Interviewer instructions
5. Where were you born?
Two boxes and a dotted line have been provided in this column for recording the respondent's birthplace. In this census the birthplace of a person is the place of usual residence of the person's mother at the time of birth. For example, for a person born in (a) a hospital or maternity home outside the usual place of residence of the mother, (b) the hometown of the mother's mother or (c) some other locality where the mother had gone for a short visit, the birth place of this person will be the locality in which the mother normally lives and not the locality of the hospital, residence of the mother's mother or the place of visit.
If however, the mother's length of stay outside her locality of usual residence is six months or more or the mother has the intention of staying in the new place for six months or more the "actual place of physical birth" will be considered as the birthplace of the person in question. For example, Akua Mansa who normally resides with her husband at New Tafo went to Accra to deliver her child in her mother's house. In such a case the birthplace of her child will be New Tafo and not Accra. If, however, she stays in Accra for six months or more, then the birthplace of her child will be Accra and not New Tafo.
Put a cross in the first box marked "in this town/village" for all persons who were born in the same town or village in which you are conducting the enumeration. If, for example, you are conducting your enumeration in Bawku and the respondent was born in Bawku, you will mark this box. Remember that birthplace is not the same as hometown. In large localities like Accra, remember that the suburban localities like Madina, Akweteman, Kopevi, McCarthy Hill, Alogboshi, Kokroko and Haatso are not part.
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of the town proper and should be treated as "in another town/village in Ghana" but in the same region.
Mark the second box -"in another town/village in Ghana"- for all respondents who were not born in the town or village in which you are conducting the enumeration, but in some other town or village in Ghana. After marking the box, you should write down the name of the town/village in which the person was born and the Region in which this locality is situated.
Note that there are nine regions in Ghana. These are:
(a) Western
(b) Central
(c) Greater Accra
(d) Eastern
(e) Volta
(f) Ashanti
(g) Brong-Ahafo
(h) Northern
(i) Upper
Remember that Greater Accra Region comprises the following council areas:
(a) Accra City Council
(b) Terna District Council
(c) Ga Local Council
(d) Dangbe Local Council
(e) Shai Local Council
In appendix 2 you will find a list of all the traditional areas in Ghana by region with the names of all the ruling Paramount Chiefs. This will enable you to determine the region in which some towns or villages lie. Ask those who do not know the Region in which they were born to give you the name of the present Paramount Chief of the area in which they were born. The information contained in this appendix will help you to determine the Region in which the person was born.
Born outside Ghana- For a person who was born in a town or village outside this country, you will specify the country but not the town in which he was born. For instance, if the respondent was born in Lome, you should write down Togo; if he was born in Lagos, write down Nigeria; if he was born in Ouagadougou, write down Upper Volta.
In the case of persons from the neighbouring French-speaking West African countries who cannot tell you the actual country in which they were born, ask them to give
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you the name of a big town, or the headquarters of their Commandant, in the country in which they were born. Refer to appendix 3 and use it to obtain the name of the country.
Avoid the word "French" which persons from French-speaking African countries usually give in response to the above question. If you get such a reply, probe further and get the correct response, i.e. the name of the country.
Again avoid names of the continents like Africa, Europe, America, or name of regions like the Middle East. North Africa, Latin America.
