Provisional results of the sample survey of the African population of Southern Rhodesia, 1948

In this paper the authors describe the methods used in the Sample Survey of the African Population which was taken in Southern Rhodesia in 1948 and give some of the preliminary results.     

Vital statistics in the United States: preparing for the next century

"This paper outlines the development of U.S. national vital statistics based on the local registration of vital events in the United States during the twentieth century, including the organization of the National Vital Statistics System. Current data developments and selected publications of the National Center for Health Statistics are presented as they relate to vital statistics. The paper concludes with an overview of ongoing efforts at the local, state, and federal levels to improve the timeliness and quality of vital statistics through the redesign and automation of data collection, processing, and dissemination systems."     

African population in history]

The growth rate of the African population has been fluctuating throughout history, affected by political, social, and economic events. 6000 years ago, the majority of the population was based in North Africa, because farming had been developed there. However, between the 11th and the 16th centuries, there was a constant decline in the population of that region, due to invasions from Europe and the black plague. During the same period, the population in the area south of the Sahara grew rapidly, as people there had gone into the iron tool period and farming had been developed. From the 16th to the mid-17th Century, population growth was considerable in Africa; more people had learned the technology of irrigation, corn and potatoes had been introduced from South America, and colonialism was not yet an issue. From the mid-17th to the mid-19th Century, there was no growth, due to the slave trade and wars between tribes. One estimate sets the direct and indirect loss during this period, as a result of the slave trade, at 100 million people. From the 1850s to the end of World War I, population growth started up again, chiefly influenced by the fact that the slave trade had essentially come to a half and modern medical care had become available on the continent. However, in central Africa, the region which suffered the worst blow from the slave trade, growth was very slow, while in East Africa the population was declining because of wars between colonists and natives, as well as natural disasters. Increases in population during this period were a result of immigration from Europe and India. From the end of World War I to the present, growth has been rapid, given improvements in medical services and standards of living, while most of the former colonies became independent after the 1950s. Consequently, almost all African countries are under great pressure now with regard to their populations.     

China's rural population statistics at the local level

Written for those who use Chinese population data and want a better understanding of their provenance and reliability and those who may directly utilize local level materials in studies of Chinese population and social structure, this report describes the statistical system of 1 rural county, Shifang Xian in the Chengdu Plain of Sichuan Province. It is based on interviews with local government officials, on examinations of population records and reports at different levels of administration, and on a sample survey of households conducted in the winter and spring of 1981. Until the mid 1970s, the primary source of China's rural population data was the household and vital events registers established in the 1950s. Following the formation of the Birth Planning Office in 1971, a separate reporting system of population statistics began to develop alongside the household registration system. The birth planning system uses the reports of team, brigade, and commune level cadres concerned with health work and women's affairs to provide a richer and more current set of vital events and birth planning data than the household registration system could provide. Discrepancies in data emerging from the 3 sources are bound to occur because of error and because of the different methods used in the compilation of data. Currently, there are 2 basic sources for population data in Shifang Xian: the monthly reports of the brigade level birth planning workers and the year end reports of the team accountants. The household and vital events registers, once central to population statistics, retain their legal role but have diminished importance for statistical purposes. There continues to be important questions about the operation of the statistical system. With increasing reliance on the newly developed birth planning statistical system for information on vital rates, Shifang has apparently moved from statistics based on date of registration derived from a de jure system of vital events registration to statistics based on date of occurrence derived from de facto or quasi de facto records of health workers and team accountants. As the latter system is more accurate, it seems likely that transition has been marked by discontinuities in time series of population counts and vital rates. The statistical system observed in Shifang is administered by highly motivated cadres. It apparently produces statistics of good quality. Linkage to the economy, constant updating, surveillance of pregnancy, and a level of overlap give the overall system considerable strength and should not produce substantial errors under normal circumstances. A serious remaining problem, i.e., the underreporting of infant deaths, is primarily due to inadequate training of statistical workers. Shifang Xian is an unusual county, and no conclusions should be drawn about the accuracy of rural population statistics based on performance there.     

Developments and prospects for population statistics in countries of the former Soviet Union

"This paper examines recent developments and prospects for population statistics in the former Soviet Union, whose dissolution provides both opportunities and problems. It is important for scholars to be aware of past limitations of Soviet data, since the formation of independent states has neither removed bureaucratic impediments to the production of high-quality data, nor has it led to a population more ready to answer questions fully. Temporarily at least, there is a decrease in the amount and comparability of available information, and in some instances, in its quality. We begin with an overview of the system used to gather population statistics in the former Soviet Union and its inherent problems. We then discuss the challenges faced by the newly independent countries and the changes they need to make to achieve global comparability, including a shift toward the use of standard international definitions and away from political restrictions on data availability."     

About standardization of several indexes of population statistics]

The author discusses how standardized fertility and mortality rates are calculated and how the age structure must be taken into account when comparing different areas and different time periods.     

Population statistics and population registration in Norway. Part 21

The second part of this paper deals with the legal basis of medico-statistical data, and shows the type of report made by Medical Officers of Health and by private practitioners to the Norwegian Central Statistical Office. These reports deal with infectious diseases, with certain types of mental disease, and certain special diseases like tuberculosis. The system of classifying causes of death is also explained. Other sections deal with hospital and morbidity statistics and statistics obtained from recruiting authorities.     

Thailand population statistics] as of April 1, 1994

This one page profile gives population statistics for April 1994 in Thailand. Total population is estimated to be 58,656,000 persons, of whom 29,310,000 were male and 29,346,000 were female. The population was 18,019,000 in urban areas and 40,637,000 in rural areas. Regional population was distributed as follows: 7,532,000 in the Northern Region, 19,773,000 in the Northeastern Region, 7,174,000 in the Southern Region, 14,652,000 in the Central Region excluding Bangkok Metropolis, and 7,525,000 in Bangkok Metropolis. 35,669,000 women were of reproductive age (15-44 years). As regards the general population, 19,614,000 were aged 6-21 years, 35,669,000 were aged 20 years or older, 16,893,000 were aged under 15 years, 37,481,000 were aged 15-59 years, and 4,282,000 were aged 60 years or older. The crude birth rate was 18.5/1000 total population. The crude death rate was 6.4/1000 total population. The natural growth rate was 1.2%. The infant mortality rate was 34.5/1000 live births. Life expectancy at birth was 67.7 years for males and 72.4 years for females. Life expectancy at 60 years was 18.8 years for males and 22.0 years for females. The total fertility rate was 1.95 children/woman. Contraceptive prevalence was 75.0%. Population is expected to increase to 71,414,000 persons in the year 2012. A separate graph indicates the estimated numbers of child prostitutes based on five different assumptions about total numbers of commercial sex workers in 1993.     

Population statistics and population registration in Norway. Part 1. The vital statistics of Norway: An historical review

From olden times in Norway, as also in Sweden and Denmark, the church official in each parish has kept the official registers of marriages, births and deaths, and has produced the records which form the basis of Norwegian vital statistics.     

[Discussion on improvement of population statistics in cities and towns in China].]

Inconsistencies in available population statistics for China's cities and towns are described. The author suggests improving these statistics by clarifying the definition of urban population and applying modern statistical methods to data collection and analysis.     

Population statistics and population registration in Norway. Part 3. Population censuses

In this history of Norwegian vital statistics, the author describes enumerations of population that have taken place in Norway, comments on the methods by which the results have been obtained and describes the material that has been collected.     

[An introduction to the application of the analytic method of mathematical statistics to population studies].]

Methods of analyzing mathematical statistics and their application in China to population data are examined based on a review of recently published studies in China. Problems identified include a misunderstanding of the relationship between cause and effect, errors in explaining the coefficient in multivariate regression analysis, and errors in dealing with multilinearity problems in multivariate regression analysis.     

Russian Mortality Crisis and the Quality of Vital Statistics

Mortality from ill-defined conditions in Russia has the fastest rate of increase compared to all other major causes of death. High proportion of deaths in this category is indicative for low quality of mortality statistics. This article examines the trends and possible causes of mortality from ill-defined conditions in Russia. During 1991–2005, mortality from ill-defined conditions in Russia increased in all age groups. The pace of increase was particularly high at working ages and the mean expected age at death from ill-defined conditions has shifted to younger ages, particularly for men. The analysis of individual medical death certificates issued in Kirov and Smolensk regions of Russia demonstrate that 89–100% of working-age deaths from ill-defined conditions correspond to human bodies found in a state of decomposition. Data from Smolensk region shows that over 60% of these decedents were unemployed. Temporal trends of mortality from ill-defined conditions and injuries of undetermined intent in Moscow city suggest that deaths from the latter cause were probably misclassified as ill-defined conditions. This practice can lead to underestimation of mortality from external causes. Growing number of socially isolated marginalized people in Russia and insufficient investigation of the circumstances of their death contribute to the observed trends in mortality from ill-defined conditions.     

失业统计口径若干问题的反思

失业统计口径是失业统计的关键,也是失业统计得以顺利实施的基础。针对失业统计数据失真,学术界对统计口径提出了诸多质疑,本文从这些质疑出发,对中国现行统计制度下的失业统计口径进行分析。研究表明：在城镇失业统计口径方面已基本完善,但农村失业具有其特殊性,其统计口径还有待于进一步的研究与探讨。     

The population characteristics of the East African red legged diplopodMetiche tanganyciense Kraus (Diplopoda: Spirobolidae)

Summary A marked variation exists in the numbers and distribution of East African red legged millipedeMetiche tanganyciense Kraus on the surface and in the lower layer (15 cm) of the soils. Stadia 5 cm and lesser in length are found in the lower layer and those 5 cm and above on the surface soil. Adults are common in varying numbers in both the habitats. It is suggested that after becoming surface active during March–August, and mating, adults migrate to lower layer during September to oviposit. Eggs and early developmental stages are passed here, and when they are 5 cm in length, the stadia move to the surfface soil to complete their development. In keeping with this behaviour, spatial distribution of the adults may change from non-aggregation on surface soil to aggregation in the lower layer. The simulataneous presence of adults and developing stadia in the two habitats suggests and overlapping of generations. This investigation was done while I was in the Department of Entomology, University of Nairobi.     

人口生命过程的函数解析式,两类死亡模型的统一

文章通过对大量的生命表数据验证,人口生命基本过程可以用对韦伯函数的幂(常数)经过变异后的函数形式来表示,模型参数可以用线性回归的方法来确定。模型的基本部分加波动部分就组成了人口生命过程的完整模型。人口生命函数的基本部分可以近似地组成一个线性空间,这样,就可以解释人口间接模型在不同场合采用不同参数的意义,并且,从理论上解释了两类模型的统一性。最后,文章还指出了现行的间接模型中采用的Logit变换同两次对数变换可取同一个函数形式。     

Persistence of the Misery Index in African Countries

This paper deals with the analysis of the misery index in a group of 55 African countries by using fractional integration or I(d) techniques. In doing so, we can measure the degree of persistence of the index in a more flexible way than with other methods that simply use integer degrees of differentiation (zero or one). Our results indicate a large degree of heterogeneity across the countries, with some showing short memory behaviour (d?=?0); others long memory mean reverting behaviour (0?<?d?<?1) and others indicating the presence of unit roots (d?=?1). Thus, shocks will have different effects depending on the country examined. Generally, we also find a positive relationship between the levels of persistence and income.

     

Contemporary Sexism in the South African Navy

The military traditionally embraces highly sexist attitudes. Over the past decade, the South African Navy (SAN) has been exposed to an increasingly progressive political environment. This study investigated contemporary expressions of sexism in the SAN. A representative sample of 476 sailors completed the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory, Modern Sexism Scale and Sexist Attitudes towards Women Scale, where they scored higher than any available published samples. The scores indicate high levels of sexism generally, and a denial of the existence of discrimination. Ultimately, it appeared that, while the political environment may influence the expression of sexism, the liberalisation of South African society has not ameliorated the levels of sexism in the SAN.