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Multilingual Demographic Dictionary, second unified edition, English volume

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Multilingual Demographic Dictionary, second unified edition, English vol.
Revision as of 17:55, 24 September 2014 by Stan BECKER (talk | contribs) (By definition of a probability, this is impossible, i.e. initial pop of women of parity i-1.)
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  • 130-4 collected: Could be collected by smart phone or other computer-type equipment.--Stan BECKER 18:15, 24 September 2014 (CEST)
Analysis promoted to a NewTextTerm as statistical analysis
  • 132-3 This para is very dated. "machine system???" "persons engaged in the computations" I do not recall ever having a person called a computer nor a calculator. Maybe calculater??? Pls check with others.--Stan BECKER 18:15, 24 September 2014 (CEST)
Here we can detect the influence of Gérard Calot who wrote an important methodological book on descriptive statistics where indexes and complex indexes are introduced. When he moved to INED, he introduced the term indice synthétique de fécondité or sometimes somme des naissances réduites for all women (married and not married) in order to describe the sum of the age-specific fertility rates over the (reproductive) life span. This sum is the area under the fertility function. The dimension of this area is the product of a rate (inverse of a time) by a period length and thus has no dimension and is simply a number of children per woman. In the first edition there is no period indices but only cohort indices; the terminology used for the sum 63-2 is the cumulative fertility and cohort fertility. But in order to monitor the decline and fluctuation of fertility in Europe (the so-called conjoncture démographique research field was created), Calot had to sum the fertility rates over ages of a specific year introducing the notion of fictitious cohort. This period index in the second edition is named synthetic measure of fertility in paragraph 63-9 and thus exists in English. If the total fertility4 is introduced and corresponds to the French somme des naissances réduites, the improper terminology total fertility rate4 is also introduced with the same note number 4. As explained above a TFR is not a rate. It is like confusing a length in inches and a surface in square inches!--Nicolas Brouard 11:48, 20 April 2012 (CEST)
  • The Trilingual Demographic Dictionary Arabic-English-French of 1988 uses synthetic index*.--Nicolas Brouard 19:26, 11 June 2012 (CEST)
In contrast to the basic data, these indices are referred to as results 6 or synthetic indices 5★. --Nicolas Brouard 10:30, 5 September 2012 (CEST)
  • German: Verhältniszahl. This term, expression or paragraph was not translated and was missing according to the 1987-standard (German). It has been translated and is added to the Category:Coherent with the 1987-standard (German):
  • Although this usage is recommended, the term has steadily acquired a wider meaning and is often incorrectly used as a synonym for ratio 6★ (e.g. labor force participation rate, which is actually a proportion). (just an upgrade of ratio as a NewTextTerm, but adding a note). --Nicolas Brouard 11:35, 5 September 2012 (CEST)
  • 6. The total fertility rate (TFR) is the sum of age-specific fertility rates (cf 633-9) over the age reproductive period and thus lost its inverse temporal dimension (per year). The difference is as important as between length and surface or velocity and acceleration. The term synthetic index (cf 132-5) is preferred in some languages to avoid the confusion with the inverse temporal dimension (per year) of a rate: number of demographic events divided by the time exposure or person-years. If used, the term rate in the expression total fertility rate refers to the implicit per woman, which is not enough to qualify as a rate but enough for a dimensionless ratio. - Note added -- --Nicolas Brouard 11:35, 5 September 2012 (CEST)
  • Looking at the first German edition, the term Verhältniszahl was numbered 1 and seems to be different from current Beziehungszahl. The important distinction made in French as well as in German and Spanish at least concerns the case when dividend and divisor belong to different categories (men and women, children and women, for example), in French the sentence is:
rapport 1, assez peu employé, lorsque le dividende et le diviseur appartiennent à des catégories différentes (hommes et femmes, enfants et femmes, par ex.),
Thus the constraint consists in adding that new dimension which differs from the former definition of Van de Walle:
The most general is the ratio 1, the quotient obtained by dividing one number by the other.
Rapporto is used in Italian, Rapport in French, Relación in Spanish:
relación 1 cuando el dividendo y divisor pertenecen a categorías diferentes (por ejemplo : hombres y mujeres, niños y mujeres, edades distintas)...
I was proposing fraction in English but what about relation? None of them are used, I am afraid. At least we need a temporary English term which differs from ratio. It is mandatory for the 6 new Asian languages. It seems that in the final English version, we will keep the original text (with ratio) but adding a note 1 saying that in some other languages a distinction is made when dividend and divisor are or aren't of the same kind. I can't do it now because we will loose a TextTerm to be translated for languages where the distinction exists. --Nicolas Brouard 14:17, 5 September 2012 (CEST)
  • A ratio 6★, also used for various purposes, is the quotient obtained by dividing quantities of the same kind. When the dividend and divisor belong to the same kind but different categories (men and women, children and women, different age-groups, for example) an other terminology might be used in non English languages, relating both quantities with a specific ratio 1 (like a sex ratio). I can't find a solution. --Nicolas Brouard 15:24, 5 September 2012 (CEST)
  • No, ratio is dividing any one number by any other number; same kind is not needed. Pigs per person is a ratio. Cars per household is another.--Stan BECKER 18:20, 24 September 2014 (CEST)
  • rate: Part of the problem here is that labor force ptc rate actually does have a time component. It may be one point in time, or with CPS, more likely over some reference period. Conra preval rate has the same problem. It is a proportion but does refer to a specific time.--Stan BECKER 18:24, 24 September 2014 (CEST)
  • lost its inverse temporal dimension (per year). delete 'inverse'. Temporal is enough. --Stan BECKER 18:26, 24 September 2014 (CEST)
  • inverse temporal dimension. ditto. --Stan BECKER 18:28, 24 September 2014 (CEST)
this is probably an omission because it is widely used and in all languages.--Nicolas Brouard 11:48, 20 April 2012 (CEST)
Remark: the English term quotient (coming from the Latin quotiens, quotient) did not exist in the first edition despite the origin of the notation 432-2 qx.--Nicolas Brouard 12:04, 20 April 2012 (CEST)
  • The Trilingual Demographic Dictionary Arabic-English-French of 1988 uses age group-specific rate*.--Nicolas Brouard 19:57, 11 June 2012 (CEST)
both seem to be used age-group specific rate and age group-specific rate. --Nicolas Brouard 14:45, 5 September 2012 (CEST)
  • 135-5 The term rate is often used: By standard definitions this is not a rate, but a probability; maybe say "sometimes used" as it is incorrect usage really. We must be precise in demography and identify loose usage as such it would seem.--Stan BECKER 18:34, 24 September 2014 (CEST)
  • 136-8 Although they may be used to measure actual trends, false inferences may result from their uncritical use when populations with different structures (144-4) are compared.: Somewhere direct and indirect standardization are defined?--Stan BECKER 18:41, 24 September 2014 (CEST)
The term corrected rate 7 has been used by some demographers as a synonym for standardized rate. When the data do not permit direct estimation of the rates (small population, for example), the use of standard rates 9★ (cf. 403-6 for example) computed from data of good quality and applied to the real population, provides an indirect estimation of the expected number of events which can be compared with the observed number of events.--Nicolas Brouard 15:57, 5 September 2012 (CEST)


  • 137: Not necessarily; one can calculate a monthly birth rate or marriage rate w.o. annualizing it, n'est pas?--Stan BECKER 18:49, 24 September 2014 (CEST)
  • 138-3: (note) frequency of definitive celibacy (521-1) .... This is acceptable but strange usage in English. Better translation would be permanent celibacy je crois. --Stan BECKER 18:55, 24 September 2014 (CEST)
  • 138-5: (note) Because cross-sectional analysis and hypothetical cohorts were used before genuine cohort analysis, the names of period indices often seem to imply that they refer to a cohort. This usage may lead to apparent contradictions. For example, parity-specific birth probabilities may exceed one for certain years when many postponed births are made up.: By definition of a probability, this is impossible, i.e. initial pop of women of parity i-1.