This is a volume on the techniques of population analysis, highly technical in nature and directed at the advanced student of demography. It is divided into three major parts. The first part discusses age, sex, and marital status; the second vital statistics. Both parts include sections on the evaluation of the quality and completeness of data. The third part deals with population estimates and projections. Chilean data are liberally used as the content of illustrations and examples.
The presentation is frequently labored and the typographical style sometimes confusing to the reader who tries to decipher formulas. The reasoning behind many of the calculations is abdicated in favor of the student’s perspicacity. Nevertheless this work is highly useful on at least two counts: the wide coverage of the materials presented requiring painstaking research for which the author is to be commended; and the fact that these materials are being made available in Spanish, which may make this volume a standard reference work. The bibliographical entries in the numerous footnotes are very valuable, but unfortunately there is no general bibliography at the end of the volume. Some of the chapters are followed by a bibliography which contains references in addition to those used in footnotes.
