Interviewer instructions
Questions 35-43, are to be asked of all males and females age 12 or older
Question 43. What is your main profession?
(Mark the "none" box if there is none.)
For the person to have a profession, it is not absolutely necessary that he/she practice it in his/her occupation. However, the person must have the skill to practice it when required.
For those household members lacking a profession, an "X" is to be placed into the "None" box. For those with a profession, the profession is to be written clearly and accurately into the appropriate space.
Retired, housewife, student, etc., are not to be considered as a main profession.
In specifying the professions, attention is to be paid to the following points:
a. To be equipped to practice some professions, it is necessary to have completed a specific course of study or branch of specialization.
As for example: medical doctor, pharmacist, architect, mathematics teacher, classroom teacher, attorney, nurse, mechanical engineer, construction engineer, statistician, etc.
b. In the case of some other professions however, just as they may be entered into by completing an educational institution and a branch of specialization, they also may also be attained as the outcome of knowledge, observational and practical experience.
As for example: automobile repairman, carpenter, electrician, metal lathe operator, barber, etc.
c. Even if those with professions had worked in a job outside their professions during the week preceding census day, the one that should be referenced is not that occupation, but instead the one that had been entered into through education or specialization.
As for example, the main profession of a medical doctor who engaged in commerce during the last week is "Medical doctor", the main profession of an attorney acting as mayor of a municipality is "Attorney".
d. Households involved in agriculture are to be regarded as agricultural operators. Accordingly, the main profession is to be spelled out explicitly according to the activity engaged in, as in: "Farming (field agriculture)", "Animal husbandry", "Vegetable growing", "Fruit growing", "Beekeeping", "Poultry husbandry", etc.
e. Professions are not to be written in a way that conveys a general meaning, but instead in a detailed, explicit manner.
For example; Instead of "Shoemaker" the main profession should be specified as "Shoe repair person", "Shoe salesperson", "Shoe shiner".
Instead of general terms used to designate many professions such as "Manual laborer", "Worker", "Master", "Journeyman", "Engineer", "Broker", titles such as "Journeyman/assistant barber", "Farm laborer", "Mason", "Mechanical engineer", "Technical drafts-person", "Real estate broker" should be used instead.
f. The professions of combat officers and non-commissioned officers working in the military should be designated as officer or non-commissioned officer, without regard to their rank. Professions of reserve officers and rank and file soldiers should be designated as whatever occupation/profession they had taken up prior to entering the army. Professions of non-combat officers and non-commissioned officers working in the military should, be written in as "doctor, health officer, chemist, mechanical engineer, electronics technician, etc.", depending on the professions acquired through either education or knowledge, observational and practical experience.
The occupations of civil servants working in the military are to be designated according to their acquired occupations.