The Life Table

The statistical theory of the ordinary life table is presented in this book, with its construction explained. Topics cover measures of mortality and adjustment of rates, and other areas include survival and stages of disease, reproduction, married life, antenatal life table and ecological studies.

This is the first volume to present a comprehensive treatment of the theory and application of life table techniques. The emphasis is placed on applications, and the theory is presented in such a way that individuals with minimal knowledge of calculus and matrix algebra can follow the argument.

Late in a career of more than sixty years, Thomas Burch, an internationally known social demographer, undertook a wide-ranging methodological critique of demography. This open access volume contains a selection of resulting papers, some previously unpublished, some published but not readily accessible [from past meetings of The International Union for the Scientific Study of Population and its research committees, or from other small conferences and seminars]. Rejecting the idea that demography is simply a branch of applied statistics, his work views it as an autonomous and complete scientific discipline. When viewed from the perspective of modern philosophy of science, specifically the semantic or model-based school, demography is a balanced discipline, with a rich body of techniques and data, but also with more and better theories than generally recognized. As demonstrated in this book, some demographic techniques can also be seen as theoretical models, and some substantive/behavioral models, commonly rejected as theory because of inconsistent observations, are now seen as valuable theoretical models, for example demographic transition theory. This book shows how demography can build a strong theoretical edifice on its broad and deep empirical foundation by adoption of the model-based approach to science. But the full-fruits of this approach will require demographers to make greater use of computer modeling [both macro- and micro-simulation], in the statement and manipulation of theoretical ideas, as well as for numerical computation. This book is open access under a CC BY license.

This practical guide to survival data and its analysis for readers with a minimal background in statistics shows why the analytic methods work and how to effectively analyze and interpret epidemiologic and medical survival data with the help of modern computer systems. The introduction presents a review of a variety of statistical methods that are not only key elements of survival analysis but are also central to statistical analysis in general. Techniques such as statistical tests, transformations, confidence intervals, and analytic modeling are presented in the context of survival data but are, in fact, statistical tools that apply to understanding the analysis of many kinds of data. Similarly, discussions of such statistical concepts as bias, confounding, independence, and interaction are presented in the context of survival analysis and also are basic components of a broad range of applications. These topics make up essentially a 'second-year', one-semester biostatistics course in survival analysis concepts and techniques for non-statisticians.

Regional Model Life Tables and Stable Populations, Second Edition maintains the tradition of research on the analysis of fertility and mortality as related to population growth and composition. The tables presented are two principal forms: model life tables and model stable populations. The included models are models of mortality and age composition; "west" model life tables and stable populations; "north" model life tables and stable populations; "east" model life tables and stable populations; and "south" model life tables and stable populations. People involved in the study of population growth and composition will find the book useful.

What follows is a new edition of the second in a series of three books providing an account of the mathematical development of demography. The first, Introduction to the Mathematics of Population (Addison-Wesley, 1968), gave the mathematical background. The second, the original of the present volume, was concerned with demography itself. The third in the sequence, Mathematics Through Problems (with John Beekman; Springer Verlag, 1982), supplemented the first two with an ordered sequence of problems and answers. Readers interested in the mathematics may consult the earlier book, republished with revisions by Addison-Wesley in 1977 and still in print. There is no overlap in subject matter between Applied Mathematical Demography and the Introduction to the Mathematics of Population. Three new chapters have been added, dealing with matters that have come recently into the demographic limelight: multi-state calculations, family demogra phy, and heterogeneity. vii PREFACE This book is concerned with commonsense questions about, for instance, the effect of a lowered death rate on the proportion of old people or the effect of abortions on the birth rate. The answers that it reaches are not always commonsense, and we will meet instances in which intuition has to be adjusted to accord with what the mathematics shows to be the case.

Volume III includes more selections of articles that have initiated fundamental changes in statistical methodology. It contains articles published before 1980 that were overlooked in the previous two volumes plus articles from the 1980's - all of them chosen after consulting many of today's leading statisticians.

Gives sets of age-sex patterns of mortality in Latin America, Chile, South Asia, the Far East and in general.