The Demopædia Encyclopedia on Population is under heavy modernization and maintenance. Outputs could look bizarre, sorry for the temporary inconvenience

Multilingual Demographic Dictionary, second unified edition, English volume

Multiple decrement table

Multilingual Demographic Dictionary, second unified edition, English vol.
Jump to: navigation, search
Multiple decrement table  (MULTIPLE decrement table)


The numerical values of demographic functions are generally listed in tables 1, such as life tables (431-1), fertility tables (634-1), or nuptiality tables (522-1). A distinction is usually made between calendar-year tables 2 or period tables 2 which are based upon observations collected during a limited period of time, and cohort tables 3 or generation tables 3 which deal with the experience of a cohort throughout its lifetime. A multiple decrement table 4 illustrates the simultaneous effects of several non-renewable events, such as the effects of first marriage and death on the single population. The most used are double decrement tables 4. Forecast tables 5★ provide numerical values of demographic functions, like survival functions (431-6) for example, which can be used directly for population forecast (cf. 720-2). When a population is classified in two or more categories according to age, like economic status (women in the labor force or out of the labor force, for example), marital statuses, regions etc. and when continuous flows between categories are possible over time even if the individual state can usually be measured only at discrete times (waves of a longitudinal study, queries to population registers etc.), increment-decrement methods 6★ or multi-state methods 6★ are more appropriate. More...