Literal question
B. Person Form
27. If you are:
- working for payment or profit (Q26 box 1)
- unemployed (Q 26 box 3)
- retired (Q26 box 6)
Answer the following questions about your main job or your last main job if you are not currently employed. Otherwise, skip to Q34.
Interviewer instructions
Questions 28 to 33 are to be answered by persons who are working for payment or profit, unemployed or retired (.i.e. Those who have ticked boxes 1, 3, or 5 for question 26).
29. What is (was) your occupation in your main job?
In all cases, describe the occupation fully and precisely giving the full job title.
Use precise terms such as:
Retail Store Manager
Secondary Teacher
Electrical Engineer
Do not use general terms such as:
Manager
Teacher
Engineer
Civil servants and local government employees should state their grade e.g. Senior administrative officer. Members of the Garda or Army should state their rank. Teachers should state the branch of teaching e. g. Primary teacher. Clergy and religious orders should give full description e.g. Nun
Write in your main occupation.
If a farmer or worker, write in the size of the farm.
___ Hectares
The information that Question 29 will provide is used to build a picture of occupational groups and how occupations are changing over time.
[p.71]
Some guidelines on answering question 29:
The Occupation must be provided for every person who ticked
Working for payment or profit
Unemployed
Retired from employment in Q26.
Housewives (i.e. those who ticked box 5 at Q26) often answer this question by writing 'Home (or Domestic) Duties' as their occupation. Although inappropriate, no attempt should be made to alter this response.
You should ensure that the description of the Occupation is precise in accordance with the question instructions.
If asked, you should advise the householder/person to describe their Occupation in precise terms. In the list below some examples of correct and inadequate occupation descriptions are given:
Inadequate Entry / Possible Correct entry
Analyst / Analyst programmer
Secretary / Secretary receptionist
Minder / Child minder
Process worker / Food process worker
Operator / Chemical plant operator
Manager / Retail store/shop manager
Manager / Computer systems manager
Manager / Garage manager
Accountant / Trainee chartered accountant
Machine operator / Wood machinist
Technician / Medical laboratory technician
Technician / Electronic technician
Labourer / Builder's labourer
Worker / Dock worker
Engineer / Electrical engineer
Engineer / Civil engineer
Engineer / Software engineer
Fitter / Gas fitter
Foreman / Garage foreman
Checker / Ticket checker
Mechanic / Motor mechanic
If in doubt as to how a particular occupation should be described, it is better to give a full and detailed description.
Hectares should only be answered by a farmer or farm worker.
