SES data were collected at the HH level during the first visit to each bilek. A questionnaire (see Appendix A2) was applied to the head o f the household, although frequently other members of the family joined in and helped to answer the questions.
There is no standard SES questionnaire which can be applied to all populations. The variables which were included in this questionnaire were selected after reference to the literature (Sizaret, 1994; Nutritional CRSP, 1993) and consultation with Sarawaki informants during the pilot visit.
It is widely reported that respondents o f studies in which SES data are required are often reluctant, or unable, to provide an account of their economic situation in terms of cash income.
Moreover, a complex (and lengthy) questionnaire may be required to obtain detailed information about cash income. The majority of the topics in the questionnaire did not concern cash income;
instead most of the questionnaire focused on the economic resources available to the respondents other than cash income.
The questionnaire contained questions on the bilek's (a) construction characteristics, toilet facilities and sources of water, (b) material possessions, (c) type o f land farmed, (d) cash cropping, (e) savings and (f) members’ employment outside the longhouse.
Although the Iban live “communally” in longhouses and hence share a certain amount o f living space (e.g.: the veranda area), the families within each longhouse may not have identical living conditions. Each bilek-family is responsible for building their own bileks onto the longhouse.
The construction materials used to build a bilek may therefore vary in quality, depending on the wealth of the fo/eAr-family concerned. Moreover, some families may add a separate toilet facility to their bilek and / or piped water directly into it, whereas others may not be able to afford these conveniences. In most cases, the piped water and the toilets are added by the government (Medical and Health Services Department Sarawak, 1990). Similarly, the government may supply a longhouse with electricity or a generator or separate bileks may have to provide for themselves. Hence questions about the quality of the materials used to construct the walls, floors, roofs and windows o f each bilek were posed. Similarly, questions about electricity, toilet facilities and water sources were included.
A material possessions scale was employed. This involved questioning the head o f household about the ownership o f certain possessions:- a chainsaw, a cassette player, a television and either an outboard motor for a boat or a motorcycle or a car. During the analysis an index of material possessions from 0-4 was created, each item which was owned scoring a point on the scale. In later analyses this index was converted to a categorical variable with the division centring on the median score of 3. Those who scored >=3 were classified as scoring highly on the material possessions scale.
Land ownership and tenure are complex matters in Iban society. Some 6//efc-families rent or borrow land from each other (Sutlive, 1992) and thus to pose questions such as “how much land do you own?”, or even, “do you own any land ?” was difficult. It was considered more important and easier to ask about the quality o f land a 6/7eL-family was currently farming. For those who farm hill padi it is possible to describe accurately the quality o f a farm by asking how long the land lay fallow before its current use (or what size trees had to be cleared from it in order to plant the rice). The Iban occasionally supplement their income by growing and selling cash crops such as cocoa, rubber, fruits and illipe nuts. Questions concerning these activities were included in the questionnaire.
Although it is stated above that respondents o f studies in which SES data is required are often reluctant, or unable, to provide an account o f their economic situation in terms of cash income a question on savings was posed in this study. This idea was first proposed by the key informants in the pilot study. They suggested that the possession o f savings was the best way to differentiate between rich and poor 6i/e£-families, as those with savings could survive an emergency, (e.g., a bad harvest or illness in the family) whereas those without might be more seriously affected by such an event. Questions concerning the amount of savings (if any) held by each 6/M>family were posed during the pilot. The respondents did not appear to be offended by the questions and thus similar questions were posed in the main phase (three HH declined to give an answer to the question about savings).
As stated earlier, the subsistence economy of the Iban is based on the cultivation o f hill rice;
indeed, most of its population is involved in farming the padi. However, employment outside the longhouse is becoming more frequent, especially among young men. A section on employment outside the longhouse was included in the questionnaire. Each bilek-famAy was asked if any of their members were employed outside the longhouse and, if so, broadly what category this employment fell into. They were also asked if they received remittances from this person. In addition widow’s are eligible for remittances from the government and where applicable these were recorded. No questions concerning the size of remittances were posed.
It was assumed that the SES of temporary migrants was the same as that o f the other members of their bilek. However, this assumption was not made for permanent migrants - their SES was assessed independently at their new residence. It was assumed that the non-survivors since 1990 had a similar SES to the members of their bilek who were still alive.
Some of the variables described above are inter-related but most do represent different aspects of SES. The variables concerning electricity, water source and building-materials represent the physical conditions of the bilek and they also provide information about its hygienic conditions.
Bileks with glass windows, lineoleum floors, piped water and electricity may be easier to keep clean than those with uneven wooden floors, no windows or running water and no toilet facilities or electricity. As some of these factors may have been paid for by the government these variables are not a direct measure of the HH’s wealth. The material possessions scale and land quality variable represent the past wealth of the bilek, e.g.: at one stage they were able to afford a television etc. even if they could not now. The savings variable may represent the amount of cushioning a family would have against a future disaster - economic or physical. Some families
will choose to save money and others to spend it on material goods, thus both types o f variables are important measurements o f wealth.