Whipple Age Heaping Index Calculator
Compute the classic Whipple index of age heaping over ages 23-62, reporting both the five-fold-scaled index and the raw share of reported ages ending in 0 or 5, with UN quality bands. A custom inclusive evaluation window may also be supplied.
Description
Compute the classic Whipple index of age heaping over ages 23-62, reporting both the five-fold-scaled index and the raw share of reported ages ending in 0 or 5, with UN quality bands. A custom inclusive evaluation window may also be supplied.
Compute the classic Whipple index of age heaping over ages 23-62, reporting both the five-fold-scaled index and the raw share of reported ages ending in 0 or 5, with UN quality bands. A custom inclusive evaluation window may also be supplied.1
When to use Whipple Age Heaping Index Calculator
Use this diagnostic to identify suspicious digit preference or age-sex patterns before fitting rates, life tables, or population projections.
- By single age
- Population at each single year of age beginning with the starting age; the list must cover the whole evaluation window.
- Start age
- Age of the first entry in the list.
- Window start
- Inclusive lower bound of the evaluation window; 23 is the classic Whipple convention.
- Window end
- Inclusive upper bound of the evaluation window; 62 gives the classic forty-year evaluation span.
How the method works
- Whipple
- Classic UN-scaled Whipple index; 100 means no heaping and 500 means all ages end in 0 or 5.
- 0/5 share %
- Raw percentage of the evaluated population reporting ages ending in 0 or 5.
- Quality
- UN data-quality band from the index thresholds 105/110/125/175.
Limitations and assumptions
These indices are screening diagnostics, not corrections. Their thresholds depend on the stated age window and can also respond to real cohort variation, migration, conflict, or selective undercoverage.
Alternative or Complementary measures
Inspect the underlying age distribution and compare more than one diagnostic, such as Whipple, Myers, or the UN joint score. A graphical population pyramid can reveal cohort patterns that a single index compresses.
References
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Age heaping — Wikipedia contributors
Similar or alternative tools
- Bachi Age-Sex Accuracy Index Calculator
Compute Bachi's age-sex accuracy index, the sum over both sexes of half the total absolute deviation of terminal-digit shares from ten percent across complete decades of single ages.
- Myers Blended Sex Ratio Index Calculator
Compute Myers' blended index of sex ratios, the sum over terminal digits 0-9 of absolute deviations of blended sex ratios from 100, using overlapping age windows to remove digit-weighting bias.
- Terminal Digit Preference Share
Measure age-heaping on one terminal digit: the percentage of reported ages ending in the chosen digit relative to a uniform ten percent share across digits.