On the Demography of Families

• Published in: Journal of comparative family studies 1976-07, Vol.7 (2), p.133-146
• Main Authors: MUSHAM, H. V., Muhsam, H. V.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age; Childbirth; Children; Demography; Demography/Demographic/ Demographical; Discussion/Discussions; Families; Family structure; Family/Families; Husbands; New family; Parents; School age children
• ISSN: 0047-2328; 1929-9850
• DOI: 10.3138/jcfs.7.2.133

A proposal is made to call the demography of families familiography of geneagraphy; it is the study of the N of families in an area & of their distribution by size & structure. Concern is also with 'births' & 'deaths' of families & with 'vital' & migratory events affecting families, as well as with relations between these phenomena & their changes in time & space. The main instrument of familiography is a transition matrix showing--for families of given structure--the probabilities of maintaining their structure for a certain period, or of changing it into another structure, & of giving birth to a new family or of dying. Once the family is defined for the purpose of familiography, so that every person belongs exactly to one family, eg, as one or more persons living together & related by blood or marriage, the concepts of 'birth' & death' assume clear meanings: a 'birth' occurs eg, if a man & a woman leave their families of orientation to marry & establish a family of procreation. Familiography may become a useful tool in developing a new approach to conventional demography, in which the status of each person in his family replaces age as the main characteristic for analysis of fertility & mortality. This is expected to prove useful in the study of populations in which no records of ages are kept. AA.