Questionnaire Text

Questionnaire form view entire document:  text  image
VII. People in the census household

For those 10 years of age and older
[Questions 16 was asked for persons age 10+ old]

16. Type of activity

What did you do during the week prior to the census date, that is, from the 16th to the 22nd of March, 1981?

[] 1 Worked
[] 2 Did not work but had a job
[] 3 Looked for work and had worked before
[] 4 Looked for work for the first time
[] 5 Lived from investments or retirement income
[] 6 Studied
[] 7 Household duties
[] 8 Other
[] 9 Unknown
Questionnaire instructions view entire document:  text  image

D. Fourth block: economic characteristics (for those 10 years of age and older).

Questions 16 through 20 are only presented to those 10 years of age and older.


Question 16: type of activity

1. How to formulate the question

What were you doing during the week prior to the Census; that is March 16-22, 1981?

Immediately the different alternatives are read, one by one, so that the informant can exactly determine which of the answers translates to the situation of the enumerated person during the week prior to the Census.

The following definitions will allow the enumerator to carry out the work and mark the corresponding alternative.

1. Did you work? A person is considered to work if he or she carried out a remunerated job, for the time equivalent to one day of work, during the week of March 16-22.

For the purposes of the census, work is considered to be:

a. Work for another person as an employee or laborer (salaried), that includes:

i) Daily or regular wage work.
ii) Work for in-kind payment (food, shelter, or supplies received in place of cash payment).
iii) Work paid by the piece, commissions, or tips.
iv) Active service in the Armed Forces.


b. Work in [the person's] own business, professional practice, or as an independent worker (on own account).

[p. 76]

c. Unpaid work, in a business or farm run by a relative (e.g. a son who works, unpaid, in his father's store), for more than 15 hours per week.

d. Part-time job carried out during the week for compensation in money.

This includes sewing jobs and other jobs carried out in the home for other persons or companies for which monetary or in-kind payment is received. This also includes the preparation of food, candy, etc. for sale. Thousands of housewives, students, and elderly persons, who apparently are not working, carry out activities that provided them with monetary income; this should be considered to be "work".

For the purposes of the census, the following is not considered to be work:

a. Tasks carried out in the home, such as household duties (except for servants with or without pay), odd jobs for other family members that is not compensated monetarily, and jobs carried out in the person's own home (cutting the grass, painting walls, etc.).

b. Unpaid volunteer work for the Church, the Red Cross, or other welfare organizations.

c. Work carried out by those who are imprisoned in institutions of involuntary confinement (prisons, sanatoriums, asylums, penal farms).

2. Did not work, but employed? This refers to those who did not work during the week of March 16-22 but who have employment or a business and were absent or did not carry out the work because of illness, inclement weather, vacation, etc.

3. Looked for work but previously employed? This refers to those who did not have a job during the week of March 16-22, having left or been fired from a job; they are waiting for the previous employer to call again or they are looking for a new job.

[p. 77]

4. Looked for work for the first time? This refers to those who have never been employed and who were making an effort to find work or employment during the week of March 16-22.

5. Lived from rents or retirement? This refers to those who did not carry out any remunerated activity during the week of March 16-22, but who received a retirement payment, pension payment, or pension for their previous service or for the previous service of a relative. Included in this category are those who, without carrying out any remunerated activity, receive income from rents or from another source.

6. Studied? This refers to those who were attending school, high school, or university during week of March 16-22. They are only counted in this category if they did not carry out any work during this same period of time.

7. Domestic duties? This refers to those who did not carry out any remunerated activity during the most part of the week of March 16-22 because they were exclusively dedicated to domestic duties.

8. Other? This refers to those who cannot be classified in the previous categories; such as those imprisoned in institutions of involuntary confinement (presidios, hospitals, etc.).

9. Unknown: This refers to those for whom the activity is unknown.

2. How to record the data

The problem of this question is the adequate selection of the type of activity carried out by each person 10 years old or older.

The following recommendations will allow the enumerator to carry out the work more efficiently:

a. An answer should not be recorded unless the enumerator is absolutely sure that the person has correctly understood the question and that the answer is coherent with the pertinent definitions.

[p. 78]

b. A person cannot be classified in more than one category, even if the informant gives double information (worked and studied, worked and received income from rents or retirement, takes care of the house and works, takes care of the house and studies, etc.). The primary criteria for selecting the type of activity is to give preference to the participation in a remunerated economic activity and, secondly, to the activity of studying over that of domestic duties.

Once the answer is selected, the corresponding number is circled.

c. Category "9. unknown" is used only for those cases where the informant cannot answer the questions because he or she does not know what the enumerated person's activity is. This is reserved for those household members who cannot be classified in any of the previous categories.

3. Example:

[These instructions refer to a graphic of question 16 of the census form]