The Experts below are selected from a list of 81 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
Christopher J. Duncan - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Predictions from Time Series Analysis of the Oscillations in Parish Register Series
Journal of Theoretical Biology, 1994Co-Authors: Stephen R. Duncan, Susan Scott, Christopher J. DuncanAbstract:Abstract Parish Registers provide invaluable data series for theoretical population biologists and historical demographers alike and previous studies with time-series analysis have shown how the population dynamics of these communities can be determined and modelled. However, many demographic parameters of the community have previously been determined only by the laborious technique of family reconstitution. It is suggested that some of these functions may be estimated by the application of conventional time-series analysis to the aggregative annual totals in the Registers of baptisms, marriages and deaths: (i) age of mother at birth of median child; (ii) estimations of fertility function; (iii) mean age at marriage; (iv) estimations of mortality function; (v) factors governing the population boom; (vi) the patterns of population dynamics that might be found and the detection of steady-state conditions in communities in England in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. These theoretical predictions have been verified in a Parish where the demographic parameters have been determined by family reconstitution and excellent correspondence has been found.
Ewout Frankema - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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gender ethnicity and unequal opportunity in colonial uganda european influences african realities and the pitfalls of Parish Register data
The Economic History Review, 2018Co-Authors: Michiel De Haas, Ewout FrankemaAbstract:The renaissance of African economic history in the past decade has produced a range of new data and approaches that stimulate deeper insights into the long-term social and economic development of Africa. Some of these data and approaches are not just promising, but also problematic. We engage with a recent article by Meier zu Selhausen and Weisdorf (2016) to show how selection biases in the use of Anglican Parish Registers may provoke overly optimistic accounts of European influences on Africa’s schooling revolution and associated opportunities of gender emancipation. Confronting their dataset – drawn from the marriage Registers of the Anglican ‘Namirembe Cathedral' in Kampala – with Uganda’s 1991 census, we show that trends in literacy and numeracy of people born in Kampala lagged half a century behind those who wedded in Namirembe Cathedral, and that the gender gap widened for a much longer period. We run a regression analysis showing that unequal access to schooling along lines of gender and ethnicity was pervasive throughout the colonial era and argue that European colonial influences did not much to alleviate gender inequality, but instead reconfigured its nature. We also argue that unequal opportunities were sustained through a political coalition of the British colonial administration with the Buganda Kingdom. This paper thus calls for a more sensitive treatment of African realities in the evaluation of European colonial legacies and a critical approach towards the use of new sources and approaches.
Stephen R. Duncan - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Predictions from Time Series Analysis of the Oscillations in Parish Register Series
Journal of Theoretical Biology, 1994Co-Authors: Stephen R. Duncan, Susan Scott, Christopher J. DuncanAbstract:Abstract Parish Registers provide invaluable data series for theoretical population biologists and historical demographers alike and previous studies with time-series analysis have shown how the population dynamics of these communities can be determined and modelled. However, many demographic parameters of the community have previously been determined only by the laborious technique of family reconstitution. It is suggested that some of these functions may be estimated by the application of conventional time-series analysis to the aggregative annual totals in the Registers of baptisms, marriages and deaths: (i) age of mother at birth of median child; (ii) estimations of fertility function; (iii) mean age at marriage; (iv) estimations of mortality function; (v) factors governing the population boom; (vi) the patterns of population dynamics that might be found and the detection of steady-state conditions in communities in England in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. These theoretical predictions have been verified in a Parish where the demographic parameters have been determined by family reconstitution and excellent correspondence has been found.
Krzysztof Tymicki - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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the correlates of infant and childhood mortality a theoretical overview and new evidence from the analysis of longitudinal data of the bejsce poland Parish Register reconstitution study of the 18th 20th centuries
Demographic Research, 2009Co-Authors: Krzysztof TymickiAbstract:Abstract This paper has two main goals. The first is to review the context for studying infant mortality, which includes a review of the theoretical framework, the covariates used to examine mortality over the first 60 months of life, and the major findings of empirical studies. Second, the paper adds some new empirical evidence that comes from the longitudinal reconstitution of church Registers of Bejsce Parish, located in the south of Poland. This rich database allows for an analysis of mortality trends of cohorts born between the 18th and 20th centuries in the Parish. The analysis includes a reconstruction of descriptive measures of infant and childhood mortality, and a hazard model of mortality over the first 60 months of life. The hazard model has been calculated for each cohort separately in order to demonstrate the change in the relative importance of analyzed factors during the process of mortality decline in the Parish. Obtained mortality patterns are discussed with reference to the theoretical context presented in the first part of the paper. 1. Introduction 1.1 Aims of the paper This paper's aim is to analyze infant and childhood mortality patterns in a historical population which underwent the demographic and epidemiologic transitions. This empirical analysis refers to a theoretical context and a review of up-to-date research, which presented in the first part of the paper. Although the topic of infant and childhood mortality is one of the most popular topics in empirical demography, the motivation to raise this issue once again results from a unique opportunity to study the records of early mortality patterns over 200 years, within one historical population of Bejsce Parish, located in the south of Poland. This provides a good opportunity to trace changes in the relative importance of various mortality factors during the change in fertility levels from high to low In traditional and historical societies, infant mortality was one of the main barriers preventing the growth of populations. Over the course of the demographic transition, the improvement in infant and child survival leads to rapid population growth, and, subsequently, to a shift in reproductive behavior (Galloway, Lee, and Hammel 1998; Matthiessen and McCann 1978; Schofield, Reher, and Bideau 1991). From this perspective, the decline in fertility might be seen as a response of couples to the improvement in the survival chances of their offspring. Therefore, assuming they had no deliberate control over reproduction, most of the couples "overproduced" children. This overproduction was related to the anticipation of high and varying mortality levels during first months and years after childbirth. For that reason, the topic of mortality at young ages is one of the "cornerstones" in demography, and it has been used for the description of demographic transitions in historical European societies (for instance: Bideau, Desjardins, and Brignoli 1997). Subsequently, elaborated models and methods were applied to the analysis of developing countries which exhibited (or still exhibit) levels and patterns of infant mortality typical for Europe in the past. Thus, this topic is still alive in demography, although the research area expanded beyond Europe and other developed countries. The issue of infant and early childhood mortality is also important from the perspective of evolution and the ecological constraints of human reproduction and reproductive success (Voland 1998). From this perspective, what matters is not only the number of children produced, but also the number of children who reach sexual maturity and manage to reproduce themselves. Thus, from an evolutionary perspective, offspring survival is the most important factor that determines individual reproductive success. Hence, by looking at the correlates of mortality we can learn which factors could potentially increase or decrease the number of surviving offspring, and thus have an impact on reproductive success. …
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When Do Kinsmen Really Help? Examination of Cohort and Parity-Specific Kin Effects on Fertility Behavior. The Case of the Bejsce Parish Register Reconstitution Study, 17th–20th Centuries, Poland
Kinship and Demographic Behavior in the Past, 2008Co-Authors: Krzysztof TymickiAbstract:The present study aims to investigate the parity specific effect of kin help on the transition between births among natural and controlled fertility birth cohorts of the Bejsce Parish. The hypothesis states that kin help should be of par- ticular importance in the case of higher order births. Thus, kin effects understood as reduction in the costs of childbearing (direct childcare, provision of the resources) or nutritional effects should be of particular importance at higher parities. The analyses are based on the multilevel hazard models of parity transition with kin effects represented by time-constant and time-varying covariates. The data used for the estimation of the models come from the reconstitution of the Registers from Bejsce Parish located in south-central Poland. The reconstitution covers the period between 1730 and 1968. The results suggest that there was a strong kin effect espe- cially at higher parities. These effects were mostly associated with the presence of nongenerative relatives (grandparents). The analyses reveal only weak differences in the kin effect between natural and controlled fertility regimes.
E. A. Wrigley - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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explaining the rise in marital fertility in england in the long eighteenth century
The Economic History Review, 1998Co-Authors: E. A. WrigleyAbstract:T he two most effective ways of converting Parish Register data into estimates of fertility, mortality, and nuptiality in the past are generalized inverse projection and family reconstitution. In general, they produce reassuringly similar results for England in the early modem period.2 An earlier version of inverse projection, using aggregative tabulations from 404 Parishes, was employed to generate the demographic estimates presented in the Population history of England, while, 16 years later, data from 26 Parish reconstitutions formed the basis for the findings published in English population history from family reconstitution.3 The far more refined measures produced by family reconstitution have enabled some of the input parameters used in inverse projection to be specified more accurately, and this in turn has led to minor modifications in the results obtained by inverse projection, but, whether the original or the modified parameters are used, comparison of the output from reconstitution and inverse projection suggests that the two methods yield the '4 same 'big picture' Nevertheless, the later reconstitution study has brought to light many previously unknown or obscure features of English population history, some of which are simultaneously illuminating and puzzling: illuminating because they enforce a revision of the received wisdom; puzzling because, although the existence of an unexpected pattern can be demonstrated, its explanation is unclear. This article explores a possible explanation of one of these new findings, the rise in marital fertility which took place during the eighteenth century, for which no satisfactory explanation was offered in English population history from family reconstitution. Most of the