Volume 21 - Article 2 | Pages 23–64  

An application of the variable-r method to subpopulation growth rates in a 19th century agricultural population

By Corey Sparks

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis of the differential growth rates of the farming and non-farming segments of a rural Scottish community during the 19th and early 20th centuries using the variable-r method allowing for net migration. Using this method, I find that the farming population of Orkney, Scotland, showed less variability in their reproduction and growth rates than the non-farming population during a period of net population decline. I conclude by suggesting that the variable-r method can be used in general cases where the relative growth of subpopulations or subpopulation reproduction is of interest.

Author's Affiliation

• Corey Sparks - University of Texas at San Antonio, United States of America EMAIL

Similar articles in Demographic Research

Educational trends in cohort fertility by birth order: A comparison of England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland
Volume 51 - Article 36    | Keywords: birth order, cohort analysis, cross-national study, England, family size, fertility, Northern Ireland, parity, Scotland, Wales

Point estimation of certain measures in organizational demography using variable-r methods
Volume 49 - Article 33    | Keywords: job insecurity, job stability, labor, trends, variable-r method

Variable-r in sex ratios: Formulas in honor of Jim Vaupel
Volume 49 - Article 26    | Keywords: cohort analysis, growth rate, sex ratio, variable-r method

The role of reductions in old-age mortality in old-age population growth
Volume 44 - Article 44    | Keywords: cohort analysis, mortality, population growth, survival, variable-r method

Maternal employment and the well-being of children living with a lone mother in Scotland
Volume 43 - Article 57    | Keywords: child well-being, lone mothers, maternal employment, Scotland