|
|
|
Since 1961, there have been many boundary changes and divisions of old districts into two or more new districts. These changes are documented in the Appendix to Census tables A-II "Decadal Variation in Population since 1901", found in the statewise General Population Tables, Part II-A(i). Over-time comparisons must adjust for these boundary changes.
The principal strategy used in this project to create district units with constant boundaries between 1961 and 1991 has been twofold. First, when there has been a simple division of an older district into two or more districts, we recreate the older district by adding up the totals of the new district. This requires no estimation although it yields a smaller number of cases.
Second, for transfers of territory from one district to another we have attempted to recreate the 1991 districts as best as possible. These estimates are based on census publications which report what percent of the population and area were transferred from one district to another. We then go to the old data and subtract the appropriate percentage from all population and area records of districts that lost territory and add it to the districts that gained territory. (See records # 092-093).
This procedure assumes that the transferred portion had the same population composition (e.g., proportions of cultivators, scheduled castes, rice production) as the rest of the district--an unlikely assumption but the best that could be determined in any feasible way. Because the areas transferred are usually small, the changes had only minor effects on the data.
In addition, all small states are treated as a single district.
| Return to: |
|
||
| Last updated October 1, 2000 |
comments to: Reeve Vanneman.
reeve@umd.edu
|