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In a previous paper [12], an attempt was made to show how spectral techniques could be used to compare the effects of two seasonal adjustment procedures on the series to which they were applied. The two procedures compared were: (a) the technique currently used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for seasonally adjusting employment, unemployment, and labor force monthly statistics, and (b) the so-called "residual" method, proposed by Brittain [2], Samuelson [16], and others. Spectra of the original and the seasonally adjusted series and the cross spectrum of the two were used to aid in the assessment of whether either procedure removed more than could be considered seasonal, introduced spurious regularities, and/or distorted temporal relationships. It was concluded that both techniques removed more than seasonal effects from, and produced some temporal distortion in, the series to which they were applied. Neither method appeared to be superior to the other. It is the purpose of this paper to carry the previous analysis one step further and to compare the BLS procedure with a modified version of the regression method of seasonal adjustment suggested by Cowden [3] and Mendershausen [11], and recently revived by Harman [9, 10] in an exceptionally sophisticated form. In addition to Hannan's work along the lines suggested, Nettheim [13] and Rosenblatt [15] have made studies. Rosenblatt [15] has carried out analyses similar to those reported here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In their pioneer work "Social Mobility in Britain" the authors describe as one of their main objects "an assessment of the amount and direction of social mobility in Great Britain since the end of the nineteenth century." The authors define three points on the scale of intensity of association: "Complete association," which occurs when all sons have the same social status as their fathers; "perfect association," existing when all sons, whatever the status of their parents, have equal chance of reaching a given status category; and "complete dissociation," which occurs when all sons have a status different from their fathers. Neither perfect nor complete association are likely to occur in practice. Consequently, the authors of the symposium propose to assess and interpret social mobility with the aid of the three indices and the tests of significance based upon them. The conclusions reached in the symposium may be correct. They are, however, given no support by the heavy statistical framework, unless the authors choose to define association in terms of the index.

Inventory investment is the most volatile component of aggregate demand. Its central role in business cycles has been extensively explored since the early 1950's[1] in the United States, yet for Britain only one macroeconomic study of inventory investment has been published.[2] The aim of this paper is to test some explanatory models of the inventory investment decision and to compare their forecasting performance with other forecasting instruments.
Section 2 develops theoretical models incorporating variables which represent various motivations for stockbuilding and constraints, including policy-determined constraints, on investors' behavior. It is hypothesized that the investment function differs between upswings and downswings due to cyclical variations in investors' behavior and in the impact of unplanned accumulation or depletion.
Section 3 estimates the equations from section 2, and section 4 uses some of the estimated equations to derive forecasts for the post-sample period 1967 II to 1968 IV. Their forecasting performance is compared with that of forecasts from a non-explanatory autoregressive scheme, the National Institute and the econometric equations of several U.S. studies.
Attention is limited to investment in stocks of finished goods by British manufacturers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In evaluating the work of earlier writers on population statistics, it is not always easy to make a fair judgment. To see the faults of these writers, without appreciating the difficulties inherent in the situation or period in which they wrote is one danger. Especially so far as the population controversy is concerned, the writers of the period were hampered both by the lack of reliable statistics and by their own, personal, limitations. It is, of course, evident that a lengthy debate on the absolute growth or decline of the population of England and Wales could maintained only because of the inadequacy of contemporary population statistics. England was not singular in this respect it is true that a number of countries had made great progress in the collection of population statistics by the middle of the eighteenth century. Modern statisticians and demographers, fitting together the various sets of statistics dating from earlier periods, can sometimes produce a coherent and reliable account of the size and trend of populations in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. But to do so requires not only a knowledge of more advanced techniques of demographic analysis than were available in the eighteenth century, but also the background of experience which comes from having, over a long period, reliable and comprehensive population data.

Discusses the spatial pattern of mortality variations in Great Britain particularly in England and Wales through the medium of maps. Implications of the inaccuracy of biostatistics for comparative studies in medical geography; Identification of the individual cause of death categories used in a map; Importance of the inclusion of a map of mortality from all causes.