Questionnaire Text

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11. Status in employment
[] Skilled worker
[] Semi-skilled worker
[] Unskilled worker
[] In an apprenticeship
[] Employee, civil servant
[] Self-employed without employees
[] Unpaid family worker


11 to 16. If several employments exist, please answer questions 11 to 16 for the job with the most working time. In case of a change of employment at the time of the census, please answer questions 11 to 16 for the situation on May 15, 1991. Persons who both attend a school and have an occupation answer questions 11 to 16, depending on whether they have defined themselves as "employed" or as "pupil, student" in question 10.

11. Status in employment: workers mark "skilled worker", "semi-skilled worker" or "unskilled worker", depending on their collective labor agreement placement in the business they are employed in.
A person is self-employed if he/she is not an employee but instead has a profession in his/her own account.
With/without employee: depending whether persons receiving wages or salaries are employed in the business or not. Self-employed persons whose only employees are family members who are not being formally paid, please mark "without employees".
Unpaid workers in a family business are working in the business of a family member without being formally paid.

12. Exact description of occupation: Your statements will be categorized in one of 300 different occupational groups, and we therefore ask you to be as precise as possible in describing your occupational activity.

Examples of precise description of occupation:

Gas welder for steel construction parts
Operator of data processing machines
Adjuster of men's shirts
Plexiglas cutter
Operator of plastic processing machines
Foreman of a dip-varnishing business
Electrician for high-tension transmission lines
Scientific researcher in the field of environmental protection


13. Branch of economic activity of the company or office: the branch of economic activity states to which branch the business or which you are working belongs to. Public service employees enter "federal administration", "provincial administration" or "municipal administration" depending on which government unit they are employed with.

14. Name of company or type of school you are presently attending: persons with several employers, cleaners) enter "several employers".

15 and 16. Address and journey to workplace or school: These questions are designed to describe your journey from your housing unit to your workplace or school. Teachers therefore state the school where they are teaching (school they are based at) and not e.g. School Inspection Authority.
Persons working in their house or on the same piece of property (e.g. janitors, farmers, homeworkers) or who live in the school building, mark the box "this house" for questions 15; these persons skip question 16.
If the workplace (school) is abroad, please state which country.
Persons with changing workplace (e.g. cleaning women, constructions workers) answer question 15 and 16 in accordance with the situation on May 15, 1991.
Persons who marked "not daily" in question 16a) can skip parts b and c.
Questionnaire instructions view entire document:  text  image

11 to 16, occupational questions:
If several employment relationships exist, please answer question 11 to 16 for the profession with the most working hours.

If you are changing employment relationships at the time of the population census, please answer questions 11 to 16 for the situation on May 15, 1991.

Persons who are employed as well as attending a school, answer questions 11 to 16 depending on if they designated themselves as "employed" or "student, pupil" in question 10.

Purpose of the question:
The results of the populations census in occupational and economic areas are of great importance for the planning administration, the economy, research and the representation of interests, because they present a cross section of the total of all employed persons. Other surveys (like e.g. local unit of employment census or the social insurance institutes) also provide data in this area, but not with the diversity, objectivity, and regional subdivision and combination possibilities of the population census.


11, Occupational status:
Possible answers: "skilled worker," "semi-skilled worker," "unskilled worker," "apprenticeship," "employee/civil servant," "self-employed with or without employees," "workers in a family business."

Workers mark "skilled worker, "semi-skilled worker, or "unskilled worker" depending on how they are classified by collective agreement in their company.
A person is self-employed if they are not an employee in an employment relationship, rather practice a profession on their own behalf. With/without employees: depends on if persons receiving wages or salaries are employed in the business or not. Self-employed persons who only employee family members without formal pay mark "without employees."

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Unpaid workers in a family business are working in the business of a family member without formal pay.

Purpose of the question:
The "occupational status" describes the legal status or the collectively agreed classification that a person has in a company. The data do not only give information on the degree of responsibility in the company, rather also serves as an element for subdivision of the population and employed persons according to socioeconomic status. Different analyses about the occupational structure are only meaningful in combination with the occupational status (e.g. the demand for freelance and employed doctors).