The Questions Fujairah Surveyors Will be Asking You in May 2011

Stage 3 Underway

The third and final stage of the Fujairah Updating 2011 got underway on 1 May 2011 and is progressing smoothly. Instead of the census being taken on one night (as happens in many countries) the third stage of the Fujairah census is being undertaken over a month but the answers usually relate to ‘how long’ or ‘how many’ as on 30 April 2011.

Verbal Responses

Instead of being given census forms to complete you will be asked a series of questions at your home in Fujairah. The answers will be entered into a PDA (pictured) which is a hand held computer.

‘The Head of the Home’

The surveyor will ask to speak to ‘the head of the home’ or ‘the head of the family’.

It doesn’t matter whether the woman of the home is the primary visa holder, the primary financial provider or the chief decision maker in your home for the purposes of the 2011 survey the man or father is the head of the home, in accordance with local culture.

If ‘the head of the home’ is not around the spouse will be quite acceptable in providing the answers.

All family members will be identified as to how they relate to ‘the head of the home’.

So what questions will you be asked (if they haven’t visited you already)?

How Many Families?

The first question you will be asked is: “How many families live in this residential unit?” Some residences have more than one family sharing the premises.

If there are several men (single or married) sharing a Fujairah residence they will be termed ‘bachelors’.

If an unmarried male and female happen to be sharing a Fujairah residence they will be termed ‘bachelors’.

Special Needs

You will be asked for the number of ‘Special Needs’ people that are part of your family.

In Relation to the Head

After the head of the family has given his details, information will be asked for each member of the family starting with ‘what is their relationship to the head’? e.g. wife son, daughter etc.

Domestic workers will be counted and there is provision for indicating that people like this have ‘no formal relationship’ with the ‘head of the family’.

Gender, Age, Birthplace

Details will be asked for each member of the family as to their gender, their age (as at 30 April 2011) and place of birth.

Place of Birth

If the person was born in the UAE they will be asked to state in which emirate they were born.

If they were born overseas the answer to indicate is ‘abroad’.

Religion

When you are asked to state your religion there are only three options given—Muslim, Christian and Other.

Nationality

In addition to Emirati there are a range of other options: Bedoon (those growing up in the UAE without citizenship and legal papers); Arab (with the ability to specify whether from Syria, Jordan etc.), America, Europe, Asia, Oceania etc.

Residence Duration

How many years have you resided in the UAE? This is not how many years you have lived in your current house or how many years you have been residing in Fujairah. Again this question must be asked as of 30 April 2011.

Education Status

If the age of a person is indicated as over 5 years of age questions will be asked about the educational level that they have attained by 30 April 2011.

Marital Status

If a family member is 15 years and over they will be asked to indicate their marital status—Single, Married, Divorced, Widowed.

Employment Status

Those 15 years and above will be asked about their employment status—employed, unemployed or retired.

If they are employed they will be asked to provide the name of the Company for which they work (only their primary job if they have more than one) and the employment sector in which they work—federal government, local government, private etc.

Privacy Concerns

Staff members at the Fujairah Statistics Center have stated at the various training workshops their commitment to matters of privacy.

The surveyors and the organizers of the Data Updating are bound by the strict Privacy Laws of the UAE. Their primary concern is to find out the number of buildings and people and this information will be used for statistical purposes in the emirate’s planning not as a resource for the police or legal authorities.

Related

Fujairah Surveyors Begin Knocking on Doors Tonight, FIF, 1 May 2011.

Data Collection in Fujairah is a Team Affair, FIF, 18 January 2011.

People Count in Fujairah, FIF, 16 January 2011.

Data Updating in Fujairah Conducted by Surveyors with PDAs, FIF, 29 December 2010.

Fujairah Ruler Orders Census in 2011, FIF, 26 December 2010.

Geoff Pound

This article is also posted in the Fujairah in Focus—Facebook Page.

Images: This is an example of a PDA and a stylus for entering the information. The surveyor’s hand held computers have unique software devised especially for the Fujairah Data Updating (census) in 2011.