title: The validity of Australian ancestry statistics.
abstract: "This article examines the contrast between objective and subjective perceptions of ancestry hidden in the 1986 [Australian] Census definitions which vitiates the published results and points to the limitations of validating uncertain collections by relating them to cognate series.  It looks at the collection of ancestry statistics as a bold attempt at an impossible task which has yielded results that are often inaccurate, sometimes misleading and liable to abuse in their interpretation.  It is suggested that some of the features of cultural structure could be more reliably ascertained by small sample surveys of perceptions and aspirations."
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia; D019352:Censuses; D003469:Culture; D003625:Data Collection; D003710:Demography; D019049:Developed Countries; D005006:Ethnicity; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005190:Family; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005789:Genealogy and Heraldry; D010139:Pacific Islands; D011153:Population; D011154:Population Characteristics; D012106:Research; D012107:Research Design; D012494:Sampling Studies; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D009626:Terminology as Topic
keywords: Australia; Census; Census Methods; Cultural Background; Data Analysis; Data Quality; Demographic Factors; Developed Countries; Error Sources; Ethnic Groups; Evaluation; Evaluation Methodology; Family And Household; Family Characteristics; Family Research; Genealogies; Generations; Measurement; Oceania; Population; Population Characteristics; Population Statistics; Research Methodology; Sampling Studies; Studies; Surveys; Terminology