Interviewer instructions
You must obtain the respondent’s age in completed years, that is, her/his age at his/her last birthday. You must record an age for a respondent and you will do this in one of four ways, depending on the type of information you gat from the respondent.
a. The respondent knows his/her age;
If the respondent tells you his/her age, simply write it in the space provided.
b. The respondent does not know his/her age but month and year of birth:
If the respondent does not know his/her age, but he/she knows the month and year of birth, then you computer his/her age as follows:
+ If the respondent has not yet had his/her birthday in the current year, subtract the year of birth from last year [2003]
+ If the respondent has had his/her birthday in the current year, subtract the year of birth from the current year [2004]
+ If the respondent does not keep track of the time within a year when his/her birthday falls, it is sufficient to subtract year of birth from the current year [2004]
c. If the respondent does not know his/her age as well as year of birth:
If the respondent does not know his/her age and he/she could not report year of birth, you will have to probe to try to estimate his/her age.
There are three ways to probe for age:
+ If the respondent is a woman: Ask the respondent how old she was when she got married or had her first child, and then try to estimate how long ago she got married or had her first child. For example, if she says she was 19 years old when she had her first child, and that the child is now 12 years old, she is probably 31 years old.
+ You might be able to relate the respondent's age to that of someone else in the household whose age is more reliable known.
+ Try to determine how old the respondent was at the time of an important event (war, flood, earthquake, and change in political regime) and add the respondent's age at that time to the number of years that have elapsed since the event.
d. The respondent does not know his/her age and probing did not help.
If probing does not help in determining the respondent's age, you will have to estimate his/her age. Through the direct observations, that means to observe the respondent's appearance, relating to his/her child's age, his/her partner's age to appropriately estimate the respondent's age. Remember, this is a last resort to be used only when all your efforts at probing have failed.
Note: An answer to column 6 must be filled.
