Question 3: Age in years completed

This question investigates the age in complete years of persons, not those that they are going to be. Ask specifically: How old are you in complete years? (or how old is another member of the group). Remember that it concerns the age in complete years on the date of the census moment, and not the date of the visit. Simple in appearance, this question presents problems in reality. It is possible that the persons do not know there exact age, or that of another member of the household; in many cases they will give you an approximate age that can be higher or lower then their real age. Also it is very common that persons who do not remember ages tend to give this number ended in "0" or in "5" like for example: 5, 10, 15, 30, 40 years, etc. (phenomena known as preferred digits).

[Below the text is a form]

For students who do not remember their exact age of some members of the household, it is convenient that you help the person. Ask that they please look for any document that can offer the precise information (for example: birth certificate, identity bond, Social Security card), ask them to remember any significant event that has happened in any precise moment of their life, whether personal or of the locality where they live, or it concerns events that occurred in the country and that can serve as precise points of reference to determine the age.

{How the age in completed years should be written down}

If the person who you ask is less than 1 year old, mark an X in the circle that corresponds. Write down the other ages in the respective little boxes, always with two digits, that is to say, if a person claims to be 3 years old, write down 03. If someone is 100 or more years old, write down 99, but write down in observations the exact age: 101, 103, etc.