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Latin American and Caribbean Center of Demography (CELADE)
Census Department
General Department of Statistics
Ministry of Economy
Dwelling - Population - Agricultural and
Laws Regarding the Census
Handbook for the Enumerator
Guatemala Census 1964
Republic of Guatemala, C.A. - 1964
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Print number 3961 National Typography - Guatemala G. 9957 - 50M.3.64
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Enumerator Instructions
Census April 1964
A census is a series of operations and jobs from which we obtain information about a set of units, such as dwellings, persons, farms, industrial or commercial establishments, for a determined date with the goal of preparing, analyzing, and publishing the data that refers to the information obtained, without giving any individual details at all. In this way, for example, in the dwelling census we try to get information about each of the dwellings located in the republic, with the goal of establishing the location of the dwelling, type of building where the dwelling is located, type of dwelling, ownership, predominant construction materials (such as walls, roof, and floor), services and amenities that are available to the dwelling (such as water service, sanitary service, lighting, energy for cooking), other amenities, etc. In the Population Census, we try to obtain information about each of the persons who constitute a census household, requesting information about the general characteristics of the persons, such as: sex, age, marital status, religion, nationality, educational characteristics, occupational characteristics, fertility, etc. In the Agricultural Census, we try to obtain information about the localization of the farm or production, about the owner of the farm, about property rights and use of the land, about the crops, cattle, poultry and hives, as well as the animal products, agricultural equipment and vehicles, use of fertilizers, watering, etc.
Conducting national censuses carries a special importance for the country and its inhabitants, since it allows the counting of the national inventory of human and economic resources. Each activity that is of social, cultural, economic nature requires pertinent information that is obtained through the statistical data to guide the different programs and tasks that have to be done for the improvement and development of the country. The statistical data are not only of use for the Government and its institutions, but also for individuals. Every public or private business needs to have information about the social and economic structure of the country to guide their production and sales programs; the data are useful for industrialists, since it allows them to know the possibility for establishing industries of businesses in each region. In general, everyday it becomes more necessary to have recent statistical data that permit a better and more extensive understanding of the characteristics of the population and its economic resources, to adequately guide every activity that is carried out. It is precisely through taking a periodic census that we can count on the statistical data of the country so that once the data are analyzed, we can provide them to those who need them.
In order to periodically have updated information, the census are usually taken periodically, in the years ending in 0 or 5.
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In Guatemala, in accordance with the Decree No. 495, Law of Statistics, the General Census of Population should be taken every ten years, in the years ending in zero, the Dwelling Census should be taken at least every ten years, and it should be conducted simultaneously with the Census of Population. The Agricultural Census should be taken every five years in the years ending in 0 or 5.
3. Which census will be conducted?
According to that established in the Law Decree No. 120, of October 19, 1963, the days from April 18 to 26, 1964, we should proceed in all of the territory of the republic, with the simultaneous processes of the VII General Population Census, the II Dwelling Census, and the II Agricultural Census.
4. By whom and when will the census be conducted?
The census will be taken by the General Direction of Statistics, a section of the Ministry of Economy, under the supervision of the Census Department (4th Avenue 12-66, zone 1, and phone number 25-4-42). The census will be conducted according to that established by the Law Decree No. 120 dated October 19, 1963, presidential decree No. 495 of December 16, 1955 (Law of Statistics), and in agreement with the General Regulation of the Census, contained in the governmental agreement of December 20, 1953. The census will be taken from April 18 to 26 and will consist, as has been indicated, the VII Population Census, the II Dwelling Census, and the II Agricultural Census.
For the purposes of the Population Census, we have established as the census moment for enumerating the persons as 12 midnight (24 hours) of the day Friday, April 17, 1964.
On Saturday 18 and Sunday the 19 the Dwelling, Population, and Agricultural census will be taken simultaneously, in urban areas, and from Monday 20 to Sunday the 26 of April, those censuses will be conducted in rural areas.
Despite the indications and if the availability of enumerators allows it, the census in the urban and rural areas can be done simultaneously starting on April 18 and finishing on April 26. In exceptional cases or when for special reasons it was not possible to finish the enumeration of a remote place or a place with difficult access, as long as the corresponding census authority had authorized it, the enumeration will continue on April 26 and in the following days, until finishing the enumeration of the sector that has been assigned.
5. How will the censuses be taken?
On December 20, 1963, the General Regulation of the Censuses was emitted, which established the organization of the personnel that will participate in carrying out the census. That regulation establishes that in each departmental header, except in the capital of the republic, there will be a committee in charge of supervising and controlling the departmental census tasks. In each municipal header, there will be a municipal committee responsible of the census tasks in the municipal jurisdiction in each department. As officials of the General Statistics Department are the departmental inspector of Statistics, who at the same time is a departmental delegate of the censuses, the departmental sub-delegates, and in each municipal header there is a municipal delegate for the census. In addition to these officials, in each municipality there will be district judges, supervisors, heads of enumerators, and enumerators.
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6. Importance of the enumerator
The enumerator is the person with the most responsibility in taking the census, since the quality and accuracy of the data requested on the census depends on him or her, and this person is responsible for the complete and efficient enumeration of the census. The enumerator is the key person in taking a census; he or she must visit each dwelling and each agricultural endeavor to require from all inhabitants the information that appears on the census forms. With his or her capacity, enthusiasm, tack, and careful treatment, the enumerator should infuse the informant with confidence and friendliness, so he or she can obtain the required information in a truthful and complete manner.
On the dedication and patriotism that the enumerator places in carrying out his or her work depends, in great part, the success of the censuses, and utility and benefits that the country can obtain from them. The enumerator is, therefore, a fundamental element and he or she is called upon to carry out a noble task, with responsibility and patriotism, which will be of great social utility and collective benefit that will provide great advantages for the country.
7. Obligations and attributions of the enumerators
According to what is established in article 28 of the General Regulation of the Censuses, the enumerator has the following as obligations and attributions:
a) To fulfill the laws, regulations, and other dispositions established regarding the census;
b) To attend the meetings that are called by the census authorities, either for training purposes, work organization, or distribution of materials, etc.;
c) To personally fill in, in the indicated way, the census forms that correspond to the assigned census units, turning in those forms after checking to the head of enumerators or respective supervisors;
d) To remain at the disposition of the departmental, municipal, or local committees, as the case may be, to carry out any other assigned task related to the census.
e) To take care that the information given by the informants is accurate, informing the head of enumerators or the respective supervisors about the irregularities that you observe in carrying out his or her tasks;
f) To obtain the data requested in the forms according to the instructions that he or she received, taking care to write the information carefully in the corresponding place on the respective forms.
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g) To verify that he or she has covered all of the units in the area that he or was assigned;
h) To proceed to make a careful revision of each form, with the goal of assuring himself or herself that her or she has not incurred any error or omission, being, therefore, directly responsible for the done work;
i) To inform the head of enumerators or supervisors, in writing, about the persons who refused to provide the data that are requested related to the census, or who gave information that is notoriously false, or who did not provide the information in due time;
j) To personally carry out all of his or her tasks; and
k) To collaborate with the persons designated by the Municipal Committee to revise the forms used on taking the census.
The enumerator has the obligation of carrying and showing when requested, the credential that identifies him/her as an enumerator; also, while doing his/her work, he/she should wear the respective badge that identifies him/her as a census enumerator.
The enumerator has the right to be admitted to any dwelling or farm situated within the district that he or she must enumerate, according to the sector that has been assigned to him or her, to obtain the information requested on the form and to resolve any clarification or verification in regards to the censuses.
He or she can request the assistance of the authorities for any case that obstacles his or her labor.
He or she has the right to receive the license in the place where he or she provides services to receive training and to fulfill the duties that correspond to him or her as a enumerator.
9. Prohibitions for the enumerator
For the enumerators it is prohibited:
a) To inform any person or authority about individual data obtained in carrying out of his or her duties as an enumerator;
b) To be accompanied or assisted in completing the census by persons who are not adequately authorized by the authorities to do so;
c) To show the forms or information to persons other than those to whom corresponds to review the work assigned to him or her;
d) To delegate his or her work and authority in other persons not authorized for this purpose;
e) To alter the information consigned in the forms or to write false or invented information;
f) To ask information that is not requested on the corresponding forms; and
g) To retain the forms and the materials that he or she has received for carrying out the work.
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10. Material that the enumerator will receive
For the fulfilling his or her work, the enumerator will receive from the corresponding boss, the material necessary to proceed to carry out the censuses and that it has been prepared, taking into account the sector that it corresponds to him or her to enumerate. The enumerator will receive a binder that will contain the credential that identifies him or her as an enumerator, his or her badge, maps or plans or in its defect, the description of the sector to be enumerated, forms for the Dwelling and Population Census, forms for the Agricultural Census, and the corresponding notebook for annotations. The number of forms will be adequate according to the sector that has been assigned.
The enumerator should check and verify the list of materials, forms, and documents that will be given to do the work, as well as familiarize himself or herself with the sector that corresponds for him or her to enumerate, so that the enumeration will be done in a complete manner. When the enumerator finishes enumerating the sector or area that has been assigned, he or she should turn in the notebook with the forms where he or she has noted the data obtained during the enumeration to the corresponding manager, and separately, turn in the materials that were not used in the census.
If the enumerator estimates that the number of forms or material contained in the binder are not enough to cover the section that he or she has been assigned, he or she should indicate this issue in advance to his or her boss, so that the enumerator can get the necessary materials. All questions that the enumerator needs to make should be made to the corresponding leader or the assigned supervisor of the enumeration section.
Each enumerator must carry out the census in the enumeration sector, and his or her immediate boss is the head of enumerators on whom the enumerators of various sectors directly depend, forming a section of enumeration.
Aside from work of supervision and the important function of training the enumerators, resolving their questions, and attending the consultation that they make, the head of enumerators have the following obligations and attributions:
a) To act as leaders of the enumerators that they are assigned;
b) To instruct the enumerators who will take part in carrying out the census;
c) To distribute the census materials to the enumerators;
d) To oversee the census process in the corresponding section;
e) To collect the census materials and return them after revisions to the district leaders with a summary of the results from carrying out the census;
f) To take care that the work of the enumerators is perfect and that it is conforms to the legal norms and additional dispositions on the subject; and
g) To collaborate in the post-census studies and researches that are required to verify the accuracy of the census data.
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All issues and problems that the enumerator encounters, regarding the work that he or she is charged with, should be notified to the head of the enumerators, who is the person in the hierarchical order who serves as a link between the enumerator and the census authorities. However, in urgent or unpredicted circumstances, all of the officials who are in charge of taking the census can communicate directly with the enumerator to help him or her resolve any problem or question that comes up during the census-taking work.
Each leader of enumerators will have an enumeration section under their supervision, which will be formed by a group of 8 or 10 sectors, according to the characteristics of the place or in special cases, by the number of sectors that the leaders of the district or supervisors have available.
For each group of sections that can consist of 5 to 7 sections, depending on the case, an enumeration district will be formed and each district will be under the supervision of a district leader.
Each district leader will have the following obligations and attributions:
a) To organize in collaboration with the municipal committee and the local committees, as the case may be, the work that should be done by the supervisors, leaders of enumerators, and enumerators;
b) To practice, before the enumeration, a walk-through of the district under his or her supervision, with the goal of familiarizing himself or herself with it and develop the best work method;
c) To instruct the leaders of enumerators and the enumerators regarding the form of carrying out the tasks with which they are charged;
d) To give a periodic review to the municipal and local committees of the census project under his or her supervision;
e) To take charge of the distribution of the census material among the leaders of enumerators and enumerators;
f) To turn in all of the material used in the census activities to the municipal delegates;
g) To resolve the questions that may arise during the enumeration;
h) To verify the results of the census, practicing a revision of the work that is done in the district under his/her care; and
i) To collaborate in the post-census studies and research that are done to verify the accuracy of the census.
12. The need that the enumeration be complete
The enumerator should personally visit and enumerate each dwelling and each of the inhabitants of the dwelling, writing the information in the respective forms; he or she should also visit each farm or unit of production that is located in his or her enumeration sector. In each dwelling, farm, or unit of production that it corresponds to him or her enumerate, he or she should turn in the respective proof and put a mark on the exterior of the dwelling that indicates it was enumerated and according to the instructions that will be received from the respective leader.
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The enumerator should check and revise the enumeration sector with care, to obtain absolute security that no dwelling, person, or agricultural production has been left without enumerating.
The binder includes a copy of the notebook for annotations, which will serve to write down dwellings, persons, farms, or agricultural production sites that have been left pending and that warrant a new visit. The enumerator should be very careful in making the notes in the notebook so that later the required census information can be obtained; the notebook for annotations will also serve for noting any observation or clarification that he or she considers necessary.
14. The need to carry out the census in the established time
It is necessary to carry out the enumeration during the stipulated time, in the most complete and exact way possible and according to the instruction received from the leader of enumerators. For this, it is indispensable the enumerator dedicate himself or herself to his or her work with a sense of responsibility and with total accuracy, strictly observing the legal dispositions and the instructions that he or she has received from the census authorities.
15. Time available for the enumeration
As has been indicated in another place in these instructions, the census should be taken from April 18 to April 26 of 1964, and only in exceptional cases, clearly justified and with previous authorization from the census authorities, the period previously indicated could be extended. The enumeration should begin at eight o'clock on April 18.
The enumerator should be rapid and efficient to carry out his or her work; he or she should not waste time in unnecessary conversations. Upon entering a dwelling, farm, or production unit, with total clarity and in a few words he or she should explain the objective of his or her visit, striving to infuse confidence at all times and maintain his or her composure. The enumerator should only ask the questions that appear in the census forms, only those necessary for clarifying information. Once the interview is concluded, the enumerator should thank the persons for the collaboration provided and continue with the next dwelling or farm.
The limits of the sector that corresponds to each enumerator are established in the maps or plans that are included in the notebooks. In those cases in which it has been not possible to count on them or with a description that permits identifying the enumeration sector, the leader of enumerators will indicate the sector that corresponds to him or her.
Outside the sector that has been assigned, the enumerator should not enumerate another place, unless he or she receives special instructions to do so.
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In some cases, the Statistical Office has prepared maps and plans in which the sectors of enumeration have been marked. When maps or plans are available, these are included in the corresponding notebook. If in the course of enumeration, you find that the map or plan is not correct in some of the details, please note the modifications or faults that you encounter and report them to the leader of enumerators.
18. Procedure for the enumeration
Before you begin your work as an enumerator, you should check the notebook to be sure that you have the necessary materials, and then identify the corresponding sector, writing in the binder the identification of the place (number of district, section, and sector). Before you begin your work, you should do a careful review of the corresponding land for the sector that you have been assigned to verify that it is really the sector that corresponds to your work and its limits, as well as knowing the particular characteristics of it.
After finishing the above, you should proceed to the interview with the inhabitants of each dwelling of the corresponding sector. The interview, which is a "conversation carried out with a defined goal and with the intention of obtaining the information that is required on the forms," should begin with explaining the motive of the visit. The enumerator should present himself or herself with composure and correct behavior, trying to inspire in the informant interest and the desire to provide the information, for which it is indispensable to be prepared to provide any information or explanation that the informant requests. The success in obtaining the information depends in great part on the ability that the enumerator has in requesting the information and in he or she knows how to inspire confidence in the person being interviewed. Each interview is different from the previous one since none is the same as another in terms of the conditions in which the interview is done. Each person is different from the others, although they are apparently the same, but there are particular details in terms of personal character, customs, economic and social conditions, collaboration with the collective, etc. In the same way, the enumerator should be able to adapt to the distinct conditions that will be presented and should try through all of the available methods to convince the informant to provide the data with total confidence and in the most accurate manner.
If a person refuses to provide the information, you should report it to the immediate leader and make the corresponding note in your notebook for annotations.
The work of enumerating should begin with the dwelling form, for which you should interview a responsible member of the census family, who could be the head of household, his spouse, oldest child or any other member of the family. This member should be of legal age, since children, servants, or neighbors generally are not in conditions to provide the data required on the forms. Once you have concluded the part of the form referred to the Dwelling Census, you will continue with the information that refers to the Population Census, whose information can be provided by the same person who provided the data for the Dwelling Census.
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In the case of the Agricultural Census, the information should be requested of the producer, administrator, or the person who substitutes him or her and is capable of providing the required information.
The enumeration of the Dwelling and Population, when the dwellings are set up in blocks, should begin with the house situated in the northwest corner of each block.
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If there is no house on the corner, you should start the enumeration with the first house that you find when you begin the route on the street; then you will continue enumeration of the rest of the houses on the block, going around the block completely, until you find the starting point. The enumerator should be sure to have entered any alley, passageway, corridor, or apartment that is on the block that he or she is enumerating. The enumerator should not abandon the block or sector that he or she has been assigned until having completely finished his or her enumeration.
When the sector that you have been assigned is made up of various blocks, it is up to your criteria to determine the order in which they should be enumerated, except when they are numbered, in whose case, it must proceed according to the corresponding numerical order. You should not start enumerate a block, while the one already started has not been finished.
If the dwellings of the corresponding sector are not grouped by blocks, the enumeration should be done street by street. In the case that there are various isolated dwellings, but with a certain distance one from the other, the enumerator, in agreement with the leader of enumerators and section leader, the enumerator will determine the most convenient way for doing the work.
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In any case, you will be careful to cover all the sector, with the goal of not leaving any dwelling or agricultural production without enumerating it.
For the enumeration of the Agricultural Census, the enumerator, in agreement with the leader of enumerators, will determine the most convenient form for doing the work.
When the enumeration is interrupted for any reason, you should inform the leader of enumerators. When you re-start the work, it should be re-started where it was interrupted without altering the indicated route.
In the corresponding sections of this manual, there are special instruction for the enumeration on the dwelling form, the population form, and the one that will be used for the Agricultural Census.
The enumerator must obtain the data for all of the dwellings, persons, and farms that correspond to his or her enumeration sector; the effort to obtain this information will lead to a more complete census, fulfilling the goals of the census, and it will be of greater utility for the country.
If the members of the census household are absent when the enumerator arrives at the dwelling, you should take note of them in the notebook for annotations and return for a second visit. By asking a neighbor, you may be informed of the time that the head or other members of the census household are in the house.
When from the information obtained from the neighbors, you are sure that none of the members of the census household will return until after the enumeration is completed, you should try to obtain whatever information that is possible through some neighbor. You should write down this case in the corresponding notebook for annotations, so that census authorities will have the needed information to complete the omitted information at a later time.
20. Cases in which they refuse to answer
If the enumerator encounters cases in which the persons refuse to give the information, you should proceed politely and with tact in the following way:
a) Maintain a friendly and correct attitude at every moment, trying in a friendly and conciliatory way to convince the persons of the utility of their collaboration. Do not lose your patience; avoid having discussions, threats, or giving the opportunity for an argument;
b) The enumerator should try to obtain the name of the informant who refuses, as well as the greatest number possible of details and write them down in the corresponding form;
c) You should indicate to the informant the objective of the census, the utility that it represents to the country, trying to instill, as much as possible, the greatest trust;
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d) If despite this, the resistance to giving the data persists, the enumerator should let the informant know about article 39 of the Decree-Law number 120, and article 41 of the General Regulation of Census, and articles 32, 33, 34, and 36 of decree 495 of the Law of Statistics; and
e) If after a second visit you do not obtain the information because the head of the census household to whom the information is provided refuses, you should indicate this in the notebook for annotations and inform in writing, reporting the case to the leader of enumerators.
After completing each form, the enumerator should proceed with its revision, with the goal of verifying that all of the information is written down and to be sure that there is no annotation that is doubtful or incomplete, since at this moment it is possible to request the corresponding clarifications.
Finishing the enumeration sector that was assigned, the enumerator should do a new revision of the forms and make the summary of the work, noting the data that is indicated on the cover of the binder. Once the summary is concluded, you should turn in to the leader of enumerators the binder, with the forms used in the census, and separately, the unused material.
In the following chapters, the enumerator will find the information about the way of completing the forms that correspond to the Dwelling, Population, and Agricultural censuses.
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The Dwelling Census will permit us to collect the information about diverse dwellings, urban and rural, that exist in the country, their location and their principal characteristics. Such as the type of building where the dwelling is located, the type of dwelling, their condition of occupancy, the principal construction materials, the services and amenities of the dwelling, the number of rooms and permanent occupants, and information about the existence of agricultural animals and products within the dwelling. Such information will allow us to know, when it is summarized for all of the houses of a population, what needs exist as they refer to water service installations, sewers, electricity, etc.
The Dwelling Census will be made up of all of the dwellings, urban and rural, that are occupied by a census family or a non-family group on the date of the census (midnight of April 17, 1964).
People can live in diverse classes of places such as houses, apartments, rooms, rural rustic dwelling, shack, railroad cars, hospitals, hotels, nursing homes, etc. Some of these dwellings are designated for occupation by one family and others for occupation by two or more families or by persons with no family ties. If only the numbers of houses, apartments, hotels, etc. are counted, we would have numbers that would give an unclear idea of the situation of the dwelling, since there would be no link to the special form in which each of these structures are being utilized. For this reason, it is necessary to introduce a concept that can be useful as a base for such arrangements.
This concept is that of "dwelling," for which we give the definition and explanation in the following paragraphs:
This is every location or structural space separate and independent that has been built, made, converted, or designated for permanent or temporary housing of persons, as well as any other class of protection, non-mobile or mobile, occupied as a place of housing on the census date. Therefore, a dwelling can be constituted by:
1) An independent house, apartment, floor, a room or group of rooms, rustic rural dwelling, shack, etc., that is found destined to give housing to a group of persons or to one single person.
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2) A boat, container (trailer), railroad car, vehicle, awning, tent, etc., as well as any other class of housing (cave, etc.) occupied as a place of housing on the first date of the census.
In the above definition, we have introduced two concepts: the separation and independence, which for a clear interpretation need a special comment. A location is considered to be separated if it is surrounded by walls, barriers, fences, and it is covered by a roof that allows a person or group of persons to be isolated from others that form part of a community, in order to sleep, prepare and consume their meals, and protect themselves from the dangers of weather and environment. A space that fulfills those requirements can be considered independent, in addition, if it has direct access from the street or from a staircase, passageway, corridor, patio or any land. Direct access means that the inhabitants of a location can leave and enter that place without having to pass through the locations occupied by other persons.
Although there are various criteria for the classification of the dwellings, a first division consists in separating "private dwellings" from "collective dwellings" according to the following definitions:
a) Private dwelling: this is a dwelling used or designated for use as a separate and independent dwelling or home by a private census household (see definition below).
b) Collective dwelling: this is a dwelling used or designated for use as a place of special housing for a set of persons, among which there are not always family ties, and who establish communal living, for reasons of discipline, healthcare, education, religious life, work, etc. Some examples are reformatories, jails, penitentiaries, hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, sanatoriums, children's homes, boarding schools, hospices, work camps, religious congregations, hotels, pensions, boarding houses, barracks, etc. Special cases: in the application of the above definitions, frequently some special situations come up that merit separate mention:
b) If in a collective dwelling, for example a hospital, there also exists as a dwelling unit in which the director lives with his or her family, this unit will be considered as a private dwelling separate from the collective dwelling;
c) Commercial buildings, industrial buildings, etc.: the buildings that only give space to stores, factories, offices, and in general, commercial establishments, industrial establishments, or establishments that provide services, will not be considered dwellings. The exception is when there is (inside those buildings) an apartment, room or group of rooms, occupied as a dwelling, by the owner, supervisor, doorman, etc., with or without his or her family. In this case, the part of the building that is occupied by those persons is considered as a dwelling; and
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d) Servants' dwelling: the room or rooms that can make up the location in which the servants of a family live, will be considered as part of the dwelling of the family.
Before illustrating the application of the definition of dwelling, we will move on to define some of the concepts in relation to the Population Census, and they have an intimate relationship with the basic concepts used for the Dwelling Census.
We consider as a census household all groups of persons, with or without family ties, who live together under a family regimen, or for reasons that involve discipline, health, religious life, education, etc.
The concept of census household, as it has been defined in the previous paragraph, is fundamental for a Population Census, since it serves as an enumeration unit and has to be completed a form for each household of the groups of people that occupy the diverse dwellings. The term "census family" has not been used as in other opportunities, due to the usual meaning that is given to the word family, which can cause more than one problem in the enumeration process. Although frequently a "census household" coincides with a family, according to the usual concept of this term, in some cases in one census household there can be more than one family. This means that a family always constitutes a household or part of one, but a family can never constitute more than one household.
It is convenient to distinguish between two types of "census household:"
a) Private census household, or simply, a private household; and
b) Non-family group.
Private household: is made up of a set of persons who live under a family regimen and it is constituted by the head of household, his relatives (wife, companion, children, parents, grandchildren, uncles, nephews, etc.), the boarders, the renters, the domestic servants, and other employees, as well as renters and all other types of occupants of the dwelling. The census household is the set of persons who habitually occupy a private dwelling, such as the one defined above. When pensioners appear, you will take care so that for the classification of household they are included, because if the number of them is five or less, they will be considered as a private household, but if the number exceeds five, it will be taken a non-family group. The individuals who live alone are considered private households. The above cases correspond to the occupants of "private dwelling."
Non-family group: Considered as such, the one constituted by persons, generally without family ties, but who share a communal life, for reasons of discipline, health, religious life, education, etc. These groups are the occupants of the collective dwellings, according to the definition of this term given above. Families who have more than five pensioners are also considered as non-family groups.
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a) Form
For the annotation of the information corresponding to the dwellings that should be enumerated, according to what is explained below, you will use the front of the same form in which you will enumerate the population and in which you collect the information that corresponds to the dwelling as well as to the population. The first page is destined to the collection of the information about the house or building in which the dwelling is located, and for some control annotations. The interior page of the form is for collecting the information that corresponds to the population, which means the census household that slept in the house the night of April 17, 1964; and the last page is used for noting the observations related to the dwelling and population.
The same form will be used for collecting information for the private dwellings as well as the collective dwellings.
In the case that the number of members of the census household is greater than the twelve spaces provided in the part of the form destined for noting the population data, you will use a new form for noting the remaining cases. In the space destined for the dwelling information, you will only fill in the line that corresponds to the dwelling identification (address). Write down in the upper right-hand part the same order number as on the other form, adding the letters A, B, or C, etc., according to the number of forms that are necessary, followed by the word "continuation" or simply "Cont.". Then you should cross the rest of the dwelling form with a large X to avoid doubts or confusions.
b) Units that will be registered
Only the dwellings that had been occupied on the date of the census (April 17, 1964, at midnight) will be registered. In those places where the census will be conducted during the day before previously indicated, the above warning is not of great interest, since only occupied dwellings on that day will be enumerated. However, in the case of those areas that, for one reason or another, the census will be taken after the date previously established, you will have to verify in each case if the dwelling was occupied in the indicated date, by the same or by another family, or if it was unoccupied. Since it is fundamental to obtain the information at the census date, the step taken in each case must be oriented to complete the form for this date, without forgetting that in the space designated for observations, you should make all of those notes that will clear up the special situations.
According to the general principle of enumeration, contained in the above paragraph, you should observe the following instructions:
1) If the dwelling is unoccupied at the moment of enumeration and according to the information given by the neighbors, it was also unoccupied on the census date, you will only complete the form regarding the data of localization (address). You will indicate this phrase in observations: "unoccupied dwelling", and you will make a note in the notebook for annotations that the enumerator should carry.
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2) If the dwelling is unoccupied at the moment of the enumeration and according to the information that the neighbors can provide, it was occupied on the census date, you will complete the form with what you can, trying to obtain the number of occupants. About the family, you will not write anything.
3) If the dwelling is occupied on the date of enumeration but the occupants declare that it was unoccupied on the census date or that it was occupied by another family, the enumerator will proceed to complete both the dwelling form and the population form. The enumeration must request of the current occupants the information about the place (complete address) in which they lived on the census date, indicating, also, if they were or were not enumerated on that occasion. Those indications will be write down in the part destined for observations and in the notebook for annotations of the enumerator. In this way, we will try to maintain certain control over the possible duplications, although it is to be expected that if the census is carried out in a short period, there will be little possibility that the situations described here will occur.
The form that will be used for the second Dwelling Census is made up of eight sections. The first section refers to the localization; in this section, you will note all of the information that will allow for identifying the location of the dwelling. The second section refers to the type of building in which the dwelling is located; the third section requests the data about the type of dwelling; the fourth section refers to the ownership of the dwelling; the fifth section requires information about the number of rooms and occupants of the dwelling. The sixth section asks information about the predominant building materials, and is it divided in three sub-sections to note the information about the materials used to build the walls, the roof, and the floor. The seventh section refers to the information about services and amenities of the dwelling, such as water, sanitary services, lighting, cooking means, etc.; and the eighth section requests information about the existence of agricultural animals and products in the dwelling.
In the upper left-hand corner of the form, you will find the data for the identification of the form itself, such as the number of the form, the number of the district, of the section and the sector of enumeration that corresponds to the form. These data should be noted before you begin the work of enumeration and will serve to identify the respective forms. When the dwelling is located in an agricultural production field and the enumerator also needs to complete the Agricultural Census, you should note the number of the form for the Agricultural Census that corresponds to the enumerated dwelling. In the upper right-hand part, there are data about the category of dwelling, like this: Urban [] 1 Rural [] 2. The enumerator, before requesting the data of the enumerated, should mark an X in the small box that corresponds to the category of the dwelling, according to whether this is located in an urban area or whether it is situated in a rural area.
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This first part of the form should be completed carefully, because it will be the one that allows more forward the appropriate classification of the housing unit according to the place in which it is located. In addition, in case of doubt, it will facilitate any posterior clarification.
Lines 1 to 5: First, you will note the name of the department and the municipality, then the village, if the dwelling belongs to a village. If the dwelling is located in a populated place (city, village, town, small town, camp), you will note its name, indicating below, on line 5, the category that the place has, marking X in the corresponding small box. If the category of the place is not specified, note it in the line "other" and specifying in the respective space the place to which it corresponds.
Lines 6, 7, 8, and 9: In the places where there are streets or avenues with number or name, you should note the corresponding information in line 6, indicating below the number or name of the avenue or street where the dwelling is situated.
For the dwellings that are on the side of a road, you can note its identification (Highway to Escuintla, Road to San Juan, etc.) in line 6. Where it says "number of the house or building," line 7, note the number that corresponds to the house or building according to the municipal numeration.
Line 8, "number of the room or the apartment," will serve for noting the number that corresponds to the room or apartment that is used as a dwelling, in those buildings or houses that contain various dwellings.
In line 9, note the number or name of the zone or neighborhood where the dwelling is located. In the case that the dwelling is located in an agricultural production field, mark the small box that corresponds on line 10 with an X. If the answer is affirmative, ask for the name by which the agricultural production unit is known and make a note in the corresponding space.
II. Type of building in which the dwelling unit is located
In this section of the form we try to identify the type of building in which the enumerated dwelling is located, and if it is part of a private dwelling, or if it constitutes a collective dwelling. Therefore, the first step that the enumerator should take consists in identifying the type of dwelling and the census household. In the private dwelling there are three types of structures that are exclusively for housing: separate house, apartment house, and neighborhood house. Separate house includes rural rustic houses, shacks, shanties, and any other type of dwelling such as trailer, tent, etc., that is used for private dwelling and that constitutes a unit separated from the other similar units.
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In most of the cases, it is an individual house inhabited by one census household, so you will mark the small box 1 with an X. In the line "other" you will note any other dwelling unit that is not included in any of the previous types and which are dwellings included inside buildings that are basically not destined for dwellings (such as factories, stores, schools, etc.), although the enumerated unit does (guardian, owner, or watchman house, etc.). In any case, next to the word "other" you will note the type of building to which the dwelling belongs to (factory, workshop, store, market, etc.).
For the identification of the collective dwelling, in addition to marking the small box with an X, there is an open line with the number 11 for indicating the class of institution; for example: Hospital San Juan de Dios, boarding house, Meson Central, Camp of a Company, barracks, etc.
In this part of the form we want to characterize the dwelling itself, separating those that effectively have been built for this purpose from the locations that not being built as dwellings, such as the case of warehouses, garages, barns, natural refuge, etc. that are inhabited at the census date.
For the places designated for habitation, we have made a classification to separate among themselves some specific types that more or less have some characteristics in common, which will permit their identification. In the first level, we have the term "formal house," and which can be an apartment, a room, or another formal construction, which means that it gives the impression that it is not improvised. The opposite happens with places listed in the second line of this same section, in which we include the type of construction that frequently appears on the edges of the cities, and that in our region are labeled as shanties, shacks, etc. Improvised constructions are those in which the materials that make up the walls and roofs are of the widest variations, including pieces of boards, metallic sheeting, pieces of cardboard, etc. In the third line, there is a type of construction that is characteristic of our rural regions, it is called 'rancho', and other rustic dwellings. Lastly, there is a line for noting the mobile dwellings, which means that they can move, as is the case of trailers, boats, tents, wagons, etc.
Among the locations not destined for habitation, which are referred to in line 14 of this section, we take into account all of those that have not been constructed, built, adapted, or transformed for human habitation, but in fact are used as a place housing on the date of the census. These units can be located in a permanent structure, such as stables, barns, warehouses, garages, etc., or can be made up of natural refuges, such as caves, as long as they are inhabited on the date of the census. In addition to marking the small box with an X, you should specify the type of location that it entails.
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In this part of the form, we want to know in what condition the dwelling is inhabited, either as an owner, a renter, or in another way, for which you will mark one of the three small boxes that are found on the form.
You will note the category of "owned" when its owners occupy the dwelling, even when they are not the owners of the land. This situation occurs in some plots where the person builds on the lot even when this is not registered to his or her name because he or she has not finished paying for the land, or when the rustic rural dwelling is build by a tenant farmer, to whom the land is loaned so that the person builds his or her own dwelling, or when the dwelling is built on a municipal land. You will also note that the dwelling is owned when the value of the property is being paid for in installments, such as is the case of lots, neighborhoods built by banking institutions, etc. In the case of collective dwellings, it is not necessary that the owner occupy the building physically. For example: if a person has a building in which a boarding school is established, even if the person lives elsewhere, it is considered that the institution (school) is the owner of the building.
Rented dwellings are those for which a quantity of money is paid for its rent. The same comment made about the dwellings occupied by their owners is valid in this case. If the owner of the boarding school is not the owner of the building, but it is obtained through a rental agreement, it will be noted as rented.
The other forms of occupation correspond to dwellings not included in either of the two categories mentioned. For example: a) a house given by an employer to be occupied by one of his workers without payment; and b) the dwelling occupied by family members of the owner and for which no payment is received for the occupation. To be able to have the most complete information, it is recommended that you specify the way by which the dwelling is occupied.
In the case that the dwelling is rented, line 16 asks for information about the monthly value that is paid for rent, for which you should note the value in Quetzals that is paid monthly by the renter for the dwelling rent.
In this last section of the form, information of great importance for the Dwelling Census is requested, such as the number of rooms and permanent occupants of the dwelling.
You will note the number of rooms that correspond to the dwelling that you are enumerating, taking into account the definition of room that is given below.
This number, combined with the number of occupants, will permit us to know the occupational density, which means the average number of persons per room.
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b) Number of rooms used as bedrooms:
Any room in which one or more persons sleep, even when the room also has another use (living room, store, etc.) will be considered as a bedroom. You should note the number of rooms that are used for this purpose.
You will consider as a room a space (room, bedroom, space) located in a dwelling that has a roof and it is enclosed by walls, which can extend to the roof or be interrupted at a level that guarantees effective separation from the neighboring rooms and that is used for the purpose of housing. Therefore, you will consider as rooms in the dwelling the bedrooms, living rooms, dining rooms, family rooms, lofts, studios and recreations rooms, kitchens and servants' rooms. Since in some case you can doubt as to whether to include some very small spaces, as occurs frequently with kitchens, you can adopt the following criteria to consider them as rooms: the dimensions allow to accommodate an adult bed and the minimum height is superior to that of a person (approximately two meters).
The bathrooms are not considered in any case as rooms for the purpose of the census.
The rooms that are used exclusively for commercial purposes, industrial purposes, or services, such as shops, stores, workshops, clinics, legal offices, etc. are not counted as rooms. However, if any of these places serve at the same time to offer lodging, as occurs in some cases in which the same room in which there is a shop there is also a bedroom, living room, etc., then you should count it as a room. The same criteria will be applied to the garages that are used for the purpose of lodging and the open spaces, such as passages, vestibules, porches, etc.
d) Number of occupants (line 18):
In this line, you will note the number of persons who permanently occupy the dwelling, noting in the respective space those who are male and those who are female. This information in some cases can differ from the number of persons that is given on the form of the Population Census, where you will note the persons who occupied the dwelling on the day of the census. If there is a discrepancy between the information obtained when you fill in the population form and that declared as permanent occupants of the dwelling, request information about the cause of this difference and note it in the space 1 "Observations", on the last page of the form. The discrepancies can be because the usual resident of the dwelling did not sleep there on the night of the census, he or she was traveling, on vacation, in the hospital, is in prison, etc. Do not forget that among the occupants of the dwelling, in addition to the head of household, the rest of the members of the household should be on the list, either children or adults, guests or boarders, servants, etc., without distinction of age. You should consider as a permanent occupant of the dwelling everyone who has lived there for one month.
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VI. Predominant materials of the construction
In this chapter, there are three sections that list of the principal materials that are used in the construction of walls, roofs, and floors. In each of these sections, you will mark with an X the small box that corresponds to the main material that has been used in the walls, roofs, and floors, since frequently in one construction there are diverse materials used.
a) Wall: for the construction of the wall the following materials have been indicated:
Brick or block (made of clay, cement, concrete): either the material is used by itself of in a combination with structures of reinforced concrete (mixed).
Adobe: this option includes the constructions made of adobe, even when there is a structure of reinforced concrete.
Stone: in some places, given the abundance of stone, walls have been built in this material joined by concrete. Do not consider this type of construction as simple covering of the wall with flagstone.
Cane and earth: this option includes structures of wood filled with adobe, mixed, or similar materials, generally reinforced with wire or metallic fabric.
Wood: This includes constructions with wood beams and studs and covered with wood slats, boards, lepa, plywood, or tablex. Covering a wall with sheets of wood does not mean that it is a wood wall.
Stick, cane: in the rural constructions it is frequent to use sticks, canes, etc., placed one after another and tied to each other to make the wall.
Other: in the case that you find another material, such as reinforced concrete, sheets of materials such as asbestos cement (duralita), wood with cement (aguilit), metallic sheeting, etc. you will mark in the small box that corresponds to "other" and in the blank space you will write the type of material used.
b) Roof: as roof material, you will write down the predominant material of the upper roof. In this way, if a building has two stories and it constitutes a single dwelling unit, and the roof of the second roof is metallic sheeting and the first floor is reinforced concrete, the material that should be reported is metallic sheeting. Although if in the two-story house there is a dwelling unit on each of the floors, the one that is one the first floor will inform that the roof is concrete and the one on the second floor will declare that (like in the first case) the roof is metallic sheeting.
The materials that have been chosen to make up the list of materials used in the construction of roofs are the following:
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Concrete: either in the form of a terrace or any other type (domed, concrete tiles, etc.).
Metallic sheeting: sheets of galvanized zinc, aluminum sheeting, etc.
Asbestos cement: either in the form of channeled or flat sheets, tile, etc.
Clay tile: the roofs made of clay tiles.
Straw, palms, and similar materials used in the rural constructions.
Other: as in the previous section, if the roof is made up of a material not specified in the previous list, such as wood, you will mark this small box and you will specify the type of material.
c) Floor: you will mark the small box that corresponds to the predominant material in the floor, according to the list that is presented on the form and that does not need any clarification. The line "other" will be used in the same way indicated in the previous sections.
When you finish filling in this part of the form dedicated to construction materials, verify that there is one and only one small box marked for each of the three sections.
In no case should you mark more than one box.
VII. Services and amenities of the dwelling
In this section, we investigate the existence and characteristics of some of the services that should be in every dwelling, such as water, drains, lighting, etc.
a) Water:
In this part of the form, we want to obtain necessary information to know the way in which the occupants of the dwelling are supplied with water; this knowledge is a great importance for the municipalities, sanitary authorities, and other offices and institutions, for the development of water supply systems to the populated areas.
Delivery system: The first information to be collected refers to whether or not the dwelling is supplied with water that is delivered through pipes that belong to a municipal or public system, or an individual system (pressurized deposit, pumps, etc.). The pipes can enter the dwelling for direct supply to the inhabitants or can end outside the dwelling, in a fountain or public faucet.
It is considered that the dwelling has "running water" if the occupants are supplied with water through pipes installed in the dwelling or from faucets or fountain, water deposits or water tanks, supplied by pipelines and that are not at a distance of more than one block from the dwelling.
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It is considered that the dwelling "has no running water" when the occupants get their water supply directly from a river, spring, natural spring, well, irrigation ditch, etc., which means that there is no pipeline. Likewise, will be include in the same category those dwellings that are supplied through a public network (water tank, faucet, water deposit, etc.) when the point from where they obtain water is more than one block from the dwelling. Will be included in this category those dwellings that have barrels or deposits that are filled with buckets, which means that the occupants carry the water to fill them.
The second aspect to investigate in this section is the location of the running water; the question on line 23 is asked only to the dwellings that had informed that they have "running water." Therefore, if the dwelling has "running water", you should try to clarify the source of the water. If the pipe that deliver water is installed inside the dwelling, you will mark the first small box. In the buildings where there are various dwelling units, there is sometimes a common supply for all of the units (e.g.: water tank in the central patio), but always within the boundaries of the building. In these cases, you will mark the second small box that says "outside the dwelling, but in the building." Finally, in the cases in which the supply is at a public water tank or faucet, situated at less than one block from the dwelling, you will mark the third small box, which says "outside the building, but less than one block away."
The third aspect to investigate in this section of the form, line 24, is the knowledge of the immediate water source from which the occupants of the dwelling are supplied. We have considered the following sources specifically:
1) Public network (n general, from the municipality)
2) Well
3) River, lake spring, etc.
In the last line, labeled "other" you will note any other source, such as ditch, irrigation ditch, etc.
The source should be noted according to the place from where the dwelling is supplied directly. Therefore, if the municipal installation of the town takes the water from a river, you will not write river, because the occupants of the dwelling get the water from a "public network and not from the "river."
The last aspect to investigate in this section dedicated to water is related to the bathing facilities available to the dwelling, line 25. The two following alternatives are:
1) There is a shower or bathtub.
2) In absence of a shower or bathtub, there is a water tank used as a water source for bathing, as long as it has a connection to a water "faucet." (They should not take into account the barrels of deposit that they eventually use for storing water).
According to the case, you will mark X in the corresponding small box.
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In this section of the form, we investigate three aspects:
1) Type of service: it refers to the type of installation used for the elimination of fecal materials in the dwelling;
2) Use of service: it refers to the use of that installation (private or collective); and
3) Type of sewer: it is the place where the sewer drain of the sanitary service is connected.
To investigate the type of service, we have left four lines requiring that only one small box be marked. Those options are:
Toilet: it corresponds to the installation through which fecal materials are eliminated by using pressurized water (can be from a high or low tank) that drags them to a public sewer system, a septic tank, or an absorbent well. The toilet bowl is connected to the sewer through a siphon that prevents bad odors from returning.
Washable outhouse: This installation is generally made up of a well of small or median depth, at whose base there is running water, either continuous or intermittent, which removes the materials from the site. Commonly the upper part is made up of a wooden board or a cement slab. In our country, this type of washable outhouse is commonly called pit latrine, but it will only be considered in this category if there is the water system as described. If the outhouse is not like this, it will fall into the following category.
Pit well: installation similar to the above, but with the difference that there is no running water, therefore the contents disappear slowly through the absorption through the walls of the well or through biochemical processes.
None: if there is not any facilities of the above mentioned, used for the elimination of fecal materials, you will mark this small box.
If in the dwelling there is two or more classes of sanitary services simultaneously, you will mark the first one that appears in the column. Therefore, if in a dwelling in addition to the toilet there is also a washable latrine, you will only mark the first one.
Use of the sanitary service (line 27):
In some dwellings, for each census household there is a sanitary service; in this case you mark the first small box in this section that is titled "exclusive use of the census household." However, if various families use the same sanitary service which means by occupants of different dwellings, you mark the small box titled "common use by various census households."
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In this section, corresponding to line 28, we want to know how the waste from a toilet or a washable latrine is eliminated, which means the sewage system for the sanitary services. If the sewer system of these installations is connected directly to the municipal network of sewers, you will mark the first small box. It is common that in some places, when there is no municipal network, the waste is carried to a septic tank; it is a place in which, through the addition of some chemical substances, the materials are decomposed, or also when the sewer goes to a simple well, in which through absorption the materials disappear. In any of these two cases previously described, you will mark the second small box that corresponds to "absorbent well." If the sewer goes out directly to the street, cliff or neighboring land, or across the open land, you will mark the third small box "across open land."
Mark the small box that corresponds to the lighting that the dwelling has, which can be classified in four groups:
[] 1 Electric
[] 2 Candle
[] 3 Gas (kerosene) or gasoline
[] 4 Other, which should be specified in the space specially provide for this.
As in the above cases, if in the same dwelling there is two or more lighting sources, mark only the first small box that corresponds. For example: if in a house, in one room there is electrical light and in the others the illumination is with a gas lamp, you only mark the small box corresponding to electricity.
Mark the small box that corresponds to the source of heat used for cooking daily meals for the family. The stoves and burners that are only used occasionally should not be taken into account in this section. For example: if in a house the occupants habitually cook with propane gas, but in addition they have an electric burner that is only used occasionally as a complementary means of cooking, you only mark the small box that corresponds to propane, and not the one for electricity. These are the different means of cooking that are commonly used: electricity, propane, coal, firewood or sticks, gas (kerosene) or gasoline.
In this section (line 31), we only want know if some amenities exist in the dwelling in addition to those already listed; among them we take into account if there is a radio, television, refrigerator, washing machine, water heater, and telephone. Contrary to the sections above, in this part you will mark as many small boxes as what corresponds to the amenities that exist, no matter how many of them there are.
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VIII. Existence of agricultural animals and products in the dwelling
In our country, especially in urban places, it is frequent that we find in dwellings that do not have land for farming, some animals that are taken into account in the Agricultural Census, such as cows, calves, oxen, horses, mules, pigs, sheep, goats, hens, and turkeys as well as the production of some livestock products such as eggs, milk, cheese, butter, honey, wax, etc. Therefore, to count those animals and products only on the farms would not give a complete inventory of the existence of diverse cattle, especially pigs, poultry, and some agricultural products. For this reason, the World Organization for Agriculture and Food of the United Nations (FAO) has recommended that these aspects be investigated. Guatemala, considering that for national goals it is also important to know such stocks, has included on the dwelling form an adequate space for noting the corresponding information, which specifically want to find out the number of animals of each specified categories. Therefore, we require the following information that coincide with the requested data in the Agricultural Census:
You should note the number of birds in the dwelling on the date of the census, in the following manner: the total of hens, roosters, and chickens (male and female) should be noted on line 32; on line 33, the total number of turkeys (male and female) that exist in the dwelling. In the case that there are other poultry, such as ducks, geese, pigeons, you should note them on line 34.
If there are laying hens, note the total of these on line 35.
On line 36 you should note the total of heads of cattle that are younger than two years old, adding up the number of males and females that will be noted in the corresponding spaces; the cattle older than two years old should be noted on line 37.
On line 38 of this section, you will note the total number of pigs, male and female, that exist in the dwelling; separately you will note, in addition, the number of female that are six months old or older that used as breeders.
The following lines of this section are self-explanatory, the corresponding information should be written down in this way:
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39. Wool producing sheep, younger than one year, number of heads
40. Wool producing sheep, one year old or older, number of heads
41. Horses (horses and mares), total of heads
42. Donkeys, number of heads
43. Mules, number of heads
44. Goats, number of heads
45. Total of box hives, number of hives
In this section, you should note the livestock products obtained in the dwelling (not those produced outside of it and transferred for sale or storage in the dwelling).
Each line is sufficiently clear for noting the information that is needed and that refer to the following:
46. Hen eggs laid yesterday (the day before the census)
47. Liters of milk produced the day before the census
48. Liters of cream produced the day before the census
49. Pounds of fresh cheese produced in March of 1964.
In the lines 50 to 54, we request information about some products obtained in the dwelling during the agricultural year 1963-1964, the total of which should be noted in the corresponding lines, in this way:
50. Pounds of washed butter and sack butter
51. Pound of dry cheese
52. Gallons of bee honey
53. Pounds of bee wax
54. Pounds of sheered wool
The information should correspond to products obtained in the dwelling and not those obtained in another place and that have been transferred to the dwelling for storage, for sale or use.
Concluded this section of the census that corresponds to the dwelling, you should then request information that corresponds to the Population Census and that are appear on the interior of the form and whose instructions are given in the following chapter.
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1. What is a population census?
A Population Census consists in the simultaneous and periodical enumeration of all of the population present in a determined territory, on a set date, and done under the governmental authority. For the VII Population Census, the set date and the census moment are the 0 (zero) hours of April 18th, 1964.
2. Usefulness of the population census
Conducting the General Population Census is of vital importance to the country and at this time, it is one of the tasks that demand be done soon. It is indispensable to know the numbers that reveal facts, the number and the principal characteristics of the human resources that are available in Guatemala.
The objectives and utility of the Population Census, to be done in April 1964, can be summarized like this:
a) To know the population of Guatemala and their most important characteristics to achieve a better orientation in educational, sanitary, communications, and other programs that are of national interest;
b) To study the economic structure of the population and its distribution in the national territory, through the investigation of the economically active and inactive groups and their most important characteristics in terms of occupation, economic activity, occupation, and other aspects that are of interest for the agricultural, industrial, and commercial development of the country;
c) To achieve an adequate understanding of the human resources for a better orientation of the future programs of social security;
d) To quantify the level of concentration or dispersion of the population to face, gradually, the dwelling problem of the country;
e) It is necessary to know if our population is growing or decreasing, to which zones the population is emigrating, since houses, water, and electricity can be unused in one region and lacking in another, given the migratory patterns;
f) The information derived from a Population Census, not only will be an instrument that will serve for administrative goals, but it will also constitute a valuable source of information for the organisms in charge of economic planning, at local and regional level;
g) Its results will orient the government to project the national legislation on real benchmarks;
h) The farmer, the businessman, the manufacturer, and the transportation providers need to know which are the settle areas of the country and the characteristics of the inhabitants to improve the distribution of their products and agencies, as well as the adequate provision of its labor force; and
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i) Moreover, the population of the country will enjoy the benefits from the Population Census through the development of social benefit works (schools, hospitals, highways, etc.).
In summary, the information derived from the Population Census serves a multitude of goals, as much in economic as in social aspects and they are applied in an infinity of objectives that would be exhausting to list.
3. Persons who will be enumerated in the census
The VII Population Census should indicate the number of persons living in Guatemala at the zero hours of April 18, 1964. Consequently, the census should not include the children who were born after that hour, but it should include the persons who died after that time, since these last persons were alive at the time mentioned. Consequently, the census will be a snapshot of the population present in the national territory on the day and the hour indicated as the census moment (April 18, 1964, at zero hours).
The Population Census of April 1964 will be a factual census (or as a fact) that should reflect the present population in the republic at the zero hours on April 18, 1964. As a factual census, it will include both the nationals and foreigners that are present in the country at that time. The census excludes accredited foreign diplomats and their families, who for reasons of treaties in place should not be enumerated; it will also exclude the Guatemalans who are outside of the country, either in permanent or temporarily form, since these persons will not be present at the date and time indicated. The members of the consular body should be enumerated.
To obtain the totality of the present persons at the hour of the census, without having omissions or duplicates, you should remember that all the declarations that are noted, unless otherwise specified, should correspond to a determined moment in time, which in our case has been identified as the zero hours on April 18, 1964. For this reason, even when the inhabitants of a dwelling are enumerated two or more days after this date, the information should always be in reference to the day and time indicated. This will be the only way to maintain the greatest possible control over the census execution, reducing the risk of committing omissions or duplications.
The enumeration should be done by requesting information from all persons (head of household, spouse or partner, relatives, guests, boarders, employees or servants, and their relatives who live with them, etc.) that spent the night before the census in the dwelling, which means the night of April 17, 1964, either they were related to each other or not, including newborns. It can be that during that night, one of the member of the census household was out of the house by coincidence (party, attending a wake, night trip, etc.). In these cases, their data should also be noted on the form. Persons who were not present in the dwelling at the time of the census because of vacations or multi-day visit outside the usual residence, should be enumerated in the place where they spent the night on April 17, 1964.
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Employees (bookkeepers, nurses, etc.) and servant of a census household will be enumerated as members of said census household, if the slept in the same dwelling occupied by the persons who they serve. If these persons (employees and servants) sleep in houses, rustic rural houses, etc. completely separated from the dwelling inhabited by the members of the census household, a common occurrence on farms, they will form separate households.
Before you begin to read the instruction to fill out the Population Census, you should review the definitions of dwelling and census household for a clear understanding of the enumeration unit.
4. Definition of census household
It is every group of persons, related or not, that lives together under a family regime or for reasons of discipline, religious life, education, etc. Generally, this group is made up of a head of household, relatives who live with him, and all of those persons that participate in the communal life for reasons of work (servants, employees, etc.) or another relationship. It can also be constituted by a person who lives alone. Although frequently the census household coincides with a family, according to the usual meaning of this term, in some cases in the census household there can exist more than one family. Therefore, a family always is a census household or part of one, but never a family occupies more than one census household.
It is useful to distinguish two types of census households:
a) Private census household; and
b) Non-family group
Private census household: this include the group of persons that live under a family regime and are constituted by the head of household, his relatives (spouse, partner, children, grandchildren, nephews, etc.), boarders, guests, domestic servants and other employees and all occupants. The private household is the group of persons who habitually occupy a private dwelling, such as has been defined for the purposes of the Dwelling Census.
In the case that there are boarders, you should be careful for the purpose of their classification. If the number of them is five or less, it will be considered as a private household; and if the number exceeds five, it will be taken as a non-family group.
Non-family group: it is a group of persons, generally without family ties, that live a communal life for reasons of discipline, health, religious life, education, etc., such as those who live in barracks, prisons, reformatories, hospitals, hotels, boarding houses, boarding schools, etc.
[p. 35]
Include, in addition, the census households that have more than five boarders.
In summary, these groups are the occupants of the collective dwellings, as the were defined in the Population Census.
The form for the Population Census is on the two central pages and the back fold-out page on the set for Dwelling and Population.
On the left-hand side of the form there are, displayed from top to bottom, all of the questions that should be asked by the enumerator. In each question, we have tried to include a brief explanation, with the goal of facilitating the work of the enumerator and to obtain the most accurate information possible. However, when you have any doubts, you should consult this manual, and if the doubt persists, note the necessary explanations in the space provided for "observations" to discuss them later with the immediate higher boss.
For the purposes of the enumeration, you should read the paragraphs that do not appear in parenthesis to the interviewee.
To the right of the main column where are the questions referred to in the previous paragraph, there are nine columns, each of which is designated for noting the information that corresponds to one person. (Each column is for the information of only one person). The first of these columns is always reserved for the head of the census household. When a census household consists of more than nine persons, you should use the columns on the next page, to continue noting on them the information for the tenth and subsequent persons.
If a census household is composed of more than twelve members, you should use as many additional forms as are necessary to complete the enumeration of all of them. You should note in each of the spaces of the Census Household form the same number that was written down on the first form, accompanied by the letter "A", "B", "C" according to whether it is the first, second, or third additional form, respectively. In these cases and for the purposes of control, it is necessary that you indicate in the space for "observations" of the first form for population, that there is second form, and on the second, that there is a third, etc. When these situations come up, you should not fill in the form for dwelling again on the second and additional forms that are used; simply, you should note the aforementioned number and letter, crossing with a large X the boxes of the dwelling form.
The interview should be done in the same order that the questions appear on the forms, starting with the name and last name of the person until you get to the aspects regarding fertility.
In general, the questions have been grouped in three sections:
I. General characteristics. These questions should be ask of all of the persons, independent of their age or other characteristic.
[p. 36]
II. Educational and occupational characteristics. Only for persons 7 years old and older.
III. Fertility. Exclusively for women who have had children, independent of their civil status (whether or not they are married, etc.)
For some of the questions on the form (occupation, economic activity, etc.), it is necessary that you write all of the information requested in detail. For other questions, since the possible answers are few and well defined, with the intention of simplifying the work of the enumerator, there is a list of the possible answers, next to small boxes that the enumerator marks with an X in the corresponding small box, based on what the informant indicates, like this: masculine []1. Since the answers are excluding, in each answer there should not be more than one marked small box, since in this case there would be two answers, not knowing which option should be taken as the correct one.
Use the space for "observations" that appears to the right on the last sheet of the form to note all of the clarifications that you consider necessary.
Begin the interview asking who the head of the census household is. Start to fill in the form noting the data about the head of the census household in the first column (first person).
The head of the census household is the person who is considered as such by the members of the group, which can be a man or a woman. Generally in each census household there exists a person who for his or her age, by constituting the main economic support of the family or other reasons, is considered as the "head of household". Since it is mandatory to note here the information about that person, for this reason in this column on line 2, the small box of the head of household is already marked, like this: Head of household [] 1.
Once you have filled in the column for the head of household, you should continue with the rest of the members of census household, observing the following order:
a) Spouse or partner of the head of the census household;
b) Unmarried sons and daughters, in the order of age, starting with the oldest;
c) Sons and daughters who are married or in consensual unions, that form part of the census household, putting first the husband, then the wife or partner, and then the unmarried children in order of age, starting with the oldest;
d) Other relatives (grandparents, uncles or aunts, nephews or nieces, brothers-in-law or sister-in-law, etc.);
e) Boarders and guests; and
f) Employees, servants and their children.
Following the indicated order is necessary not only to facilitate the enumeration, but also for the understanding and doing later analysis of the structure of the census households.
[p. 37]
To avoid omissions you should first note the names of all of the members of the census household, to continue later to note the information in the corresponding column for each person.
7. Questions on the Population Census form
Ask these questions for all of the persons, independent of their age or other situation:
Question 1: First and last names
This space is used for noting the first and last names of each of the persons who according to the general instructions should be enumerated.
The enumerator should be sure that each person that is enumerated does correspond to the census household and, when you finish the form, verify if you have included all of the members. Take special care that all of the children are enumerated included the newborns, except those who were born after the zero hours of April 18, 1964. The persons who died after this time should be noted on the form.
To facilitate the examination of the family structure, it is necessary to follow the recommended order in one of the previous pages, which means: first the head of family, followed by the wife or partner, unmarried children in order of age, relatives, guests, servants and their families that reside in the same dwelling.
You should give preference to the noting of the last names, because with their inscription it is easier to establish the relationships among the diverse members of the census household. You should insist in that if you request the names and last names of each of the persons, it is with the only objective of facilitating the enumeration, and to be able to request any posterior clarification, if some inconsistent data is noted with the rest of the information. To facilitate this task, it is convenient that in the case of the married women and after their names, you note their first last name before getting married and then the last name of the husband preceded by the word "of". In the case of the widows, you should also note the last name of the deceased husband, preceded by "widow of."
When you have the case of a newborn who does not have a name yet, write "without a name."
Question 2: Relationship to the head of household
This box is used for noting the relationship that exists between each of the enumerated and the person who has been identified as the head of the census household. In this question, there should be answers such as wife, partner, son or daughter, grandson or granddaughter, father-in-law or mother-in-law, father, nephew or niece, guest, boarder, servant, servant' daughter, boarder' son, etc.
[p. 38]
In the case of the collective dwellings, (hospitals, pensions, boarding schools, barracks, etc.) there will have to be annotations that describe the situation of the residents within the institution with accuracy, such as patient, pensioner, guest, boarder, prisoner, etc.
If two or more persons not related to each other by family ties share a dwelling, one of them should be taken as the "head" and the other(s) as co-habitants(s).
If the person that is enumerated is the spouse, partner, daughter, or son of the head of the census household, you should carefully mark the corresponding small box with an X (2, 3, or 4, according to the case). When the tie or relationship is not any of these, use the space "other", specifying the relationship with totally clarity, in this way: uncle, mother-in-law, son-in-law, grandson, brother, servant' son, etc.
In the case of non-family groups, you should note in the space "other" the word that best describes the position of each person within the group: doorman, prisoner, patient.
Any doubt that comes up in regards to the relationship to the head of household should be noted in "observations."
Mark the corresponding small box. It is necessary to ask the question, since in some cases the name does not determine the sex: there are many names that are used indistinctly for a man or woman: Rosario, Concepción, Carmen, etc.
In this space write the age of the person in years completed, which means, his or her age at the last birthday.
You should make the annotation in only one of the three lines. For the persons one year old and older, you should write the number of years completed at the last birthday. If it deals with children less than one year old, indicate the number of months completed (two months, eleven months, etc.). In the case of children younger than one month, write the number of days alive (twenty-six days, three days, etc.). If a newborn is less than one day old, you will note zero days.
In some cases, persons reduce their age; in other cases, persons prefer to increase their age, for which in any case it would be convenient to verify the declared age by requesting the date of birth, even when there is necessary that the enumerated consults his or her national identification document.
The same procedure should be followed in the case of declared ages in numbers that end in zero or five (25, 30, 45 years, etc.), since there is a tendency to report ages in numbers like these, when the age is not known for sure. Every good enumerator should insist in obtaining the exact age of each person, avoiding whenever possible the noting of rounded ages.
[p. 38]
Since in Guatemala there is a very common custom of declaring age as the number of years that are going to be fulfilled and not those that were fulfilled at the last birthday, it is necessary that you always ask if the declared age corresponds effectively to that already completed. Such is the case of a person who is fifteen years old, so that person entered or is almost sixteenth years old, and abbreviating, he or she simply informs 16 when in reality at the last birthday he or she is 15 years old.
When it is impossible to obtain the exact age of a person, not even remembering the year in which he she was born, you should help the informant to obtain approximated data, using historic remembrances, local and national (revolutions, storms, plagues, earthquakes, etc.)
When the person is not present at the time of the enumeration, you have to try to find out his or her age, even if it is an approximation, either from other persons who inhabit the same dwelling or through the neighbors, noting in the space for "observations" that this is an approximate age. If there is no possibility to find out the age even in approximated form, you should write "unknown" in the corresponding box.
For this characteristic, you should mark the box that corresponds according to the definitions that appear on the form and with the given information in the following paragraphs.
Take into account that for persons who are younger than 14 years old, you should mark the small box 6 with an X, indicating for persons 14 years old or older the civil status that corresponds to them (single, married, consensual union, divorced, etc.).
In any case, you should write the current civil status. For example, if a person has separated from his or her spouse and currently lives in a consensual union with another person, he or she should be classified as "consensual union" because this is the civil status on the census date.
Single is the person who has never contracted legal marriage, excepting those who live in consensual unions who are living in "consensual union."
Married is the person who contracted legal marriage and continues in it, even when at the date of the census they are separated but without having divorced. In consequence, in this group you should include the "married but separated" and those who have legalized their "common-law marriage."
"Consensual union" refers to a couple who lives in a consensual union without the tie of any marriage, its member constitute it, alone or with their relatives, as a well-defined family. It is a delicate question, for which you should proceed with tact during the interview, avoiding discussions or expressions that can ruin the work.
Widow is that person who has not contracted legal matrimony since that date of death of his or her spouse, nor is living in a consensual union at the census day. If the person has remarried or lives in a consensual union, you should indicate his or her current civil status.
[p. 39]
Divorced is the person who has dissolved his or her marriage in definitive form through the legal process, as long as he or she has not remarried or does not live in a consensual union.
In the investigation of this aspect, in general some factors come up, derived from the tendency to maintain certain social prestige, which make it difficult to have a clear idea of the true situation. The enumerator should avoid suggesting answers to the informant, especially in the cases of the person who is divorced or in a consensual union. In this way, he or she will avoid causing an unfavorable environment for the interviewer, when the informant is susceptible in this sense.
When two persons inform that they are married, but the wife, when giving her name, does not add the last name of the husband, it is convenient to clarify if they are really married or not, since in some places the wives do not have the custom of taking the husband's name. If you confirm that they are married, following the last name of the woman you will write the last name of the husband preceded by "of."
For this reasons, and always when the enumerator suspects that the informants are not married, you should find out, with much caution, the true situation, without insisting in a way that could displease the informant, which is a situation that could be counterproductive for the rest of the investigation.
In this question, we will only investigate two situations: indigenous and non-indigenous.
To consider a person as indigenous or as non-indigenous, the enumerator should take as a benchmark the social status of the person in the place where he or she is enumerating. In small populations, there is some local awareness that classifies the person as indigenous or non-indigenous.
Black and Chinese will be classify in the non-indigenous group.
When dealing with servants you should ask the head of family or the woman of the house if his/her servants are indigenous. When there is a doubt for noting the ethnic group you will recur, as an ultimate means, which will be to ask the person himself/herself if he/she is indigenous or not indigenous, noting the answer that the enumerated person gives to said question.
As an additional criteria for verifying the information regarding the ethnic group, it is convenient to examine the answers to question 7 and 9 of this same form which will permit the enumerator, up to a certain point, corroborate if there is consistency with the data for ethnic group, dialect or language, use of indigenous outfit and footwear.
Question 7: Dialect or language
For the purposes of this section, you should ask the enumerated if he or she habitually speaks an indigenous dialect in the household, making the notation in the corresponding small box.
[p. 40]
With this question, we want to find out if the habitual form of communication among the members of the census household is through an indigenous language. Therefore, if the members of the census household know an indigenous language, but among themselves they have the habit of communicating in Spanish, the answer that should be given is no. In other words, we do not want to know if they know how to speak an indigenous language, but we want to know if in the case that they know one, if they use it to communicate among themselves.
As in the previous case, you should ask the enumerated if he or she habitually uses an indigenous outfit, doing so in accordance with the traditions of the place. Sometimes it will be convenient to ask if the person "wears a wrap" for the women and "shorts" for the men. In other places, they will use different words for which the enumerator should ask the question using the words that for this purpose are used in the locality.
You will ask if the person habitually wears shoes, leather sandals (caítes), or if the person goes barefoot.
For persons born in the country, note the complete name of the municipality where he or she was born.
For persons born in another country, note the complete name of the country where he or she was born.
When there is doubt because the place has suffered some change in jurisdiction, note the place of birth according to the jurisdiction to which the place belonged at the time that the person was born.
In the case that the person only remembers the name of the department where he or she was born and not the municipality, you should note this, preceded by the word "department," so that it is not confused with the municipality that can have the same name.
If the person does not remember the name of the municipality but only the name of the locality (village, group of houses, or farm) in which he or she was born, you should note the name and the department where it is located. If the person definitely does not know in which department he or she was born, you should write "unknown."
Question 11: For how many years has the person resided in this municipality?
When the person has always resided in the place where the census is being taken, you should simply mark the small box that corresponds to "always". For the contrary case, note in the respective line the number of complete years that the person has resided in the municipality. When the person has not resided in the municipality for a complete year, you should write "less than 1" in the space that says "number of years."
[p. 41]
Question 12: In which municipality did you reside previously?
When you have marked the small box "always" in question 11, you should not ask question 12, writing an X over all of the space designated for noting the answer. If the person has not always resided in the same municipality, you should ask and note the name of the municipality where the person resided before living in the current place of residency or, in other words, the place where the person is being interviewed. In the case of not having an exact idea of the name of the municipality where he or she resided before, you should follow similar criteria to those explained in the case of question 10.
If the person previously resided in a foreign country, you should note the name of the country.
Ask the question and make the notation according to the following:
a) If the person is Guatemalan by birth, mark X in the small box 1;
b) If the person is naturalized Guatemalan, mark X in the small box 2; and
c) If the person is a foreigner, note in the respective line the nationality that the informant reports. If the person has double nationality, you should note the corresponding country of birth.
For the purposes of the question "Religion," we have only considered three alternatives: "Catholic," "Christian non-Catholic" and "other."
The Christian non-Catholic religions, such as Protestant, Evangelical, Anglican, Baptist, Christian, Presbyterian, and Adventist are grouped under the term "non-Catholic Christian religions."
In the line "other", you should include religions such as Buddhist, Islamic, Hebrew, Judean or Jewish, Mohammedan, etc. In this group you should include the persons who declare that they have no religion or that declare a situation not classified in the previous groups.
Educational and occupational characteristics
These questions should be asked exclusively of the persons who have informed that they are seven years old or older.
Does the person know how to read and write?
[p. 42]
Mark the small box 1 when the person can read and write a simple paragraph in any language.
The small box 2 should be marked in any of these cases:
a) When he or she does not know how to read nor write a simple paragraph;
b) When he or she only knows how to read;
c) When he or she only knows how to sign and/or write his other name; and
d) For persons who at one time knew how to read and write, but have forgotten how to do so.
For persons younger than seven years old, you should make an X over the box corresponding to this question.
Question 16: School attendance
This question will be asked to known if the interviewee attends school or receives education.
You should note "yes" of all of those persons who attend a school, private school, public institute, academy, night school, public university, university school, etc. as well as persons who receive school instruction in their home.
You will write "no" for all of those persons who do not attend a regular educational center, as well as those who only receive correspondence classes, or classes of piano, singing, pattern clothing making, sewing and embroidery, cooking and baking, or typing or short-hand classes, which are only taken for a few unscheduled hours as complements to education. For the purposes of this census, we will understand that formal education is the one received by persons in elementary schools, secondary schools, and universities.
For the persons younger than seven years, you should make an X across all of the box.
Question 17: If the persons attends school or receives education, what year and class of education does he or she receive?
For all of those persons who inform that they do attend school or receive instruction, you should investigate the grade and educational level that they attend (elementary, secondary, or university), writing on the respective line and with numbers, the grade that they attend.
For those schools that take classes by semesters, you should note the year that corresponds to the semester that they attend.
Take into consideration that in this census you will not investigate the persons who attend preschool.
[p. 44]
For those persons younger than seven years old you should make an X over the box, the same as for persons who answered "no" in question 16.
Question 18: Educational level
In the spaces that correspond to this question, the enumerator should note with clarity, the highest grade or year that the person has completed in formal education. In this question, it is necessary to insist a bit, since generally, the informant tends to say the grade or year that he or she is attending, but what we want to know is the last grade that he or she passed. For this reason, this question should be asked to all persons, whatever the answer was to question 17. For person younger than seven years old, you should mark with an X across the box.
For those who inform not having passed any educational grade, you should write an X on the first line of this question ("no grade"), the same as for those who have passed any grade of preschool, since the question is oriented to the primary, secondary, or university levels.
The enumerator should write the grade or year on the corresponding line, according to the educational level. In this way, a person who has passed through the fifth year of elementary should have noted 5th elementary, the person who has passed 3rd year of pre-vocational should note 3rd Secondary, etc.
Be aware that under the term secondary we include the pre-vocational cycle (or general education) and the vocational cycle (or diversified), taking the first year of this last cycle as the 4th year of secondary, since the cycle of general education is comprised of three years.
If the education that is being studied is divided by semesters, you should note the highest year that the person has completed. For example, if the person passed the 5th semester of Civil Engineering, it would correspond to 2nd year of University.
For the persons who studied abroad, you should note with the best approximation, the grade that corresponds to the Guatemalan educational system, asking additional questions to the interviewee.
For persons who studied in Guatemala before the current educational systems were put into place at the several levels, you should note the highest grade that they passed according to the past systems. In this case, you should ask the enumerated persons additional questions to achieve the most accurate notation possible.
If the person does not remember the last grade passed, but does remember the level (elementary, secondary, or university), note a "d" (initial for unknown) on the respective line. For example, for a person who informs that he or she attended some years of secondary education, but cannot remember the last grade passed, you will write "of secondary". If the person does not remember even the grade nor educational level, in large letters that cover the box, write "unknown."
[p. 45]
Many college students take classes that correspond to different years; you should always write the last year that he or she has completed.
In the case of college students who finished classes but have not taken the exams to receive their college degree, you should note the last grade passed. The same will be applied in the case of professionals who have graduated from the university.
In the case of persons who have studied two fields of secondary or university studies, you should note the highest grade that corresponds to the field with the highest number of years.
As in the case of questions 16 and 17, this question refers exclusively to the formal education that is obtained in public and private institutions, schools, private education at home and college, excluding the long-distance learning and courses that are received in isolated form.
Economic characteristics of the population
The questions oriented to find out which were the economic activities of the population (questions 19 to 26) will only be asked of persons who are seven years old or older. Therefore, for every child who is six years old or younger, you should make an X in the respective spaces across the columns.
Questions 19 to 26 are of great significance, and therefore we request that the enumerator pay the greatest attention possible to the instructions that are given on the following pages for filling them in.
The questions contained in this section of the form have a certain relationship to each other, and therefore, if you do not put special care in completing them, you run the risk of obtaining incompatible information that will cause enormous damage to the posterior process to which the form will be subjected.
In general, the research of the economic characteristics of the population will refer not to the day of the census, but to the month previous to the census, which will be from March 17th to April 17th, 1964.
Question 19: Did you have any work during the past four weeks before the census?
It is considered that a person who is seven years old or older worked during the past four weeks before the census, and therefore you will mark X in the small box that corresponds to box 1 in the following cases:
[p. 46]
a) When he or she has worked for another person, not in the family, receiving in exchange wage in money (salary, tip, commission, etc.) or in-kind (house, clothing, food, etc.) independent of the class of work;
b) When the person has worked on his her own account, either on a farm, store or industry, practicing an occupation, either having other persons under his or her orders (employer) or by himself or herself (self-employed); and
c) When the person has worked for another member of the family, either on a farm, store, workshop or office, having received payment or not, as long as he or she has worked at least six days during the month if the work is continuous.
In general, it will be considered that a person who is seven years old or older is employed during the reference period (March 17th to April 17th, 1964), when he or she has worked for at least six days of work-periods. Persons who are absent from work because of vacations, illness, layoff or strike, should be considered as employed.
On the other hand, it will be considered that a person did not work, and therefore should have an X written in the small box 2 of this question in the following cases:
a) Persons who are exclusively dedicated to household duties in their own homes and do not receive any wage for this work. When for that work a salary is received (the case of servants), it will be taken as an employed person;
b) Students who are exclusively dedicated to their studies;
c) Persons who live permanently in jails, religious institutions, mental clinics, charity institutions, even when they produce different types of articles. The persons interned in hospitals, who have a job, but who are not working because of their temporary hospitalization, are considered as employed;
d) Rentiers, pensioners, and retired persons, which means persons who receive rent from rental properties, dividends, interests, pensions or retirement funds, without any occupation; and
e) All of the persons who do not participate in any economic activity and who are not included in any of the three groups above, such as the blind, paraplegic, mentally ill person, and who are also not interned in any institution.
For the persons who answer "yes" in question 19, you should not ask question 20, passing automatically to questions 21 to 24. However, for the persons who answer "no", question 20 is mandatory.
Question 20: If you did not work, did you look for any job in the past four weeks before the census?
As has already been explained, this question should be asked of every person who answered "no" in question 19.
[p. 47]
It is considered that a person looked for work if he or she has been formally trying to obtain employment or start a business. Such is the case of persons who take out advertisements in the newspaper requesting a job, or those who answer requests to employers, who write letters of request or who work at a job as a volunteer (without pay) with the hope of obtaining the necessary experience to get a job in the future.
If the answer to this question is affirmative, continue with questions 21 to 24; but if the answer is negative, as it was question 19, you will immediately pass to question 25 (inactive population) since persons who have answered "no" in questions 19 and 20 are considered inactive population (they do not form part of the labor force.)
To illustrate the procedure of the questions about occupational situation, you will indicated which of the different possibilities can be present in practice for persons who are seven years old or older. [The original document includes a table below.]
[Column headings:]
(A) Question 19
(B) Question 20
(C) Order of the interview
Question 19: yes
Question 20: [question omitted] active person
Order of the interview: You continue with questions 21 to 25 and do not ask question 25.
Question 19: no
Question 20: yes. Active person
Order of the interview: the same as above.
Question 19: no
Question 20: no. Inactive person
Order of the interview: you omit questions 21 to 24, passing immediately to question 25.
For persons six years old or younger, this section of the form (questions 19 to 26) should appear in blank, since the occupational characteristics will only be researched for the population that is seven years old or older.
In the previous table we have not included the case that someone has answered "yes" in questions 19 and 20, since in this case you will considered that the person was employed, independent of whether he or she was simultaneously looking for another job.
Questions 21, 22, and 23 are closely related to each other, and there should be an annotation for each of them for all of the persons who answered "yes" in any of the questions 19 and 20 (worked or looked for a job). The answers that are given for these three questions should correspond to the person' occupation that is informed in question 21, the branch of economic activity (question 22), and the occupational position (question 23) should correspond to the occupation that is informed in question 21.
In the blank space that is provided in this question, you should write the word or expression that clearly and amply describes the work type that the person did during the month before the census date (March 17th to April 17th, 1964). When the person had more than one occupation in that period, you should ask and note the principal occupation, which means the on that corresponds to the work where he or she obtained the highest income. In the case of obtaining equal income in several occupations, you should not the one that the enumerated person considers the most important. For persons who did not work in the reference period, but looked for work, you should write the occupation that corresponds to the last job or employment that he or she had. If the person cannot inform about a previous work because this is the first time that he or she is a jobseeker, you should write in the space for the questions 21 and 22 the words "has never worked", at the same time putting and large X across the corresponding column of question 23 (occupational position). If the person, despite having a job did not do it during the four last weeks before the census, due to illness, vacation, strike or any of the other reason already noted, you should note the occupation that corresponds to that job, as long as he or she has conserved it.
[p. 48]
In order for the information noted in this question to be useful, it is necessary specify, without doubt, the class of work or the nature of his or her duties, since in many cases, because there is no special name for the occupation, it will be necessary to describe it in a few words. For example: installer of aluminum blinds, prepares food for sale, etc.
You should not use generic words such as worker, laborer, day-laborer, operator, artisan, employee, apprentice, assistant, volunteer, supernumerary, office worker, salesman, counter clerk, agent, and other similar terms, since none of them indicate a definitive occupation; all are ambiguous words that in the majority of the cases only indicates a relationship between the person and the employer. When it is necessary to use these terms, you should add those words that clarify the situation of the persons as much as possible, for example: loading worker, highway laborer, carpentry apprentice, driver's assistant, etc.
In the case of laborers you should investigate the name of the corresponding occupation, such as assembler, saw operator, carpenter, floor installer. For office employees and office workers you indicate his or her occupation clearly: typist, filing supervisor, cashier, treasurer, accountant, etc.
The same should be done for commerce employees, for example: sales agent, counter clerk, servant, messenger, etc.
In the case of servants, you should indicate if the person is a cook, general housecleaner, nanny, etc.
For workers in agricultural activities, the term "farmer" should only be used for persons who have an agricultural venture under their care. Those who do general tasks in farms, should be noted as "agricultural workers" or as "share-croppers" if this were the case. In any case, if the person does a specific job (cowboy, shepherd, corral worker), it is appropriate to note the occupation with this same detail instead of having general and vague designations.
In the case of professionals, be aware that what you should note the occupation instead of the profession. Of course, it can occur that these coincide. For example, it is common that doctors, engineers, and lawyers work in their same profession; however, it is also frequent that a doctor be an administrator of a hospital, or that an engineer be the manager of a business; in these cases, the occupation of the person does not coincide with his or her profession. In these cases, it is evident that the occupation of the doctor is administrator and the occupation of the engineer is manager. For this reason, the enumerator should ask for the occupation, and in the case of professional, insist in determining if the profession and the occupation coincide. That is to say, if the doctor works as a doctor, the lawyer works as a lawyer, the engineer works as an engineer, since it can also be that these persons are dedicated to agriculture or the management of a business.
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Question 22: Branch of economic activity (class of establishment, workshop, office, etc.)
As in the previous case, this question should be asked of persons who are seven years old or older who have been working or looking for work during the past four weeks before the census.
This question is closely related to question 21, for which you should write the branch of economic activity (type of establishment, workshop, office, etc.), in which the person carried out the declared occupation, indicating, for greater clarity, the article that is produced or the services that are provided. For example: sugar cane farm, food store, electric company, automobile repair shop, municipality, insurance and finance company, direction of public works, private house, shoe shop, tinsmith's shop, wood furniture factory, etc. You should also avoid the use of vague words, such as workshop, factory, government, commercial establishment, which do not say anything about what we want to know. You should add words that indicate the nature of the establishment that is noted, being always necessary to insist upon the nature of it, the article that is sold or produced, the material that it is made from, etc.
Neither is it enough for the census to note the name of the establishment, for example: "The Occidental" factory, since the activity of the same would not be known. It could well be a factory for shirts, as well as for noodles, or one that makes dresses for women.
In the case of the municipal workers or those of the government, you should note the name of the dependency: general direction of roadways, municipal electrical company, etc.
In the case of persons who work in two or more different establishments, performing the
same occupation (the accountant who works as such in commercial and industrial establishments), you must report the establishment from which you derive the highest income. In case of the income was the same in both parts, you should note the one in which the person spend more time.
In the case of persons who work in an enterprise that does different activities, you should note the branch of economic activity with which the persons are directly connected. If an employee works in a factory that produces soaps and cosmetics, the worker who works in that soap factory should report this establishment, while the person who works in the second activity should inform cosmetics factory. When the same person works in two or more different activities, for example, a teacher who teaches in the morning and in the afternoon attends a commercial establishment, you should note the activity from which he or she obtains the highest income. If the separation of the activities is not possible, you should report the one that he or she considers the most important.
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Question 23: Occupational position (owner/employer, employee, self-employed worker, paid family worker, and unpaid family or other person)
This question should be asked exclusively of persons who are seven years old or older and who have informed to be working or looking for work during the last four weeks before the census.
Through this question, we will try to classify each person, assigning to the person the occupational position that corresponds to him or her, according to the annotations made in the questions 21 and 22, according to the following categories:
a) Employer: owner of any business (large or small), or the person who performs a profession or occupation and has one or more paid workers. (Do not include the family members, nor the servants.) A person who does not have paid employees is not an employer.
b) Employee: all persons who work for another who is not a member of their census household, receiving payment for this (wage, payment in-kind, tips or commissions). Here will also be included workers, day-laborers, and other employees, as the vendors of products owned by others sold by commission, insurance agents who work at home with materials provided by the employer and similar;
c) Self-employed: whoever is dedicated to an occupation, profession or trade, in independent form, which means, without having paid employees nor being the employee of anyone. Whoever has unpaid employees is also included in this category. The self-employed can work alone or associated;
d) Paid family worker: every person who works for a member of the census household, receiving payment, as long as he or she had been working for at least six days during the period from March 17th to April 17th, 1964; and
e) Unpaid family worker: this is the unpaid person who works in an economic business, leaded by a member of the household or by another person who is not related.
According to the above definitions, the enumerator should assign to each person his or her category and mark the corresponding small box; in no case should you mark more than one small box. When a special situation presents itself, which you consider doubtful, you should note the explanation in the space for "observations."
This question should be asked of all of the persons who are seven years old or older and worked during the four weeks before the census day or who looked for a job during this same time.
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Here you should note the number of months that the person worked during the period from January 1st to December 31st, 1963. It is possible that the majority of the persons answer that all twelve months, but the enumerator will always try to verify that this is the correct answer, insisting on whether effectively he or she had a job during all of 1963.
When the person worked less than one month in the mentioned year, you should write "less than 1" in the space for months. In the rest of the cases you will write the number of complete months; this means, if the person worked 3 months and 20 days, you should note 3 months; if he or she worked 9 months and 25 days, you should note 9 months, etc. For the persons who did not work in 1963, you should place the inscription "0 months."
Question 25: Inactive population
For persons who are seven years old or older and had not worked nor had not look for it during the period from March 17th to April 17th, 1964 (which would be those who answered "no" in the questions 19 and 20), you should note the reason for which the person is considered as part of the inactive population. For example: housework, student (who dedicates all of his or her time to studying), retired, pensioned, rent collector, child, elderly, ill, blind, deaf-mute, paralyzed, mentally ill, crazy, without legs, etc.
In this question, you will write "housework" for all of those persons who remain in their own houses doing household duties not related to a business or company (guest house, boarding house, dining room, etc.) and did not receive payment for this.
The student who simultaneously works and studies should be considered among the active population, needing to ask questions 21 to 24, omitting number 25.
You will note as "ill" that person who for this motive did work nor looked for a job during the period from March 17th to April 17th, 1964, nor was his or her job reserved during this time. If his or her work was reserved, you should ask questions 21 to 24, inclusive. The same criteria should be applied when the person had been a prisoner during the four reference weeks.
When the person did not work nor looked for a job for the cause of a physical impediment, that impediment or defect should be written: blind, deaf-mute, missing a hand or arm, etc. When those persons have been rehabilitated, which means that they perform an economic activity, they should be taken among the active population, giving the occupation and branch of economic activity that they practiced. It is of interest for the National Committee Pro-Rehabilitation of Injured to take a count of the population that having physical defects have been rehabilitated in the country, so it is necessary that the enumerator make a special notation in each of these cases, indicating in the space for "observations" that this is the case of a rehabilitated injured person.
Question 26: Are you currently affiliated to the Guatemalan Social Security Institute (IGSS)?
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This question should only be asked of the persons who are seven years old or older and answered "yes" in any of the questions 19 and 20, which means, that they worked in the last four weeks before the day of the census or looked for a job.
Through this question, we desire to know the number of contributing workers to date to the Guatemalan Social Security Institute, which means those to whom deductions are made from their wage for the social security (work accidents and maternity). As a contributing affiliated worker we understand the worker who pays his or her contribution to the Guatemalan Social Security Institute, even when the payment is made later by the employer. Do not include persons or family members who do not cover the quotas of IGSS, even when they receive the benefits.
Therefore, you should mark the corresponding small box (yes or no), according to whether the person at the census moment is covered or not in direct form by the IGSS (contributors of IGSS).
Be aware that here we are talking about the social security, which means that which is administered by the Guatemalan Social Security Institute. Those that are administered by private insurance companies are not included in this question.
Questions about fertility should be asked exclusively of the women who have had children, independent of their civil status (married or not, etc.)
Since these questions are considered a bit delicate due to their nature, it is recommended that it be left for last, which means when the form has been completed for all of the members of the census household in the rest of the questions. For men and women who have not had children, you should write a large X across the boxes that correspond to questions 27 and 28.
Question 27: Number of children born alive that you have had
In this space, you should note the number of children that were born alive. Therefore, you should exclude miscarriages, abortions, and children who were born dead.
Be aware that what we want is the number of children born alive, whether or not these are alive or dead at the census date.
Question 28: At what age did you have your first child?
Here she should inform the mother' age at the date of giving birth to her first child born alive.
When giving the age at which the woman delivered her first child, you should compare the age of the oldest child, which is on the form, with the current age of the mother, to deduce if the information is compatible. For example, if a woman says that she is 40 years old and her first child was born when she was 20, and the form says that her oldest child is 25 years old, it seems that there is an error in the data, because if you add up the age at which she had her first child (20 years) and the age of the oldest child (25 years), you get 45 years, and the woman said that she is 40 years old.
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It is possible that the information that you obtain is not always complete, but you will try that it is, without by this meaning that you should create uncomfortable situations. It is probable that some single women who were in this situation, due to social prejudice, would not want to inform about aspects referring to fertility in general.
To the right of the last page of the joint form for population and dwelling, there are some lines that are included for the enumerators to make all of the annotations that he or she considers necessary to clear up or complement any of the data with which he or she has completed the form, indicating to which person of those on the form it refers (1st, 5th, 9th, etc.)
It is indispensable that in this space all of the doubts that come up during enumeration are explained. Only in this way will the data be correctly interpreted when it is subjected to its final revision in the Census Department of the General Direction of Statistics. In addition, in this way the enumerator will be able to save efforts and time in additional visits to the dwelling.
When you finish enumerating each census household, you should insist again in asking if any person has been left without enumerating. If other persons appear, you should note them, indicating in "observations" the column in which those persons should go according to the order recommended for doing the census (head of household, spouse or partner, unmarried children, etc.)
Immediately, the enumerator should summarize the number of members who integrate the census household that has been enumerated, with specifications of how many are male and how many are female, noting those numbers, as well as the total, in the small box for "summary" in the form, at the end of the space for "observations".
The enumerator should not forget to note his or her name and sign each form in the place that is indicated on the form.
Before concluding the interview it is convenient that the enumerator carefully revise the data noted, verifying that there are no contradictions among them and that he or she has not omitted any question, since this is the last opportunity that he or she has for verifying that the information noted is correct and complete.
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Once the notes made on the Dwelling and Population form are revised and having proceeded as indicated above, you should find out if any of the enumerated persons manages any farm or agricultural plot, within or outside of the municipality. If a person answered affirmatively to this question, you should proceed to fill in the form for the Agricultural Census according to the instructions that are given on the following pages of this manual. In the case of agricultural operators who reside in urban places who do not have a farm administrator, the data for the Agricultural Census should be asked of the owner of the enterprise.
How to pass from the Population Census to the Agricultural Census?
When you finish noting the data on the form for dwelling and population, ask if the enumerated person has any or some lands (owned or not) within or outside of the locality, and if he or she worked on them in the year from May 1st, 1963 to April 30th, 1964. In addition, ask if the person worked on agricultural activities in their own house, which means if they have a chicken coop, vegetable garden, fruit trees, etc.
If the answer is affirmative, the enumerated is, for the purposes of the census, an agricultural producer and you should proceed to collect the information corresponding to the agricultural form, following the instructions that are given below.
Whenever the noted occupation is farmer, you should obtain information for the agricultural form.