Household Decision-Making Scale
Scale Objective
To measure women's household decision-making, as perceived by couples, men alone, and women alone
Type(s) of Behavior or Outcomes Predicted
Contraceptive use
Types of Items Included
Decision-making related to purchases and to visiting friends and relatives
Number of Items and Subscales
3 items
Scale Items
- Who usually makes decisions about making major household purchases?
- Who usually makes decisions about making purchases for daily household needs?
- Who usually makes decisions about visits to family or relatives?
Scoring Procedures
Responses were scored between 1 and 4: 1 = respondent; 2 = spouse/partner; 3 = respondent and spouse/partner jointly; 4 = someone else.
Psychometrics Used in Scale Construction
Estimates of internal consistency:
- Wives: alpha = .71
- Husbands: alpha = .50
- Husbands+Wives: alpha = .67
Type(s) of Statistics Used to Test Predictive Validity
Multivariate logistic regression
Used with Women
Yes
Used with Men
Yes
Country or Countries Where Tested or Applied
12 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America
Additional Information
Items were derived from couples' datasets in demographic and health surveys (DHS)—for example, DHS couples re-code data for Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Kenya. Women's household decision-making power reliably predicts contraceptive use in countries with low scores on the gender-related development index (GDI).
Downloads:
- Household Decision-Making Scale (PDF
) - DOWNLOAD ENTIRE COMPENDIUM (PDF )
Source(s):
- Leon, F, and J Foreit. 2009. Developing women's empowerment scales and predicting contraceptive use: A study of 12 countries' demographic and health surveys (DHS) data. Draft manuscript.
