Premium
Reexamining China's Fertility Puzzle: Data Collection and Quality over the Last Two Decades
Author(s) -
Zhang Guangyu,
Zhao Zhongwei
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
population and development review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.836
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1728-4457
pISSN - 0098-7921
DOI - 10.1111/j.1728-4457.2006.00119.x
Subject(s) - fertility , china , census , data quality , data collection , total fertility rate , quality (philosophy) , geography , demography , political science , population , economics , family planning , sociology , social science , research methodology , economy , law , philosophy , epistemology , service (business)
China's fertility level has become a matter of considerable debate since the early 1990s. Despite the widespread concern over data quality, a review of the literature reveals little systematic examination of how fertility data are collected, what specific problems they pose, and how they have been used in demographic research. This article examines five major fertility data sources and identifies problems in producing and using fertility data and discusses their implications. Issues relating to China's controversial 2000 census results and the reported low fertility are examined. The analysis concludes that the prevalent uncertainty about fertility levels may not only be related to the problem of data quality, but could also arise from misinterpreting fertility data and exaggerating the problem of undercounting.