Demographic Techniques: Decomposition and Standardization

Standardization is a technique applied to compare indicators between groups when differences in group characteristics affect the comparison. It uses the fact that the indicator of interest can be computed as a function of characteristic‐specific indicators, and produces the so‐called standardized indicators, which are adjusted to differences in group characteristics. For instance, crude death rate is a sum of age‐specific death rates multiplied by their respective age‐group proportions. Age‐standardized death rate is obtained by using a common (standard) age structure for the populations compared while keeping their age‐specific rates as observed. Decomposition takes the procedure one step further: It allocates the difference between the crude indicators into composition‐ and indicator‐related components.