Volume 12 - Article 6 | Pages 107–140  

Toward a Unified Timestamp with explicit precision

By Justus Benzler, Samuel J. Clark

Abstract

Demographic and health surveillance (DS) systems monitor and document individual- and group-level processes in well-defined populations over long periods of time. The resulting data are complex and inherently temporal. Established methods of storing and manipulating temporal data are unable to adequately address the challenges posed by these data. Building on existing standards, a temporal framework and notation are presented that are able to faithfully record all of the time-related information (or partial lack thereof) produced by surveillance systems.
The Unified Timestamp isolates all of the inherent complexity of temporal data into a single data type and provides the foundation on which a Unified Timestamp class can be built. The Unified Timestamp accommodates both point- and interval-based time measures with arbitrary precision, including temporal sets. Arbitrary granularities and calendars are supported, and the Unified Timestamp is hierarchically organized, allowing it to represent an unlimited array of temporal entities.

Author's Affiliation

Other articles by the same author/authors in Demographic Research

Male and female sterility in Zambia
Volume 30 - Article 14

The age pattern of increases in mortality affected by HIV: Bayesian fit of the Heligman-Pollard Model to data from the Agincourt HDSS field site in rural northeast South Africa
Volume 29 - Article 39

Estimates of Age-Specific Reductions in HIV Prevalence in Uganda: Bayesian Melding Estimation and Probabilistic Population Forecast with an HIV-enabled Cohort Component Projection Model
Volume 27 - Article 26

Estimating trends in the total fertility rate with uncertainty using imperfect data: Examples from West Africa
Volume 26 - Article 15

More on the Cohort-Component Model of Population Projection in the Context of HIV/AIDS: A Leslie Matrix Representation and New Estimates
Volume 25 - Article 2

A general temporal data model and the structured population event history register
Volume 15 - Article 7

Most recent similar articles in Demographic Research

Standardized mean age at death (MADstd): Exploring its potentials as a measure of human longevity
Volume 50 - Article 30    | Keywords: formal demography, life expectancy, mean age at death, mortality, standardization

Estimating mortality from census data: A record-linkage study of the Nouna Health and Demographic Surveillance System in Burkina Faso
Volume 46 - Article 22    | Keywords: Burkina Faso, demographic surveillance, indirect techniques, mortality, sub-Saharan Africa

On the contribution of foreign-born populations to overall population change in Europe: Methodological insights and contemporary evidence for 31 European countries
Volume 46 - Article 7    | Keywords: age structure, Europe, international migration, population change, standardization

Age patterns of under-5 mortality in sub-Saharan Africa during 1990‒2018: A comparison of estimates from demographic surveillance with full birth histories and the historic record
Volume 44 - Article 18    | Keywords: age patterns of mortality, child mortality, demographic surveillance, infant mortality, neonatal mortality, sub-Saharan Africa, under-five mortality

On the multifaceted impact of migration on the fertility of receiving countries: Methodological insights and contemporary evidence for Europe, the United States, and Australia
Volume 41 - Article 1    | Keywords: Europe, fertility, immigration, standardization, United States of America