Bennett Horiuchi Death Distribution Method
Estimate death-registration completeness with the Bennett-Horiuchi synthetic extinct generations method: discount reported deaths above a base age back over the interval with the stable-population growth rate and compare their sum to intercensal person-years lived above that age.
Description
Estimate death-registration completeness with the Bennett-Horiuchi synthetic extinct generations method: discount reported deaths above a base age back over the interval with the stable-population growth rate and compare their sum to intercensal person-years lived above that age.
Estimate death-registration completeness with the Bennett-Horiuchi synthetic extinct generations method: discount reported deaths above a base age back over the interval with the stable-population growth rate and compare their sum to intercensal person-years lived above that age.1
When to use Bennett Horiuchi Death Distribution Method
Use this method when reconciling census counts, coverage, or intercensal components that share clearly stated reference dates and population definitions.
- Base age
- Base age of the first reported five-year age group.
- Deaths
- Reported deaths in consecutive five-year groups starting at the base age.
- Growth rate
- Annual intercensal population growth rate.
- Person-years
- Intercensal person-years lived by the population aged base-age and over.
How the method works
- Completeness
- Estimated fraction of adult deaths captured by registration.
- Discounted deaths
- Growth-discounted deaths above the base age before division by person-years.
Limitations and assumptions
Census-based estimates inherit omissions, duplications, age misstatement, boundary changes, and differences in reference dates. A small closure error does not prove that every component is complete or unbiased.
Alternative or Complementary measures
Compare the result with a post-enumeration survey, administrative registers, vital-statistics residual, or a second coverage method. Agreement between methods is more informative than a single closure estimate.
References
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Census — Wikipedia contributors
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