STAT 226: OFFICIAL STATISTICS
VITAL STATISTICS
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
This lecture seeks to
• introduce the student to civil registration or
vital registration with a special reference to
Ghana as well as ad-hoc statistics
LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this lecture, students should be
able to:
1. Explain Vital Statistics
2. State the uses of vital records
3. List the information collected on some vital
events.
4. Explain the field organization for registering vital
events
5. Define ad-hoc statistics
6. Explain the importance of ad-hoc statistics
Definition of Vital Event
• A vital event has to do with a person’s entry
into the world and the various stages through
which he passes until his exit.
• Vital Statistics is the compilation of data on
these events.
Definition of Vital Statistics
• A vital statistics system is defined as “the total
process of collecting by registration,
enumeration or indirect estimation,
information on the frequency of occurrence of
certain vital events, as well as relevant
characteristics of the events themselves and
of the person(s) concerned, and compiling,
analyzing, evaluating, presenting and
disseminating these data in statistical form.”
(U.N. 1973)
Definition of Vital Statistics
• Civil registration is define as “the continuous
permanent, compulsory recording of the
occurrence and characteristics of live birth,
death, foetal death, marriage, divorce,
annulment, judicial separation, adoption,
legitimation and recognition, as provided
through decree or regulation, in accordance
with the legal requirements in each country..”
(U.N. 1973)
Uses of Vital Statistics
• Birth
It provides legal proof of
1. Identity and civil status – name; parentage;
ancestry; lineage
2. Age
3. Nationality
4. Dependence status
5. Legitimacy status
Uses of Vital Statistics
• Birth
A number of variety rights depend of the above
legal proof:
1. Civil functions
2. Entitlement to family allowances
3. Care of children
4. Tax deductions
5. Insurance benefits
6. Education
7. Property Ownership
8. Inheritance
Uses of Vital Statistics
• Death
The death records provide legal evidence to:
1. Claims of inheritance of property
2. Insurance on deceased persons
3. To right of surviving spouses to remarry
4. To claims for family allowances where death
creates financial need.
Uses of Vital Statistics
• Marriage and Divorce
It serves as the basis for:
1. Claims involving status of women
2. Dependency and alimony allowances
3. Tax deductions
4. Provision and allocation of specific types of
housing
5. Claims to change of nationality.
6. Establish the right to remarry after divorce.
Current System and Practices
•The central agency responsible for the
collection of vital statistics is the Births and
Deaths Registry, a division of the Ghana
Statistical Service.
•Also, The Registrar General, a separate
department, is presently responsible for the
registration of marriages, business enterprises,
companies and other matters.
Data Collected – Birth and Death
• We shall focus on the UN recommendations
for items under birth and death.
• The list for births includes 37 variables, of
which 12 are considered priority.
• The list for death includes 24 variables, of
which 9 are priority.
• The priority items are marked P, whilst the
items collected in Ghana are marked with
asterisk.
Data Collected - Birth
Data on the event :
1. date of delivery* (P)
2. date of registration*(P)
3. Place of Occurrence (urban/rural)*(P)
4. Type of birth (Single/Multiple)*(P)
5. Attendant at Birth (P)
Data Collected - Birth
Data on the child :
1. Gender*(P)
2. Legitimacy status (within/outside wedlock)(P)
3. weight at birth (P)
4. Gestation age
Data Collected - Birth
Data on mother:
1. Age or date of birth*(P)
2. Place of usual residence*(P)
3. Children born alive during her entire
lifetime(P)
4. Duration or date of marriage (for legitimate
births)(P)
Data Collected - Birth
Other data on mother:
5. Children still living, foetal deaths
6. Interval since or date of previous live birth
7. Educational Attainment, Literacy Status,
8. Citizenship (nationality), ethnic group
9. Type of economic activity, Occupation
10.Duration of residence (in present place)
11.Place of residence at a specified time in the past
12.Place of birth
Data Collected - Birth
Data on Father:
1. Age or date of birth
2. Citizenship*
3. Place of usual residence
4. Educational Attainment
5. Literacy Status,
6. (nationality)
7. ethnic group
Data Collected - Birth
Other data on father:
8. Type of economic activity
9. Occupation
10.Duration of residence (in present place)
11.Place of residence at a specified time in the
past
12.Place of birth
Data Collected - Death
Data on the event:
1. date of occurrence*(P)
2. Place of Occurrence*(P)
3. date of registration(P)
4. Cause of death(P)
5. Certifier (P)
6. Attendant at Birth (for deaths of persons under
one year of age)
7. Hospitalization
Data Collected - Death
Data on the deceased:
1. Age*(P)
2. Gender*(P)
3. Place of usual residence*(P)
4. Citizenship (nationality)*
5. marital status(P)
6. Legitimacy Status (for persons under age one
year)
7. Duration or date of marriage (if married)
Data Collected - Death
Data on the deceased:
8. Age of surviving spouse (if married)
9. Children born during entire life time (for females
of child-bearing age and over)
10.Children born during entire life time and still
living (for females of child-bearing age and over)
11.Educational Attainment
12.Literacy Status
13.Ethnic Group
Data Collected - Death
Data on the deceased:
14.Type of economic activity
15.Occupation
16.Duration of residence (in present place)
17.Place of residence at a specified time in the
past
18.Place of birth
FIELD ORGANIZATION AND METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION
NATIONAL
Registrar of Births and Deaths
REGIONS
Headed by Regional Registrar of Births and Deaths
DISTRICTS
Headed by District Registrar of Births and
Deaths
REGISTRATION OFFICES AND REPORTING CENTRES
Registration of vital events take place. A full time registration assistant is in
charge
Ad-hoc statistics
• It is the data obtained from sample surveys to
supplement information collected from the
routine data collection.
• Ad-hoc statistics are therefore collected to help
correct the bias. The data collected gives
supplementary information on specific subjects.
Ad-hoc statistics
These are usually in national sample surveys
conducted by the Ghana Statistical Service,
such as
• Ghana demographic and health surveys
(GHDS)
• Ghana living standards surveys (GLSS)
• Core welfare indicator surveys (CWIQ)
• Ghana multiple cluster indicator surveys
(GMICS)
