Literal question
How old was (name) at his/her last birthday?
Interviewer instructions
After having obtained the child's date of birth, ask the child's age in completed years, and record in the space provided. Remember, ages must be at last birthday.
If the mother/primary caretaker does not know the current age of the child, try asking "How many years ago was he/she born?" You may help the respondent by relating the child's age to that of other children or to some important event or to the season of birth, by asking, for example, "How many wet seasons ago was he/she born?"
Ask UF10 and UF11 independently. Then, check for the consistency between date of birth and completed age.
You have to be meticulous in checking for the consistency between the date of birth and age. You also have to be fairly quick in doing so. A good interviewer will perform the check without causing a lull in the 'conversation'.
Checking for consistency between date of birth (UF10) and completed age (UF11). After having obtained both date of birth and age, check for the consistency between the two. The child's age plus her year of birth must equal the year in which the child last had a birthday.
Assuming that you were able to obtain a month and year of birth, you should check the consistency by following these steps:
· If the month of birth is before the month of interview (the child had his/her birthday this year), then her/his age plus her/his year of birth should equal the year of interview.
o Example: A child who was born in October 2003, in a survey conducted in November 2005, should be age 2 (2003 + 2 = 2005).
· If the month of birth is after the month of interview (the child has not had his/her birthday this year), then her/his age plus year of birth should equal the previous year.
o Example: A child who was born in December 2003, in a survey conducted in October 2005, should be age 1 (2003 + 1 = 2004).
· If the month of birth is the same as the month of interview, and the day of birth is not known, then a sum of either the current or the previous year is correct.
o Example: A child born in November 2002, in a survey conducted in November 2005, could be age 3 or age 2. Probe further to see if the date of birth is correct and whether the child has completed age 2 or 3.
· If the month of birth is the same as the month of interview, and the day of birth is known, the sum of age and year of birth should equal the year of interview if the day of birth is before the day of interview, and the sum of age and year of birth should equal the previous year if the day of birth is after the day of interview.
o Example: A child born on 8 February 2002, in an interview conducted on 15 February 2006, should be age 4. A child born on 28 February 2002, in an interview conducted on 3 February 2006, should be age 3 since this child will complete 4 full years on 28 February 2006.
If you find that the date of birth and age are inconsistent, either the date of birth or the age, or both are incorrect, and need to be corrected. Do not assume that one is more accurate than the other. Probe, using documents which may be available, dates of well-known events and ages of other children, of the respondent herself/himself etc.
