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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
This term is used in many statistical publications to collectively describe the geographical areas of Council (local authority) and NHS Board areas.
A measure specific to an age group. Rates for each age or age group are commonly calculated for fertility, mortality, marriage and divorce because rates vary greatly through a person's lifetime.
Age-specific rates may be expressed in terms of a five-year age group (0-4, 5-9, 10-14, 15-19, 20-24, 25-29 years, etc), single-year of age, or other categories relevant to the particular measure, such as school age, working age etc..
Age-specific rates should always be considered alongside average measures for a population, especially if two populations with different age structures are being compared (see also standardisation for age, adjusting for age structure differences).
Refers to the proportion of the population who are in each age group or key life cycle stage. The age structure of the population largely reflects past patterns of fertility and migration.
This refers to the Registrar General's Annual Review of Demographic Trends which is laid before the Scottish Parliament and published, usually at the end of July each year.
The people alive who were born within the same year or other specified period. The size of a birth cohort is related to the number of women in the main reproductive age groups who give birth in that year but is modified over time by migration and mortality.
A Census is the process of obtaining information about every member of a population. A Census is held every 10 years in both Scotland and the other countries of the UK. It can be contrasted with sampling in which information is only obtained from a subset of a population.
Civil partnership is a legal status similar to marriage but for two people of the same sex. It allows same sex couples to get legal recognition of their relationship.
A group of people sharing a common demographic experience.The most common cohort is a group of people born in the same year (birth cohort), but there are numerous other examples, such as those who, in the same period of time, married (marriage cohorts), or migrated (migration cohorts).
A Communal Establishment is defined as an establishment providing managed residential accommodation. Managed means full-time or part-time supervision of the accommodation.
In most cases (for example, prisons, large hospitals, hotels) communal establishments can be easily identified. However, difficulties can arise with small hotels, guesthouses and sheltered accommodation. Special rules apply in these cases:
Small hotels and guesthouses are treated as communal establishments if they have the capacity to have 10 or more guests, excluding the owner/manager and his/her family.
Sheltered housing is treated as a communal establishment if less than half the residents possess their own facilities for cooking. If half or more possess their own facilities for cooking (regardless of use) the whole establishment is treated as separate households.
The Community Health Index (CHI) is a database in wide use throughout the NHS in Scotland. It contains data on patient demographics and some clinical information on aspects of healthcare screening and surveillance. The CHI number is, effectively, an NHS number and its use as a patient identifier makes it increasingly important to the implementation of “ehealth” (electronic health records (EHR) and other information and communication technologies (ICT) being introduced to healthcare in Scotland).
Scotland is divided into 6,505 data zones which are the main geography used for small area statistics. They were created in 2004 by combining 2001 Census output areas, as a way to monitor and develop policy at small area level. Each data zone has approximately the same population (750) but because population based, can vary greatly in size. The largest data zone in Scotland is 1,159 square kilometres and the smallest is 12,367 square metres.
The characteristics of a human population such as sex, age, marital status, ethnic group, religion and a place of residence.
A change in the makeup of the population over a period of time. For example, a shift from high fertility to low fertility rates or from high mortality to low mortality rates.
Dependency ratios provide simple summary measures of age composition, with respect to relative numbers of people in "dependent" and "productive" groups.
The ratios are typically based on a division of the age range into three broad, somewhat crude groupings: children (0-5), working ages (15-59/64), and older people (60/65+ years). Varying these ranges can affect the ratios significantly.
Common dependency ratios used to measure support needs of a population include:
The number of people who are eligible to vote in General Elections, Scottish Parliament Elections, Local Government Elections and European Parliament Elections.
This is a Census term which refers to a person or household being "counted" in the Census.
There is no concise definition of what ethnicity is. Research shows that ethnicity means different things to different people which can include, amongst others, sharing some or all of the following characteristics:
Ethnicity is self perceived, multi-faceted, often subjective and does not lend itself to a standard definition which fits everyone. Ethnicity is synonymous with neither ancestry or race. People can identify with an ethnicity even though they may not be descended from ancestors with that ethnicity.
There are many measures of fertility referring to the level of reproduction of a population, based on the number of live births that occur, have occurred or are expected to occur.
When dealing with births data, fertility is normally measured in terms of women of childbearing age. "Childbearing age" is usually defined as being between the ages of 15 and 44. Using a specified age range avoids misleading information although a small number of births to women outside this age range can and do occur.
This normally refers to the area(s) for which statistics are produced. Some common geographies include local authority area and NHS Board area.
A postcode is ‘High Density’ if either of the following is true:
The High Level Summary of Statistics gives a brief overview of key statistics.
A ‘household’ refers to people living together in a dwelling. The number of households will generally be smaller than the number of dwellings, as some dwellings are vacant, or second homes.
Estimate of the number of households in an area at a particular time, normally 30 June. Household estimates (and projections) are key inputs to policy analysis and service planning. The number of households is generally less than the number of dwellings as some dwellings are either vacant or are used as second homes, although some dwellings contain more than one household.
Estimate of the future number and type of households in the population. Projections are based on past trends and are not, therefore, policy-based forecasts of what the Government expects to happen.
ICD-10
International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (Tenth Revision), used to code causes of death since 1 January 2000.
Number of deaths in the four month period from 1 December to 31 March minus the average of deaths in the four months to the preceding 30 November and the four months to the following 31 July.
e.g Increased Winter Mortality for 2006/07
= deaths in the period 1 December 2006 to 31 March 2007 - (Deaths in the period 1 August 2006 to 30 November + Deaths in the period 1 April 2007 to 31 July 2007)/2
Infant deaths refer to all deaths in the first year of life.
A division of the lifespan into socially relevant units of time, generally containing stages relating to birth and the early years, childhood, transition to adulthood, young adulthood, middle age, retirement, and the old age. The precise number of life cycle changes and their age ranges reflect prevailing social attitudes and are defined appropriately for the context of the analysis.
The average age that a person is expected to live to. As derived from a period life table, it assumes that a person experiences the age-specific mortality rates of a given period from a given age onwards.
For example, life expectancy at birth refers to the average age a newborn baby may expect to live to, assuming they experience the age-specific mortality rates of a given period throughout their life. Life expectancy can also be calculated in terms of the remaining years people of a certain age in a particular year are expected to live. It represents the average longevity of the whole population and does not necessarily reflect the longevity of an individual.
See also Mortality.
A tabular numerical representation of mortality and survivorship of a cohort of births at each age of life. It comprises an array of measures, including probabilities of death, probabilities of survival, and life expectancies at various ages.
Current, period or cross-sectional life tables are based on current mortality rates. These tables assume that as a cohort passes through life it experiences a given pattern of age-specific mortality rates which do not change from year to year. Although usually based on death rates from a real population during a particular period of time, these tables are a hypothetical model of mortality as they do not describe the real mortality that characterises a cohort as it ages.
A complete life table presents life table functions for each single year of age, while an abridged life table presents life table functions for age groups.
A group of high density postcodes within a settlement. These are used to sub-divide large settlements into more manageable areas.
A person who moved their home address during a particular period of time. In the Census a migrant was someone who had lived at a different address one year earlier.
The movement of people from one area to another. In calculating population estimates for Scottish areas, three types of migration are taken into account: migration between areas within Scotland, migration between Scotland and the rest of the UK, and migration between Scotland and overseas.
Death, expressed either in terms of the number of people dying or as a proportion of a specified population dying in a specified period.
The National Health Service Central Register (NHSCR) contains basic details of everyone born in Scotland, plus anyone else who is (or has been) on the list of a general medical practitioner in Scotland. It also provides Scottish local authorities with a unique reference number which is used to identify people on the database of local authority customers.
The difference between the number of live births and the number of deaths. When births exceed deaths there is a natural increase. When deaths exceed births there is a natural decrease.
Neonatal deaths refer to deaths within the first four weeks of life.
The difference between arrivals into and departures from a region or country. Net permanent and long-term migration contributes to the population change (along with natural change).
Occasional papers are produced by the General Register Office for Scotland to raise awareness of what we do and to disseminate background information and analysis of statistics to a range of external audiences.
These Census statistics show the flows between two different areas of migrants or people travelling to a place of work/study (e.g people living in Midlothian who travelled to work or study in City of Edinburgh).
Perinatal deaths are stillbirths and deaths in the first week of life.
Permanent and Long Term Migration
This comprises permanent and long-term arrivals and permanent and long-term departures. The former are people who have either spent the last 12 months or more overseas, or arrive in Scotland for an intended stay of 12 months or more (or permanently). Permanent and long-term departures are people who depart from Scotland for an intended absence of 12 months or more (or permanently).
The average number of people per square-kilometre (or hectare) in a given area. For example, the estimated density of Scotland on 30 June 2006 was 66 people per square kilometre.
Estimate of the number of people resident in an area at a particular time. Population estimates (and population projections) are key inputs to policy analysis and service planning. For details of issues and methodology, see our Population Estimates section.
The prevailing fertility, mortality, and migration patterns combine to determine the level of population growth. Population growth is calculated by adding natural change (number of births less the number of deaths) and net external migration (inflows minus outflows).
Estimate of the future size and other demographic characteristics of a population, based on an assessment of past trends and assumptions about the future course of demographic behaviour (fertility, mortality, and net migration).
They are plausible scenarios, not forecasts or predictions.
For details of issues and methodology see our Population Projections page.
A population pyramid is a graphical illustration that shows the distribution of various age groups in a particular population which normally forms the shape of a pyramid. It typically consists of two back-to-back bar graphs, with the population plotted on the x-axis and age on the y-axis, one showing the number of males and one showing females in five-year age groups (also called cohorts). Males are conventionally shown on the left and females on the right, and they may be measured by raw number or as a percentage of the total population. An example of a population pyramid can be seen below.
A great deal of information about the population broken down by age and sex can be read from a population pyramid, and this can shed light on the development and other aspects of the population. A population pyramid also tells the local authorities how many people of each age range live in the area. There tend to be more females than males in the older age groups, due to females’ life expectancy.
Postneonatal deaths are deaths after the first four weeks of life, but before the end of the first year.
Annual Preliminary Return of Vital Events
This is an annual publication each March, giving provisional vital events figures for the previous calendar year. Final figures are published at the time of the Registrar General's Annual Report.
Prevalence measures the total number of cases of a condition (e.g disease or disability) in a population. The prevalence rate refers to the total number of cases divided by the subject population.
This is a quarterly vital events publication, released in June, September, December and March, giving provisional figures for quarters 1, 2, 3 and 4 of a particular year.
Change in population size during a period divided by the population at the beginning of the period. This is often expressed as the annual rate of growth or the average annual rate of population growth (over a five-year period, for example), usually expressed as a percentage.
National Records of Scotland is headed by the Registrar General for Scotland, George MacKenzie.
Generally refers to a total fertility rate of 2.1 children per woman, which equates to the average number of children each woman is required to have for the population to replace itself in the long-term. The rate reflects the sex ratio at birth (roughly 105 males born for every 100 females) and mortality of females between birth and childbearing.
A person who usually lives in an area. This is a statistical, not a legal, definition generally based on a person's self-identified usual address. The residents of Scotland are people who live permanently in Scotland (including people temporarily overseas).
In Census statistics, a resident is a person who self-identifies on the Census individual form that they usually live at a particular address.
This is a sample of records taken from the Census. This sample is used by researchers who wish to conduct analyses from the Census data.
The SIMD is the Scottish Government’s official tool for identifying small area concentrations of multiple deprivation across all of Scotland and is relevant to policies aimed at tackling the causes and effects of multiple deprivation. The SIMD provides a relative ranking 6,505 small areas (data zones) across Scotland from the most deprived (ranked one) to the least deprived in Scotland (ranked 6.505).
For analysis purposes, the SIMD rankings are often split into groups. For example, to allow information on the 15% most deprived areas to be compared to similar information on the other areas.
The Scotland's Census Results OnLine (SCROL) website is the main source of tabulated data from the 2001 Census. Information is available for all published tables at several different geographies
A group of high density postcodes containing a minimum of 500 residents, which are enclosed by low density postcodes or water.
The statistics from the 1991 Census that show the migration flows between different council areas, of people who moved address in the year before the Census.
These statistics from the 1991 Census show the flows between different council areas, of people travelling to work.
Standardisation is one type of weighted average. When comparing two or more populations it is essential to ensure that the populations are as comparable as possible.
Frequently, the populations being compared willl have very different age structures, for example, and need to be standardised against a reference population.
Standardisation takes into account differences in the distribution of some centrally important characteristic (such as age) within the populations under consideration, addressing the question: if these different populations were to have the same age structure (or that of the whole population or some other reference group), how would the rates then compare?
This is important in comparing different areas with one another. Examples include the comparison of birth and death rates in different local authority areas using the standardised birth rates and standardised death rates.
A stillbirth is the birth of a dead infant after the 24th week of pregnancy.
A hypothetical cohort of people used to derive a measure of data for a specified period as though they represent life time experiences of actual cohorts.
For example, the total fertility rate represents the average total children born per woman for a synthetic cohort of women with age-specific birth rates of the reference period.
A time series is a set of observations, results, or other data obtained over a period of time, usually at regular intervals. GROS produces time series data for several topics and these can be found on our Time Series Datasets page.
The average number of live births that a woman would have during her life if she were to experience the age-specific fertility rates of a given period (usually a year).
The implied long-term change in a series. In general, the trend gives a better prognosis of change because it removes the distraction of short-term turbulence in a series.
The Scottish Government (SG) uses urban-rural classification to ensure that rural and remote communities have their distinct needs reflected in new policies and initiatives. The SG has been classifying areas using a 6-fold urban-rural classification system with the following categories:
Events related to births, deaths, marriages, divorces, civil partnerships, dissolutions and adoptions.
Page last updated: 18 April 2012
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