Interviewer instructions
If the respondent was away for more than one month THEN the response should be "PRESENT ALL YEAR".
Record the number of months [NAME] was away out of the last 12 months. For example if the interview is conducted in the beginning of March 2008, then you should ask how many months from March 2007 to february 2008 [NAME] was ABSENT from the household. You should ask the number of months [NAME] was NOT there.
The time spent away, does not need to be consecutive, it is CUMMULATIVE time that matters. You should add up all the months that [NAME] has been away and assess whether it is under or above 3 months. If [NAME] moved into the household in beginning of May 2007 and then stayed till September 2007 (5 months). He then left the household in October 2007, but returned for the whole of January and february 2008. To summarise, [NAME] was:
- Absent from the household in March, April, October, November, December (5 months).
- Present in the household in May, June, July, August, September, January, February (7 months).
Thus we would choose option 3 “absent more than 3 months”.
Another example is someone who visits the household every weekend of the year. This means they are absent for 5 out of every 7 days in the year, which adds up to be more than 6 months. Someone who visits 3 out of 7 days is absent for more than 6 months, but someone who visits for 4 out of 7 days is absent for less than 6 months.
The EXCEPTION is made for new BABIES, their responses will go with what was responded for their mothers/carer. If a baby is 2 moths old and its mother has been in the household all time of its pregnancy then it has never been out for the whole year. If the child was born out of the household or travelled out after birth and came back, then record the time absent basing on its presence.
In case the respondent is a polygamist and has two wives living in the same house but in different rooms and they cook separately- it will be difficult to get the exact number of days the respondent spend in each household. In such a case, you should mark that the respondent has been PRESENT for 6 months.