4. Questionnaire and instruction manuals
Language used in the questionnaire and in the instruction manuals should be as simple as possible. Words that are not common to the agricultural population of the country should not be utilized.
The use of uncommon words or expressions should be avoided, since it might put women respondents at a disadvantage. In fact, women are generally less exposed to public contact and training than men and have in general a lower level of education.
In particular, the questionnaire and the instruction manuals should not use the word gender in place of sex.
The use of words or expressions in the official language that may be sex biased should be avoided.
Special attention should be given to the translation of the questionnaire and manuals from the official language into the spoken dialect. Words that are not sex biased in the official language may become biased in the translation.
The way questions are asked affects the answers. This is particularly true for women respondents and for questions regarding economic activities. Studies on this problem have shown that by providing examples on what is meant by "activities", women's work is more likely to be captured.
Instruction manuals should be adequately balanced with male and female examples and illustrations.
