Question 17 and 18 Activity Status and Occupation
134. Questions 17 and 18 are concerned with how people provide for themselves, how they make their living. The questions apply to women as well as to men.
135. In the week before census night, almost everyone in Uganda will have done something to provide for him or herself. It is your job to discover and record what each person did. It does not matter whether they had a job or were paid for what they did. A person who farmed or fished or replaced thatch on a roof or cultivated a vegetable garden worked. So did people who were in paid employment.
136. Ask the questions as they are set out here and on the questionnaire and talk about each member of the household until you understand what he or she did in the way of making a living last week. Make entries on the questionnaire only when you have the picture clear in your mind.
Question 18 Occupation Last Week
144. "What kind of work did the person do?"
145. If the person was "employed", "self-employed" or "unpaid" we require an exact description of what the person did. For others write "N/A".
146. Remember that we are interested in the main or most important activity. It is sometimes difficult to get an exact answer but you should aim always to provide a two or three word description of what the person did - for example, "sales manager", "typist clerk", "motor mechanic", "foreman carpenter", "primary teacher", "forklift operator". Avoid general terms such as "operator", "clerk", "manager" "selling", "business" or "civil servant". We need to know just what it was the person operated, what kind of a clerk or mechanic, whether a teacher taught in primary or secondary school or at university, whether the person was selling vegetables on the roadside or operating a retail shop or selling motor spares, whether the civil servant was an office messenger, a filing clerk, an executive officer, a government medical doctor or a permanent secretary.
147. Speak to the person concerned whenever possible. Members of the household are often vague as to the occupations of others.
148. If the person is in employment you may find you get a better idea of his/her job by asking for the job title and recording that.
149. Many people may be described as "farmers" or "peasants". It is important that we know what kind of farmers they are.
150. A person living in his/her village, who worked in village or subsistence agriculture last week and who did no other work may be entered as "peasant farmer" which you may shorten to "p farmer". Such a person may do a variety of tasks in growing or gathering produce to feed and clothe his/her family and may sell some produce but is not a commercial farmer.
151. If the person grows crops such as coffee or cotton or raises chickens or other livestock mainly for sale enter them as "coffee grower", "cotton farmer", "market gardener" or as the case may be.
152. Many of these farmers engage in more than one activity but in describing their work you should pick the main activity - the one to which most time is given - the one which the person regards as most important - the one which is commercial.
153. A person may not have worked last week because he or she was temporarily absent from work. In such cases ask about the person's normal occupation. A teacher on holiday, for example, may not have been teaching last week because the schools are closed, but the occupation should be entered as "primary teacher" or "secondary teacher" as the case may be.
154. The next set of questions, 19 to 22, applies to all women aged 12 or over.
155. An answer is required of all women in this category whether or not they are married, whether or not they are still attending school, and whether or not you think they may have borne children.
156. If the person is male or is a girl aged 0-11 years, write "N/A" on line 19 and leave the rest of the column blank.
157. If possible, speak to the woman herself. She will know about the children she has borne and will be able to answer the question more accurately than anyone else.
158. We are concerned with the number of children a woman has borne alive. A child born alive is one who cries after being born. Do not include still births - that is children who did not cry.
159. Ask, "Has this woman borne any children?"
160. If the woman has never borne any children alive, write "0" on lines 19 and 20 and leave lines 21 and 22 blank.
161. If the woman has borne a child or children, ask
"How many children has she borne?"
162. Write the number on line 19. The census is concerned with all the children a woman has borne. Include children who have grown up and left home, children borne by the women to other men as well as her present husband, her children who are living away from home and children who have died even if they died shortly after birth. Be careful to include young babies.
163. Do not include adopted children or step children or children who live with the household but were not borne by the woman herself.
164. "How many of the children she has borne are still alive?"
165. Write the number of children still alive.
166. "When was the last child born?"
167. Record the month and year for children born between 1985 and 1990. For children born before 1985 it will be enough to record the year of birth.
168. "Is the child still alive?"
169. Write "yes" or "no" as appropriate.
170. You have completed particulars of persons in the household. Now check,
that no line has been left blank if it should have been completed,
that others can read what you have written,
that the information you have recorded agrees item with item.
171. If you find that things have gone wrong or there are mistakes or omissions put them right. The record must be complete and accurate before you leave the household.
172. When you are satisfied that the particulars of all persons are correctly recorded, turn over the page and complete the remaining sections of the questionnaire.
173. Record the particulars of disabled persons, the household information and housing conditions on the back of the first page relating to the household. If you have used two or more pages for particulars of persons because there were more than ten in the household on census night, draw a diagonal line across the household particulars on second and subsequent pages.
174. If you are enumerating persons in institutions or in the floating population, leave these sections blank.