All persons
[Questions 1-8 were asked for all persons.]
6. Age or date of birth
____ Age in months or years
____ Date of birth
Column six - age or birthdate:
This column is divided into two subcolumns:
- Age in months or years;
- Date of birth.
Only one of these sub-columns needs to be filled out for each individual.
For each person, it is necessary to obtain as much precision as possible concerning the day, month and year of birth. You should consult the personal documents of those being interviewed on an as-needed basis: birth certificate, ID card, family record book.
- If the exact date is known, write it in numbers. Example: 15/10/82 for someone born on October 15, 1982.
- If only the year of birth is known, write it directly. Example: 1939 for someone born in 1939.
- If only the age is given, record the given number followed by the letter "A".
For children under a year old, record the age in months if between 1 and 12 months, followed by the letter "M", and in days if the child is less than one month old, followed by the letter "J".
Example:
3 years write 3A
8 months write 8M
25 days write 25J.
In the case that someone has no idea what their age is (or has a very vague idea), it is necessary to ask them, or the person responding for them, if they remember an important event in the history of the city or area, of which the date is well-known, in order to estimate the age of the person concerned.
In certain cases, you may ask the respondent to search their memory for another person in the area that is of a similar age to them to see if this person can either provide more information on their age or serve as a reference.
[p. 26]
You may also consult the relationship between a person's declared age (even the date) and certain other replies, such as: education, the age of their first child and the number of children for a woman, etc.
If the responses to these questions seem erroneous in comparison to the age of the individual, you must probe while with the respondent to obtain logical responses.