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A group of individuals who enter on some stage in the life-cycle simultaneously and are analysed as a unit throughout their lifetime. For example, 1000 babies all born in the same calendar year are a \'birth cohort\', and 1000 couples all married for the first time in the same year are a \'marriage cohort\'. Cohort or longitudinal data analysis is much used in demography, for example in comparing fertility behaviour in different generations. If cohorts are not the subject of study, but instead the experiences of particular periods of time are considered, then rates of change are termed period rates. The description secular analysis is also sometimes employed. (PEO)
Suggested Reading Cox, P.R. 1976: Demography, 5th edn. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, ch. 3. Plane, D.A. and Rogerson, P.A. 1994: The geographical analysis of population. New York and Chichester: John Wiley, ch. 3. |
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