A personal perspective on the history of the World Fertility Survey and The Demographic and Health Surveys Program: An interview with Tom Pullum

Background: We take for granted that there are data on critical topics such as health and mortality, fertility, and social processes across the globe. For over 50 years, the World Fertility Survey program (1972–1984) and its successor, The Demographic and Health Surveys Program (1984–present), filled in essential gaps in human knowledge. Objective: I interviewed Tom Pullum to better understand the history and evolution of the WFS and DHS, including why they were introduced, how they worked, and how they changed over time. Contribution: We contribute to the documentation of the history of international collaboration that for half a century has produced representative and standardized estimates of population and health indicators for many parts of the globe. In the telling, we recall the history of the effort, its trials and tribulations, as well as its tradeoffs, limitations, and the oft-hidden excitement and messiness of demographic measurement.