The Household Registration System:
Computer Software for the Rapid Dissemination of Demographic Surveillance Systems

James F. Phillips
Bruce B. MacLeod
Brian Pence

Date Received:	12 May 2000
Date Published:	27 June 2000

Abstract:
Although longitudinal experimental community health research is crucial to testing hypotheses about the demographic impact of health technologies, longitudinal demographic research field stations are rare, owing to the complexity and high cost of developing requisite computer software systems. This paper describes the Household Registration System (HRS), a software package that has been used for the rapid development of eleven surveillance systems in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Features of the HRS automate software generation for a family of surveillance applications, obviating the need for new and complex computer software systems for each new longitudinal demographic study.

Author's affiliation:
James F. Phillips
is Senior Associate, Policy Research Division, Population Council, One Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, New York, NY 10017

Bruce B. MacLeod
is Associate Professor, University of Southern Maine, 96 Falmouth Ave., Portland, ME 04103

Brian Pence
is Data Analyst, Policy Research Division, Population Council, One Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, New York, NY 10017

Table of Contents:

1		Introduction
2		Longitudinal Household Studies
3		Data Management for Longitudinal Systems
4		The HRS Software System
5		Conclusion
		References
		Notes
		Table
		Figures

Keywords:
demographic surveillance, automated software generation, longitudinal survival studies, longitudinal community health research, experimental trial

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Word count: 7,671