Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.
The dataset was originally created to allow the construction of age-specific mortality series and cohort mortality series for particular diseases, from the mid-nineteenth century to the present (in conjunction with the comparable mortality database created by the Office of National Statistics which covers 1901 – present). The dataset is fairly comprehensive and therefore allows both fine analysis of trends in single causes and also the construction of consistent aggregated categories of causes over time. Additionally, comparison of trends in individual causes can be used to infer transfers of deaths between categories over time, that may cause artifactual changes in mortality rates of particular causes. The data are presented by sex, allowing calculation of sex ratios. The age-specific and annual nature of the dataset allows the analysis of cause-specific mortality by birth cohort (assuming low migration at the national level). The database can be used in conjunction with the ONS database “Historic Mortality and Population Data, 1901-1992”, already in the UK Data Archive collection as SN 2902, to create continuous cause-of-death series for the period 1848-1992 (or later, if using more recent versions of the ONS database).
Main Topics:
The dataset contains annual cause-specific mortality data for England and Wales for the years 1848-1900, transcribed from the Annual Reports of the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths, and Marriages in England and Wales. Deaths are enumerated by sex and age (single year age groups for ages 0-4, five year age groups for ages 5-24 for most years, ten year age groups for ages 25 to 84 or 94 with last open interval 85+ or 95+, depending on year). Causes are described as they appeared in the Annual Reports (with some slight alterations to maintain consistency of spelling) and a classification system is provided (as a series of additional variables) that accords with the original schemes in the Annual Reports. The nosological categories used in the Annual Reports changed several times over the period, and there has been no attempt in the electronic database to create consistent categories spanning the period. Users will need to do this themselves, but the documentation provides a guide to the major nosological changes. Please note: this study does not include information on named individuals and would therefore not be useful for personal family history research.
No sampling (total universe)
Transcription
Compilation/Synthesis
