Sociology Q&A

What is anthropometry?

Anthropometry is the science of obtaining systematic measurements

of the human body. Anthropometry first developed in the 19th century
as a method employed by physical anthropologists for the study of
human variation and evolution in both living and extinct populations.
In particular, such anthropometric measurements have been used
historically as a means to associate racial, cultural, and psychological
attributes with physical properties. Specifically, anthropomorphic
measurements involve the size (e.g., height, weight, surface area, and
volume), structure (e.g., sitting vs. standing height, shoulder and hip
width, arm/leg length, and neck circumference), and composition
(e.g., percentage of body fat, water content, and lean body mass) of
humans.

Published sources of data

(i) Govt. Publications:

Various sources published by the ministries of the government

(ii) Semi-government Publications:

Sources such as municipal councils and Zila Parishads reporting local

statistics.
(iii) International Publications:
World bodies such as I.M.F., World Bank, W.T.O.; W.H.O etc. also
publish the data regarding their organisations.

(iv) Reports of Committees and Commissions:

Union and state governments at time appoint some committees or
commissions to make research into any problem such as Finance
Commission, Minority Commission, Planning Commission etc. 

(v) Publication by Trade Business Association:

Big trade and business associations such as FICCI and ASHOCHEM also
publish periodic data about trade and industry which are of much use.
These data is used by scholars to analyse various problems being faced by
the country. 

(vi) Newspapers, Magazines and journals:

These are one of the main providers of data on day to day basis. Financial
data is daily easily available from papers like ‘Business Standard’,
‘Financial World’ and ‘Economic Times.’ Similarly ‘Business Today’ and
‘Business World’ publish the data fortnightly.

(vii) Research Institutes and scholars:

Indian Statistical Institute, C.S.O and N.S.S.O etc. also publish the data
available with them. 

Unpublished sources of data

The statistical data needn’t always be published. There are various
sources of unpublished statistical material such as the records
maintained by private firms, business enterprises, scholars, research
workers, etc. They may not like to release their data to any outside
agency.

Big Data and Metadata, Difference?

Big data is a term that describes the large volume of data – both
structured and unstructured – that inundates a business on a day-to-
day basis. But it’s not the amount of data that’s important. It’s
what organizations do with the data that matters.

Analysis of big data allows analysts, researchers and business users

to make better and faster decisions using data that was previously
inaccessible or unusable. Businesses can use advanced analytics
techniques such as text analytics, machine learning, predictive
analytics, data mining, statistics and natural language processing to
gain new insights from previously untapped data sources
independently or together with existing enterprise data.

Metadata is simply data about data. It means it is a description

and context of the data. It helps to organize, find and understand
data. 

These are some typical metadata elements:

1. Title and description,
2. Tags and categories,
3. Who created and when,
4. Who last modified and when,
5. Who can access or update.

Differences between gazetteer and manuals

A gazetteer is a geographical dictionary or directory used in
conjunction with a map or atlas. It typically contains information
concerning the geographical makeup, social statistics and physical
features of a country, region, or continent. Content of a gazetteer
can include a subject's location, dimensions of peaks and
waterways, population, gross domestic product and literacy rate.
This information is generally divided into topics with entries listed
in alphabetical order.
Examples of gazetteer:

The Imperial Gazetteer of India

Tamil Nadu District Gazetteers

Manuals are a publication, detailing the social, economic, and

historical conditions of a district or a state.

Countries conducting decadal census

1. India
2. China
3. Indonesia
4. U.S.A
5. U.K

Countries conducting census once in 5 years

 1. Japan
2. Australia
3. New Zealand
4. Canada
5. Philippines

Why does India have a decadal census?

India is one of the very few countries in the World, which has a proud
history of holding Census after every ten years. The Indian Census
has a very long history behind it. The earliest literature ‘Rig Veda’
reveals that some kind of Population count was maintained during
800-600 BC. Kautilya’s Arthasastra, written around 321-296 BC, laid
stress on Census taking as a measure of State policy for purpose of
taxation. During the regime of Mughal king Akbar the Great, the
administrative report ‘Ain-eAkbari’ included comprehensive data
pertaining to population, industry, wealth and many other
characteristics. In ancient Rome, too, census was conducted for
purpose of taxation. The history of Indian Census can be divided in
two parts i.e. Pre Independence era and Post Independence era.

Origin of census

The word census originated in ancient Rome from the Latin word

censere ("to estimate"). The census played a crucial role in the
administration of the Roman Empire, as it was used to determine
taxes. With few interruptions, it was usually carried out every five
years.