A question on the labor status of an
individual seems pretty easy to explain when looked at from the outside. But as
you delve deeper into it, you discover the multiple layers. In a training
session that we conducted, while giving examples on how to categorize an
individual's current labor status,
one field enumerator asked, "What is the kind of employment of a
priest?"
Another
enumerator answered, "Self-employed".
This
led to a long drawn discussion among the field enumerators on how it is neither
of the above and the ambiguity had to be resolved with the following
explanation, given the context of the assignment. A priest employed by a temple
trust and paid a monthly salary will be categorized as a "salaried
employee". On the other hand, a priest who conducts ceremonies as and when
required at houses of people or other places will be marked as
"other" in the options list and be specifically listed as a "daily
wage earner”. This simple question of a field enumerator led to a very
important probe being incorporated in implementing the survey instrument as and
when such a response is received.
Lesson
learned - Even the simplest of questions come with its own set of connotations
and may require in-depth probing to arrive at the desired answer.
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