Virtually all survey data are collected by “strangers,” that is, individuals with no prior social relationship with respondents. Although it has long been recognized that attitudes toward strangers vary cross-culturally, there has been no systematic discussion of how this variation might affect survey data. This article attempts such a discussion, using data from a longitudinal research study in rural Kenya. It reviews qualitative impressions of insider-and stranger-related issues within the specific Kenyan field setting, drawing primarily on field notes. Relevant areas of social theory and the data collection literature are reviewed briefly. Finally, using the project's longitudinal survey data, empirical tests are presented which allow for an evaluation of differential data quality across insider-and stranger-interviewers on three dimensions: differential response rates, differential reliability of responses, and differential response validity. The results suggest that insider-interviewers increase response rates and collect more consistent data across survey waves. They also suggest that data collected by female insiders in particular appear to be superior for most questions and of equal quality for others.

This article reviews three mechanisms related to autonomy, wealth, and local cultural factors, which are said to underly the high prevalence of consanguineous marriage in Arab societies. It then assesses each of them empirically in two stages. The first uses a pooled dataset constituted by the most recent marriage cohorts in the 1992 and 2000 waves of the Egyptian Demographic and Health Surveys. Three results stand out. The frequency of consanguinity in the most recent marriage cohorts (i) is strongly correlated with the frequency among older cohorts, signaling the strong clustering of underlying institutional (and unobserved) supports; (ii) tends to be more common among women who are poorer in absolute term, though wealthier than average in their communities; and (iii) varies temporally and across the rural-urban divide in its relationship to women's autonomy. A subsidiary analysis, using only the 2000 data, then identifies wealth and autonomy differences between first cousin patrilateral and matrilateral wives.Keywords Consanguinity Á Cousin marriage Á Endogamy Á Arab marriage Á Women's autonomy Á Egypt Résumé Cet article examine trois mécanismes en lien avec l'autorité, la fortune et les facteurs culturels locaux, qui sont connus pour influencer la fréquence élevée des mariages consanguins dans les sociétés arabes. Chacun de ces mécanismes est évalué en deux étapes: La première s'appuie sur la base de données des mariages les plus récents dans les vagues de 1992 et de 2000 de l'Enquête Démographique et de Santé égyptienne. Trois résultats sont mis en évidence, concernant la fréquence de la consanguinité parmi les mariages les plus récents: (1) celle-ci est fortement corrélée avec la fréquence parmi les générations les plus anciennes, ce qui indique l'existence d'un regroupement de facteurs institutionnels sous-jacents (non

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Results are consistent with those found in studies conducted in other areas of sub-Saharan Africa at earlier stages in the epidemic. They confirm that VA data can be used to estimate with a reasonable degree of confidence the distribution of AIDS- and non-AIDS-related deaths in the aggregate, even in a rural population with relatively low levels of education.

Ethnic differences in demographic behavior tend to be disguised behind analytically opaque labels like “district” or “region,” or else subjected to simplistic cultural explanations. Drawing on new political economy, sociological theory and the political science literature on sub‐Saharan Africa, this article proposes an alternative explanatory model and tests it empirically with reference to Kenya. Access to political power and, through power, access to a state's resources—including resources devoted to clinics, schools, labor opportunities, and other determinants of demographic behavior—are advanced as the key factors underlying ethnic differences. District‐level estimates of “political capital” are introduced and merged with two waves of Demographic and Health Survey data. The effects on models of contraceptive use are explored. Results confirm that measures of political capital explain residual ethnic differences in use, providing strong support for a political approach to the analysis of demographic behavior.