A case study in the investigation of errors in estimates of coverage based on demographic analysis: black adults aged 34 to 54 in 1980.

This paper has discussed the possibility of error in some specific components that are used to develop the demographic estimates of population and coverage for [U.S.] Blacks--namely births deaths base populations (Coale-Rives estimates). The effect of classification error has also been considered. It has been shown that the net effect of these various sources of error is to overstate the current estimates of percent net undercount for Blacks. The focus is on the 1980 census. (EXCERPT)