Literal question
Resident women aged 12 years or more
[Questions 20-22 were asked of women aged 12 years or more. Questions 20-22 were related to the number of live births]
P20 Total number of children ever born, by sex
_ _ Males
_ _ Females
Interviewer instructions
Columns P20, P21 and P22: Questions Related To Live Births
Columns P20, P21 and P22 are related to live births. Thus the questions should be [directed to] resident women aged 12 or older. By live birth is understood all children who were born alive, that is, the product of any conception that showed any sign of life (shouting, crying, breathing, heartbeat, etc.) after complete removal from the body of the mother. Still-born children, who will not be considered here, are children who die before complete removal from the body of the mother.
In column P21, it is a question of finding out how many of the children given birth to by the mother, from her youngest [childbearing] age to the present, are still alive at the date of the census. Gather the information according to the sex of the children.
In column P22 it is now only a question of live births who have survived through the course of the most recent annual period, that is, the 12 last months preceding the date of your visit to the household. Here you should also gather the information according to the sex of the child.
One can imagine a series of well-articulated questions to cover all three columns in the following way:
1) How many children have you given birth to, from your youngest [childbearing] age up to today? How many boys? How many girls?
2) How many children are still living today? How many boys? How many girls?
3) Over the last 12 months, how many live children have you given birth to? How many boys? How many girls?
What is in question here are quantitative variables, and so you should write the numeric responses in the numbering grids provided: 2 numbers to express the number of live-born children, the number of surviving children, and the number of live-born children in the last 12 months for each sex in columns P20, P21 and P22.
