CENSUS VERSUS SAMPLE DATA IN ISONYMY STUDIES - RELATIONSHIP AT SHORT DISTANCES

The degree of isonymy is greatly influenced by whether or not it inclu des the extent of isonymous relationship resulting from persons of the same surname living in the same residence. In a sample of 313 male ci tizens in one English village and 386 males in another village, isonym y within the same residence averaged 0.86. Total relationship by isony my was 60% and 48% understated in samples of one individual of any sur name at each residence in the two villages, such as would result from use of telephone directories as a source. In these villages isonymy be tween occupants of contiguous houses was also elevated, Only a small f raction of the total isonymy could be attributed to different residenc es on the same street, so this has little effect on the coefficient of relationship for the whole village or region. The larger the populati on, the less the bias from ignoring within-household relationships.