Consequences of data heaping in the British Religious Census of 1851

Alasdair Crockett; Robin Crockett

doi:10.3200/HMTS.39.1.24-46

Consequences of data heaping in the British Religious Census of 1851

Research output: Contribution to Book/Report › Chapter › peer-review

Abstract

The 1851 Census of Religious Worship contains an excess of "round" numbers reported for congregation sizes, which indicates that estimates (as opposed to exact head counts) were often returned. The authors estimate the proportion of rounded estimates returned by the Church of England and the dissenting denominations. They develop a structural equation model to estimate for the mean degree of inflation (i.e., overestimation) that resulted from rounding. Anglican figures were most likely inflated by approximately 11 percent, whereas the corresponding figure for dissent was approximately 5.5 percent. The authors examine what sort of counting behavior could have led to such margins of inflation, and why denominational differences exist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Historical Methods
Pages	24-46
Number of pages	23
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3200/HMTS.39.1.24-46
Publication status	Published - 1 Dec 2006

Publication series

Name	Historical Methods
Volume	39

Keywords

Age heaping
Church attendance
Data coarsening
Digit preference
Religion

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10.3200/HMTS.39.1.24-46

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AU - Crockett, Robin

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N2 - The 1851 Census of Religious Worship contains an excess of "round" numbers reported for congregation sizes, which indicates that estimates (as opposed to exact head counts) were often returned. The authors estimate the proportion of rounded estimates returned by the Church of England and the dissenting denominations. They develop a structural equation model to estimate for the mean degree of inflation (i.e., overestimation) that resulted from rounding. Anglican figures were most likely inflated by approximately 11 percent, whereas the corresponding figure for dissent was approximately 5.5 percent. The authors examine what sort of counting behavior could have led to such margins of inflation, and why denominational differences exist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AB - The 1851 Census of Religious Worship contains an excess of "round" numbers reported for congregation sizes, which indicates that estimates (as opposed to exact head counts) were often returned. The authors estimate the proportion of rounded estimates returned by the Church of England and the dissenting denominations. They develop a structural equation model to estimate for the mean degree of inflation (i.e., overestimation) that resulted from rounding. Anglican figures were most likely inflated by approximately 11 percent, whereas the corresponding figure for dissent was approximately 5.5 percent. The authors examine what sort of counting behavior could have led to such margins of inflation, and why denominational differences exist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

KW - Age heaping

KW - Church attendance

KW - Data coarsening

KW - Digit preference

KW - Religion

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M3 - Chapter

SN - 01615440

T3 - Historical Methods

SP - 24

EP - 46

BT - Historical Methods

ER -

Consequences of data heaping in the British Religious Census of 1851

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