Census ‘weird’ questions unpacked
THE ongoing National Population and Household Census has come a subject of debate in most circles, with some targetted respondents expressing reservations on some of the questions being asked by the enumerators.
Some of the questions are being viewed as weird and as usual, social media has been in overdrive.
Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (Zimstat) enumerators are asking about the type of floor or roof at people’s houses, what they use for washing, personal hygiene, or what energy source the family uses for cooking.
According to experts, these questions generate important data on the people’s standards of living and access to basic services.
Zimstat also stated that apart from counting people, a census is also used to find out more about Zimbabweans and how they live.
This includes factors such as unemployment, access to basic services, or people’s standards of living.
Zimstat’s spokesperson, Mrs Mercy Chidemo recently told the media that: “Our questionnaire has several modules. There is a demography module, functionality, immigrations, mortality, education, labour force and housing characteristics.
“Those questions are found in all censuses in the developing world to measure access to basic services, that is energy source (lighting and cooking), water (tap, borehole or open well/river), and housing, such as the type of building, including walls, roof and floor types,” Mrs Mutevedzi said.
These questions are not peculiar to Zimbabwe alone.
South Africa’s census questionnaire also asks about construction material of outer walls, floor, roof.
This, according to Stats SA, identifies standards of living or peoples’ welfare, and the information is used in generating economic and social indicators.
On employment, census enumerators ask whether you are employed or not.
They may also go further and ask if you are actively looking for a job, and how soon you would be able to start a job if it arose.
This question, which is also asked in the United Kingdom’s census questionnaire, is meant to understand more about employment trends.
A census will also ask about education levels.
This way, Government can, for example, get data on factors such as how many people living in an area have attained basic education, or how many women have tertiary qualifications.
The Manica Post this week engaged Zimstat’s provincial statistician, Mr Fidelis Kupara, to understand the rationale behind some of the “weird” questions that have made respondents uncomfortable.
Below are some of the questions and the explanations on why they are important. Question: Which paying job did you embark on in the last seven days?
Explanation: This question falls under the Labour Force Module and it will determine on whether someone is classified as employed under the International Labour Force conditions as well as give statistics which will also be used in international comparisons. Question: How old is your daughter
Answer: She is nine years old. Question: Is she married? And does she have any children? Explanation: The first part of the question falls under Marital Status and it is asked to determine the statistics of child marriages in the country.
The second part of whether the person has children or not falls under the Fertility Module. It is asked to determine fertility.
The Fertility Module is being asked on people between the ages of 10 and 49. In exceptional cases, we have children who are still very young, but have children. These question will help us get those statistics. Question: Did you eat sadza last night? Explanation: This question is not part of the questionnaire and it should not have been asked. Question: Do you use an electricity stove to prepare your meals? Explanation: The correct question is — Which source of power do you use in your homestead? It falls under the Household Characteristics and Living Conditions Module.The question is asked to determine what percentage of the population uses what power and for what purposes. Some might be using electricity for lighting their homes while using gas to cook.