Handbook on the Collection of Fertility and Mortality Data

This handbook "provides detailed information on available methods that may be used to decide what combination of data collection methods will best suit national conditions. It describes, in addition, how the data produced by these methods may be used to derive basic fertility and mortality indicators.

The handbook will be useful to government officials and planners responsible for national statistical activities, to the heads of national statistical offices, to the heads of civil registration and vital
statistics offices, and to subject-matter and data processing specialists in those organizations. It will be useful to scholars, researchers and other persons who use fertility and mortality data, who will benefit from knowing something of how they are produced. It will also be of interest to staff of national and international organizations that provide funding and/or technical assistance for statistical work."

Versions in all the other official languages of the UN (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish) can be found at http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/standmeth/handbooks/ .