types of population data & Main sources

There are two major types of population data, i.e.,

primary and secondary data sources.
Primary data: are those data collected by the analyst
for very specific purpose. The generation of primary
data is usually very expensive and time consuming.
The advantages of primary data are that they are
timely and may be created to meet very specific data
needs.
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Cont’d…
Secondary data: they differ from primary in that they
result from further analysis of data that have already been
obtained.
These are regarded as data disseminated via published
reports, the internet, worksheets, and professional papers.
Their benefit is that they generally save a great deal of
time and cost.
The drawback is that data are usually collected with
specific purpose in mind-sometimes creating bias.
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Main sources population data

◦ There are three major sources of population data

◦ Vital Registration

◦ Census

◦ Sample surveys

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What is Vital Registration and its features?

The United Nations defines civil registration as “the

continuous, permanent, compulsory and universal recording
of the occurrence and characteristics of vital events pertaining
to the population as provided through decrees or regulations
in accordance with the legal requirements of each country”
(UN,2002).
The vital events considered in the registration system include
live births, deaths, fetal deaths, marriages, divorces,
annulments of marriage, judicial separation of marriage,
adoption, legitimization and recognition.
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Cont’d…

History:

– Relatively modern concept in its present

format
– Churches have long maintained baptism and
burial registries
– Provided insight on the demographic situation
since the late Middle Ages
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cont…
Purpose

It has dual purpose, i.e., administrative & legal and statistical,
demographic & epidemiological purposes.
It establishes legal r/nship b/n governments and their citizens
through legal provisions in national constitutions & laws,
international conventions.
It plays critical role in implementing various human rights
provisions, justice system, social & administrative services,
decentralization and democratization processes.

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Cont’d…

It helps to understand demographic

characteristics of different populations at
different points in time.
 Legal: provides permanent legal records of
events in the lives of citizens
 Statistical: data are analyzed and reported for
administrative, public health and other purposes
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Features of Vital registration
◦ It is the most reliable.

◦ Vital registrations should be complete, continuous (permanent),

compulsory and compiled centrally.

◦ In the developing countries it is non-existent and if they exist,

their completeness is extremely very low.

◦ It provide us the flow data .

◦ Universal coverage of the population

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Data collection for vital registration
Events are collected by a local registration office
Registration office is usually a government agency
Who reports to registration office? Individual
citezens, local officials, physicians, hospital
employees, etc
Main advantage is universal coverage
Disadvantages are late or never reporting
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Data limitations of a vital registration system

The amount and kind of legally mandated

information obtainable
Completeness and accuracy depends on:
 Legal necessity to report
 Timelines of reporting
 Reporting by many different persons who have no
training (often to persons without training) 10
 Census

1. Population censuses: The term census, which comes from the

Latin word meaning" to estimate or assess”, means periodic counts
or enumerations of a population. A population census is taken to
determine the size of the population of a country at a given date
and to obtain statistical information on various demographic,
economic and social characteristics of every individual in the
population.
“A population census is the total process of collecting, compiling,
evaluating, analysing and publishing demographic, economic and
social data pertaining , at a specific time, to all persons in a country
or in a well delimited part of a country.”(UN,1970)
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Two principal methods for enumeration of a population

De facto: it is an enumeration of persons physically

preset at a specified place on specific night. This
method is simple and un ambiguous because the
enumerator is expected to record the person who spent
census night at a given place.
De jure: here people are counted at their usual place of
residence. Countries can use either of the methods or a
combination of the methods depending on the need and
other facts of the country. 12
Salient Features of Census

1.Individual enumeration:-each individual is separately, but only

once, enumerated and that some important characteristics of
each person are separately recorded. These characteristics
include sex, age, marital status, religion, literacy and educational
attainment, economic activity, occupation, etc.

2.Universality with in defined territory:-ideally, a national census

should cover the country’s entire territory and all people resident.
When these ideals can not be achieved for some reason, the type of
coverage attempted and achieved should be fully described in the
census publication.
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3.Simultaneity:- census is taken as of a given day. However, the
canvass itself may not be completed on that day.

4.Defined periodicity :- census should also be taken at regular

intervals so that comparable information is made available in
a fixed sequence. Usually census is taken at five or ten years
interval, for example in United Kingdom and Japan census is
taken at five years interval. In India and Ethiopia it is taken
ten years interval. If the censuses are spaced exactly 5years
or 10years apart, cohort analysis can be carried out more
readily and the results can be presented in more conventional
terms.
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Additional characteristics of census
 Censuses should be sponsored by the national government.
A national census is conducted by the national government
but with active cooperation of state or provincial or
regional governments.

◦ We can ask only limited questions.

◦ The time to process the entire data is too long to satisfy the
urgent need.

◦ The operation is too expensive .

◦ It gives us a stock data of a population at a given area and

time.
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Strenghtes of a census cont’d…
Complete population coverage provides
detailed population data for small area
Census provides denominators for
calculation of rates
Census tract demarcation and mapping
provides basis for sample survey

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 Census weaknesses
Coverage errors:
√ Counting some people more than once, or more
likely, not at all
√ Most affected groups: marginal segments
(minorities, homeless, isolated) may not be covered
Content errors:
√ Misreport by respondents
√ Misreport by interviewer
o Non-response

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Census weaknesses cont’d…
Time consuming
Needs planning for 2 to 5 years
Vast personnel requirement
Expensive
US 1990 census costed $ 2.6billion
The 2007 census of Ethiopia costed $ 73.06
million
Politically sensitive
Limited information obtainable

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 Content and types of census data
A census contains:
√ Demographic data (at least age and sex)
√ Economic data (eg. Occupation and income)
√ Social (eg. Education and housing)
Two sets of questionnaires are used in census:
√ Short:basic demographic and housing
information (100% coverage)
√ Long: detailed social and economic
characteristics (20%sample)
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Data collection procedures
Establish administrative tree (census
officers, supervisors, enumerators, etc)
Develop questionnaires
Cartographic work
Define enumeration areas
Pretest enumeration processes
Design data processing system
Enumeration (postal with followup, genaral
canvas)
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Points to watch in data
Population definition
Coverage change between censuses
Treatment of non-response
Imputation technique

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Sample survey
It refers to the collection of information from a part of
the population (the sample).
The results obtained will infer to the whole population.
 Rationale for using sample surveys
 Economy: It is a lighter operation than a census,
needing less time, less personel and less funds. This is
because only limitd units are examined and analyzed

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 Accuracy: quality of enumeration and
supervision can be high
 Adaptability: many topics can be covered
 Elaborateness: allows collection of more in-
depth information that can then be generalized
Avoids wastage of resource at the time of failure
Sampling methods
Sampling frame, generally from census
Separate strata are often defined for sampling
−the provinces of a country could be
strata or urban and rural areas
−there may be multiple strata

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cont…

 Sample surveys Could be two types

Single rounded surveys

• where population is enumerated only once at the time
of the survey when retrospective questions on
demographic events are asked.
• Under these kinds of survey high rates of errors and
under reporting errors are common.
• But it is flexible, easy for administration and is
relatively low cost.

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 cont…

Multi round surveys:

Here we have repeated visits of a house hold to

ascertain what events have occurred during the
interval of the visits. Unlike the single round
surveys they provide us better most reliable
information. They also require careful
administration.

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The government should
know the birth and
death
of individuals