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Ingrid van Dijk . Photo

Ingrid van Dijk

Associate senior lecturer

Ingrid van Dijk . Photo

Families in comparison : An individual-level comparison of life-course and family reconstructions between population and vital event registers

Author

  • Niels van den Berg
  • Ingrid K. van Dijk
  • Rick J. Mourits
  • P. Eline Slagboom
  • Angelique A.P.O. Janssens
  • Kees Mandemakers

Summary, in English

It remains unknown how different types of sources affect the reconstruction of life courses and families in large-scale databases increasingly common in demographic research. Here, we compare family and life-course reconstructions for 495 individuals simultaneously present in two well-known Dutch data sets: LINKS, based on the Zeeland province’s full-population vital event registration data (passive registration), and the Historical Sample of the Netherlands (HSN), based on a national sample of birth certificates, with follow-up of individuals in population registers (active registration). We compare indicators of fertility, marriage, mortality, and occupational status, and conclude that reconstructions in the HSN and LINKS reflect each other well: LINKS provides more complete information on siblings and parents, whereas the HSN provides more complete life-course information. We conclude that life-course and family reconstructions based on linked passive registration of individuals constitute a reliable alternative to reconstructions based on active registration, if case selection is carefully considered.

Department/s

  • EpiHealth: Epidemiology for Health
  • Centre for Economic Demography

Publishing year

2021

Language

English

Pages

91-110

Publication/Series

Population Studies

Volume

75

Issue

1

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Routledge

Topic

  • Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology
  • Economic Geography

Keywords

  • civil registers
  • databases
  • demographic methods
  • family history
  • family reconstitutions
  • family reconstruction
  • historical demography
  • life course
  • microdata
  • population registers

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 0032-4728