Two kinds of households are included: domestic households and collective households. Domestic household refers to a group of individuals who are either relatives or non-relatives, live in one residential unit and are registered as one household. Collective household refers to a group of individuals who live in the same dormitory in a college (or school) or in the same living quarters for staff and workers in a factory or other organization.

A person's ethnicity is determined by his/her parent's ethnicities. A person's ethnicity can be identified with either his/her father's or mother's ethnicity if this person's parents have different ethnicities. The choice is made by the person if he/she is 18 years old or over, or by the parents if he/she is under 18.

College graduate refers to those who have graduated from institutions beyond high school level, including two-year, four- or five-year colleges and universities, and postgraduate education. Undergraduate refers to those who have studied in post high school institutions but were either not yet graduated or never graduated. The later include those who are currently enrolled.

Employed Person refers to all those who are employed, regularly or temporarily, by state owned, collective owned, or other ownership units, and those who run their own businesses and their employees.

The Industrial Classification Standards for National Economy used in the 1982 Population Census identifies 15 major industrial categories shown as follows:

• Farming, forestry, animal husbandry, and fishing.
• Mining and lumbering.
• Production and supply of electricity, gas, and piped water.
• Manufacturing.
• Geological prospecting and surveying.
• Construction.
• Transport, posts, and communications.
• Commerce, food service, material supply and marketing, and storage.
• Real estate management, public, residential and consultancy services.
• Health care, sports, and social welfare.
• Education, culture, and the arts.
• Scientific research and polytechnical service.
• Banking and insurance.
• Government agencies, party agencies, and social organizations.
• Other industries.

Occupation refers to the type of work in which a person is employed. The Standard Occupational Classification used in the 1982 Population Census distinguisheds 8 categories. These categories are shown as follows:

• Scientific and technical staff.
• Administrators in government, parties, and social organizations, enterprises, and institutions.
• Office and related workers.
• Commercial workers.
• Service workers.
• Workers in farming, forestry, animal husbandry, and fishery.
• Production, transportation, and related workers.
• Other not classified.

"Awaiting school enrollment" refers to those who had graduated from schools but failed to be admitted to higher level schools, and who are preparing for the next entry examinations and are not seeking employment.

"Awaiting government job assignment" refers to those who are entitled to receive, and are waiting for, government job assignment. Those who are entitled include graduates from colleges, universities, and specialized secondary schools, and veterans who lived in urban areas before joining the armed forces.

"Urban unemployment" refers to persons in the working age cohort (ages 16-50 for men, 16-45 for women), who are able-bodied, have registered with local government agencies for employment, and have not yet received employment.

"Other" refers to other unemployables, such as the handicapped and prisoners.

The status "married" includes couples living together as well as those legally married.