Unveiling the demographic 'action' in class-action lawsuits: Two instructional cases

Population turnover, cohort survival, and intercohort transmission of effec ts are concepts widely applicable beyond the customary domains of demograph ic analysis. One such application involves a cohort of victims referenced i n time and place by a common harm for which legal redress is sought through a class-action lawsuit. Two instructional case studies illustrate applicat ions of demographic reasoning and data to certain generic questions such li tigation may pose: How many claimants will remain by some future date? How prevalent will they then be in the population? How feasible will it be to r edress the harm years later? These cases illustrate the use of familiar dem ographic concepts and simple demographic reasoning to draw legally relevant conclusions from available data. Specific instructional applications inclu de: accounting for demographic factors that deplete the original class over time and dilute its surviving members among residents at the referenced pl ace; integrating the use of administrative record, census, and vital statis tics data; and devising approximate estimates of turnover within local popu lations. Training is broadly suited to assignments aimed at applying common -sense demographic reasoning to devise nonstandard solutions to measurement problems.