22. Date of birth or age
To complete the inside of the questionnaire, you must have:
- Read and fully understand the contents of this manual.
- If any points are unclear to you, ask your team leader for an explanation.
- Know the definitions perfectly and the meaning of the abbreviations used.
- The presence of the person you are surveying to obtain reliable information. If the head of the household is absent, speak with his representative to get the necessary information.
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- Ask each person to be surveyed to present an identification document (national identification card, birth certificate, passport, driver's license, etc.) in order to quickly obtain answers to questions regarding first and last names, date of birth, etc.
Carefully follow all instructions you have been given, especially regarding how to ask the questions.
Question 22: Date of birth or age
Try to obtain as much precise information as possible (day, month, year). Check the civil status documents of the interviewed individuals, if they have any. The statement "around 1945" must be replaced with "1945" on the household questionnaire.
Do not convert an age into a year of birth: if you are told "42 years old," write "42 Y."
If the surveyed person has no idea of their age (or is too vague of an idea), ask them to show you someone who is in their age group (or generation) to allow you to estimate their age. Ask him/her if he/she remembers a particular event if he/she was a child when it occurred.
For individuals who show you an identification card (birth certificate, identification card, passport, driver's license, consular card, etc.), write the date of birth shown on the document under the coding table.
Otherwise, ask the question: "What is your date of birth"?
Write the answer given by the surveyed person, indicating the exact date of birth.