Notes on methods of evaluating the reliability of conventional mortality statistics

The role of mortality statistics in planning and executing public health programmes, and their even wider role in the analysis and projection of population trends required for policy making and planning in many economic and social fields, emphasizes the need for reliability in these measures. Since recognition of the need for reliability is the first step in its attainment, it may be useful to review the potential sources of error in mortality statistics together with some of the accepted methods which can be used to measure the effect of these errors. Remarks will apply to general and infant mortality statistics only; evaluation of foetal mortality statistics cannot be achieved by the methods suggested below.

Related Subject(s): Population and Demography