Questionnaire Text

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14. Monthly rent

(write on one line only)

____ colones (exact) - renter -
____ colones (estimated) - owner -
____ colones (estimated) - other-

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Box No. 14.- Monthly Rent

When it is indicated that a Dwelling is found to be occupied by "renters", write down the amount of colones that are paid each month for rent. Write with clear numbers omitting "centimes", for example: if the rent is 140.50 write down only 140.00.

If a dwelling is occupied by "Owner" or "Other", it is always necessary to write down the rent. In these you should ask how much the monthly rent is estimated to be or calculated to be; because of this in the space corresponding to these two cases it says "estimated". Possibly this information will be difficult to obtain because a person will refuse to give it; it will then be necessary to insist that it is obligatory to supply it and that it only will be used for statistical purposes. To attain answers faster, it is advisable to ask the question in this form: How much would you rent this house for? Or How much would you pay to inhabit this house? Or How much is the rent of a house like this one in this neighborhood?

It is probable that in many of the cases that a Dwelling is occupied by "Owner" or "Other" they do not supply this information or they do not give it exactly; the enumerator should not strike up discussion with the person about it, but rather proceed in the following manner:

a) If they do not give you the information, indicate it as such in "Observations", writing down there the number that you consider correct, in comparison with other information that you have obtained in the same neighborhood or hamlet.

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b) If you realize that the person is giving you false information, write it down as such and how they give it to you. When finishing the interview, you will explain in observations that you do not believe the truthfulness of this information and you will write down the number that you estimate to be true agreeing with the experience that you have acquired for getting information from other Dwellings of the same place.