Diss Family History Group

Having shown the above information to a statistician he had the following comments to make:

• The relative numbers in the datasets is small, making firm conclusions unreliable.
• In the time between 1901 and 1939, people are living on average about 3 years longer than they were. The slope of the trend lines: the one for the 1939 Registration being less steep shows the gradual increase in life expectancy.
• Some significant data anomalies:
  • High number of 0 - 4 year olds in 1901 Lophams drops significantly by age 15 - probably showing a higher infant and child mortality rate.
  • The peaks and troughs in the data cannot be seen as significant as the actual numbers in total and by category is statistically small.
• When dealing with populations it is always difficult for comparisons to be made as there are so many social and economical variants that are rapidly changing. Ignoring all of these it is still safe to say that the Lopham population is living longer in 1939 than in 1901.
• Population migration should always be factored in with analysis of this kind. This more appropriate and meaningful analysis would not be possible without major research. As the data stands, potential poor accuracy of Census Returns and it being a quite rural area, an expected error range in the order of ±15% would be an appropriate limitation.

Thank you to George for the statistical information, and I hope my simplified version of it is understandable.