LAISHA
Open Laisha

CUET-PG Demography & Vital Statistics: practice questions

CUET-PG - Statistics · India · National Testing Agency

Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papers
8worked here, free
21written to this exam in this subject
8syllabus units

What this subject covers

Measuring populations and their change: sources of demographic data, fertility, mortality and migration measures, life tables, population growth models and projection, which the Indian Statistical Service and national statistical offices examine and rural and farm-household studies use.

In the exams: UPSC ISS Statistics IV (heavy, reported); SSC CGL JSO (present); light in ICAR exams

Where the 21 questions fall

How our questions for CUET-PG spread across the units of Demography & Vital Statistics. Difficulty: 21 easy, 0 medium, 0 hard.

Life tables: construction and uses; abridged life tables4
Sources of demographic data: census, civil registration and sample registration3
Measures of fertility: crude, general, age-specific and total fertility rates; GRR and NRR3
Measures of mortality: crude, age-specific and standardised death rates; infant mortality3
Population growth models: exponential and logistic curves3
Migration measures2
Population projection: component method2
Stable and stationary populations1

8 practice questions, worked

Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.

1 · Sources of demographic data: census, civil registration and sample registration · easy

A census counts each person at the place where they were present on census night. What kind of census is this?

  1. De jure
  2. Post-enumeration
  3. Register-based
  4. De facto
Answer and working

D. De facto

A de facto census counts people where they are at the census moment; a de jure census counts them at their usual residence.

Further reading: Preston, Heuveline and Guillot, Demography; Pollard, Yusuf and Pollard, Demographic Techniques; Keyfitz and Caswell, Applied Mathematical Demography; UN Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing Censuses

2 · Measures of fertility: crude, general, age-specific and total fertility rates; GRR and NRR · easy

A population has 2,600 live births in a year and 24,000 women aged 15-49 at mid-year. What is the general fertility rate?

  1. 26.0 per 1,000 women
  2. 108.3 per 1,000 women
  3. 108.3 per 1,000 population
  4. 9.2 per 1,000 women
Answer and working

B. 108.3 per 1,000 women

GFR = 2,600/24,000 × 1,000 = 108.3 per 1,000 women aged 15-49. 26.0 would use a total population of 100,000 (that is the CBR).

Further reading: Preston, Heuveline and Guillot, Demography; Pollard, Yusuf and Pollard, Demographic Techniques; Keyfitz and Caswell, Applied Mathematical Demography; UN Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing Censuses

3 · Measures of mortality: crude, age-specific and standardised death rates; infant mortality · easy

In a year there are 4,000 live births and 180 deaths of infants under one year. What is the infant mortality rate?

  1. 45 per 1,000 live births
  2. 4.5 per 1,000 live births
  3. 22 per 1,000 live births
  4. 180 per 1,000 live births
Answer and working

A. 45 per 1,000 live births

IMR = 180/4,000 × 1,000 = 45. The denominator is live births, not the infant population.

Further reading: Preston, Heuveline and Guillot, Demography; Pollard, Yusuf and Pollard, Demographic Techniques; Keyfitz and Caswell, Applied Mathematical Demography; UN Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing Censuses

4 · Measures of mortality: crude, age-specific and standardised death rates; infant mortality · easy

How is the maternal mortality ratio expressed?

  1. Maternal deaths per 1,000 women aged 15-49
  2. Maternal deaths per 1,000 total population
  3. Infant deaths per 1,000 mothers
  4. Maternal deaths per 100,000 live births
Answer and working

D. Maternal deaths per 100,000 live births

The maternal mortality ratio uses live births as the denominator and is expressed per 100,000; the maternal mortality rate uses women of reproductive age.

Further reading: Preston, Heuveline and Guillot, Demography; Pollard, Yusuf and Pollard, Demographic Techniques; Keyfitz and Caswell, Applied Mathematical Demography; UN Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing Censuses

5 · Life tables: construction and uses; abridged life tables · easy

In a life table, l₆₀ = 80,000 and T₆₀ = 1,600,000. What is the expectation of life at age 60?

  1. 16 years
  2. 20 years
  3. 50 years
  4. 0.05 years
Answer and working

B. 20 years

e₆₀ = T₆₀/l₆₀ = 1,600,000/80,000 = 20 years.

Further reading: Preston, Heuveline and Guillot, Demography; Pollard, Yusuf and Pollard, Demographic Techniques; Keyfitz and Caswell, Applied Mathematical Demography; UN Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing Censuses

6 · Population projection: component method · easy

In a cohort-component projection, 50,000 women aged 20-24 have a five-year survival ratio ₅L₂₅/₅L₂₀ = 0.98 and no migration is assumed. How many will be aged 25-29 five years later?

  1. 51,000
  2. 49,000
  3. 50,000
  4. 1,000
Answer and working

B. 49,000

50,000 × 0.98 = 49,000. 1,000 is the number expected to die.

Further reading: Preston, Heuveline and Guillot, Demography; Pollard, Yusuf and Pollard, Demographic Techniques; Keyfitz and Caswell, Applied Mathematical Demography; UN Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing Censuses

7 · Population projection: component method · easy

A projected population is 30% aged 0-14, 62% aged 15-64 and 8% aged 65 and over. What is the total dependency ratio?

  1. 38.0
  2. 48.4
  3. 12.9
  4. 61.3
Answer and working

D. 61.3

Total dependency = (30 + 8)/62 × 100 = 61.3 dependants per 100 working-age persons. 38.0 is the dependants' share of the total population; 48.4 is the youth dependency ratio alone.

Further reading: Preston, Heuveline and Guillot, Demography; Pollard, Yusuf and Pollard, Demographic Techniques; Keyfitz and Caswell, Applied Mathematical Demography; UN Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing Censuses

8 · Stable and stationary populations · easy

Which conditions define a stationary population?

  1. Constant fertility and mortality rates with a constant positive growth rate
  2. Zero births and zero deaths in a closed population
  3. Equal numbers of males and females at every age
  4. Constant and equal births and deaths, no migration, constant death rates
Answer and working

D. Constant and equal births and deaths, no migration, constant death rates

A stationary population is a stable population with zero growth; its age structure is the life-table Lₓ column.

Further reading: Preston, Heuveline and Guillot, Demography; Pollard, Yusuf and Pollard, Demographic Techniques; Keyfitz and Caswell, Applied Mathematical Demography; UN Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing Censuses

Ten here, 21 in the app. The Laisha app has every practice question we have written to CUET-PG in this subject, marked as you go, with timed papers, a jump-to-unanswered list and a certificate when you pass at 70 per cent.

Free for ten days, then one subscription of US$10 a month. We would rather say so here than have you find it later.

Practise the full set in Laisha →

Read the subject

Demography & Vital StatisticsThe full study manual, free CUET-PGFormat, sections and how it has changed

More CUET-PG practice

Probability TheoryStatistical Methods for Agricultural SciencesCategorical Data Analysis & Generalized Linear ModelsStatistical Inference I: EstimationStatistical Inference II: Testing of Hypotheses & Sequential AnalysisNonparametric & Rank-Based MethodsProbability Distributions & Sampling DistributionsStatistical Quality Control & ReliabilityBioassay, Survival & Epidemiological StatisticsMultivariate AnalysisBayesian InferenceOptimization Techniques for StatisticiansStochastic ProcessesReal Analysis for Statistics

Demography & Vital Statistics for other exams

Indian Statistical Service Examination · IndiaState statistical services · IndiaSSC Combined Graduate Level · IndiaBCS examination · BangladeshPhilippine Statistics Authority recruitment · PhilippinesEastern Africa Statistical Training Centre programmes · Tanzania / Eastern AfricaStatistics Officer · Nepal

Ask Laisha about this

Opens Laisha's chat with your question ready to send. Sign in or start free.