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Help with Caste information for NFHS-3 [message #813] Fri, 04 October 2013 12:57 Go to next message
gopalakr@live.unc.edu is currently offline  gopalakr@live.unc.edu
Messages: 1
Registered: October 2013
Location: Chapel Hill
Member
Hello,
I am trying to figure out the caste information and categories for India dataset (NFHS-3).

I want to create one variable that includes caste but also acknowledge people with no caste/tribe. How can I ensure all people in Hindus category can belong to either SC, ST, OBC and Other(General caste). I thought the total of non-Hindus should be equal to people with no caste or tribe. From my understanding, only Hindus have caste in India.

Can you clarify the discrepancy in the data?

For example, the table below shows 118040 people who reported their caste or tribe. However, there are only 89,957 Hindus (reported in the survey).

. tab s117

caste or tribe | Freq. Percent Cum.
---------------+-----------------------------------
caste | 102,300 82.24 82.24
tribe | 15,740 12.65 94.90
no caste/tribe | 4,594 3.69 98.59
don't know | 1,706 1.37 99.96
9 | 45 0.04 100.00
---------------+-----------------------------------
Total | 124,385 100.00


tab v130

religion | Freq. Percent Cum.
----------------------+-----------------------------------
hindu | 89,957 72.32 72.32
muslim | 16,742 13.46 85.78
christian | 10,977 8.83 94.61
sikh | 2,772 2.23 96.83
buddhist/neo-buddhist | 1,765 1.42 98.25
jain | 539 0.43 98.69
jewish | 11 0.01 98.70
parsi/zoroastrian | 3 0.00 98.70
no religion | 44 0.04 98.73
donyi polo | 385 0.31 99.04
other | 1,032 0.83 99.87
99 | 158 0.13 100.00
----------------------+-----------------------------------
Total | 124,385 100.00


I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Lakshmi Gopalakrishnan
MPH Candidate, 2014
Department of Maternal and Child Health
Gillings School of Global Public Health
University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill


Lakshmi G
Re: Help with Caste information for NFHS-3 [message #890 is a reply to message #813] Wed, 30 October 2013 12:34 Go to previous message
Bridgette-DHS is currently offline  Bridgette-DHS
Messages: 3199
Registered: February 2013
Senior Member
Here is a response from one of our DHS experts, Fred Arnold:

Although the caste system in India is most closely associated with Hinduism, the caste system is used by many other religious groups, including Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, and Sikhs. Many Hindus who were formerly "untouchables" converted to other religions, particularly Buddhism. It is important to note that the tribal population is not considered part of the caste system. If you cross-tabulate the religion variable by the caste/tribe variable, you will be able to see the extent to which the caste system has permeated into religious groups other than Hindus.

Hope this helps.

Bridgette-DHS
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