Palestinian refugee statistics, digit preference and the Turner hypothesis.

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) was originally established by the UN General Assembly as a temporary agency to provide services for those persons whose normal residence was Palestine preceding the Arab-Israeli conflict in 1984 and who as a result of the conflict lost both their homes and their livelihood. UNRWA routinely collects data on the demographic social and economic characteristics of the registered refugee population. On the basis of relatively low age heaping and digit preference patterns the UNRWA data are relatively useful. The amount of inferred age misreporting in the UNRWA data is less than in censuses conducted in countries in the area. There are variations in the quality of the data by country and through time. The quality of the data appears highest in Lebanon and lowest in the Gaza Strip. Within each of the 5 areas studied the quality of the data has improved markedly through time. The data also seem better for males than for females. The UNRWA data seem internally consistent and appear to be favorable in comparison to data available for other populations in the Middle East. Although the there is digit preference/avoidance it is not systematic and its degree has lessened since the beginning of the study. UNRWA does not collect its statistics under the best of circumstances. It inherited registration lists from its predecessor rather than having the luxury of beginning its own. It is an agency that dispenses welfare in the form of rations housing and social and economic services. Hence many of its clients are suspicious of its attempts to gather information on them. Moreover for many Palestinians there is no other documentary proof of their Palestinian identity that would be accepted internationally.