COMPARING MORTALITY ESTIMATES BASED ON DIFFERENT ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS

This study investigates how age and race are reported in interviews an d on death certificates and how these demographic assignments affect l ife expectancy estimates for the total population, for males and femal es, and for blacks and whites. Differential reporting of demographic c haracteristics can produce different estimated life expectancies and t hus differential assessments of the sex and race gaps in life expectan cy. This difference underscores the need to define demographic charact eristics carefully and to examine multivariate models and projections cautiously.