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Title: Assessing the quality of self-reported education in Brazil with intercensal survivorship ratios

Citation Type: Working Paper

Publication Year: 2019

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Abstract: In developing countries, improving access to schooling has been and remains a priority. At the same time, a growing body of research relates education to demographic variables. It is therefore essential to measure the education variable accurately. In Brazil, although the high degree of inaccuracy in age reporting is well known, previous research has neglected problems of misreporting which may affect other variables such as education. To fill this gap, we calculate mortality levels by education as implied by intercensal survivorship ratios, to investigate the quality of self-reported education among adults in Brazil between the 1991 and 2000 censuses. Our findings show evidence of education misreporting. Analysis by single year of schooling only barely revels the expected educational gradient in mortality. After categorization of age and years of schooling into groups, a positive relationship between education and survival does appear, although some implausible patterns remain. This study is an important step in demonstrating and assessing potential errors in census education data in Brazil. Our results highlight the importance of efforts to reduce misreporting of data on education, particularly in countries where an educational expansion is underway, and deficiencies in data quality are a potential issue of concern.

Url: https://www.demogr.mpg.de/papers/working/wp-2019-022.pdf

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Authors: Nepomuceno, Marilia, R; Turra, Cassio, M

Series Title: MPIDR Working Paper

Publication Number: 2019-022

Institution: Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research

Pages: 17

Publisher Location: Germany

Data Collections: IPUMS International

Topics: Education, Fertility and Mortality, Methodology and Data Collection

Countries: Germany