Source criticism

Population censuses in Belgium were processed in a decentralised manner until 1920. The analysis and interpretation of family bulletins and the calculation of the results was conducted by the municipalities. Supervision of these activities was part of the permanent range of duties of governors and district officers. Due to the size of the operation, these civil servants were not sufficiently able to exercise efficient control over the lower administrations. The government seems to have been aware of this shortcoming. After the population census of 1890 it established a temporary bureau at the Ministry of Home Affairs that was in charge of checking the municipal tables. These civil servants sent numerous records back to municipalities for correction. Their intervention had a beneficial influence on the quality of the statistics. Other elements also point to a satisfactory execution of the census. In general, the experience that the different levels of government gained during similar operations over the previous decades can be seen as an asset. The organisation of the census seems to satisfy the quality requirements; this does not rule out that less reliable figures appear in the statistics.

Population census 1900 > Explanation > Source criticism

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Source criticism