sex

Age

Adult
Number

57

44

35

61

27

Selected
Respondent

Oversampling 5564-Year-Olds

If the study design includes oversampling for

5564-year-old age group, the Kish Coversheet will need
to be done separately for the 5564-year-olds and the rest
of the household.
The data collection team supervisor should prepare
two coversheets for each household.

Exercise 3: Oversampling

Use the Kish Coversheet, Exercise 3 to complete this exercise.

The sample design of the study includes over sampling the
5564-year-old age group. Select a participant for the
5564-year-olds and also for the 2554-year-olds.

The household composition is:

Male age 64
Female age 61
Male age 30
Female age 37

Exercise 3: Answer
Sex Age
5564-year-olds

Selected
Respondent
X

64

61

Sex Age
2554-year-olds

Adult
Num.

Adult
Num.

Selected
Respondent
X

30

37