Norwegian Historical Population Register, 1800-1964

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Introduction

The scope and main objective is to trace as many as possible of the people living in Norway since 1800 through as much of their life span as possible in order to link to the modern Central Population Register, which starts in 1964 and make longitudinal research of many types possible. The sample strategy is full count; to include everyone from censuses, emigration lists and church registers in the first round and next also from complementary sources such as confirmation lists, farm tax lists, probate inventories etc. More about the sources and their transcription is available at http://rhd.uit.no/indexeng.html.

Shortname

HPR

IDS compatible

Partly

Period

1800 - 1964

Territory

Norway

Category

Cross sectional

Contact information

Organisation

Norwegian Historical Data Centre, University of Tromsø

Web Address

http://www.rhd.uit.no/nhdc/hpr.html

Location

Tromsø, Norway with partners in Oslo, Bergen and Stavanger.

Postal Address

Norwegian Historical Data Centre, University of Tromsø, 9037 Tromsø

Contact Persons

Gunnar Thorvaldsen

gunnar.thorvaldsen@uit.no

Citation

Norwegian Historical Population Register, c/o University of Tromsø, National Archives and Statistics Norway.

Questionnaire
Download questionnaire
The questionnaire was submitted on 14 January 2015 by Hilde Sommerseth and Gunnar Thorvaldsen.

Scope / Status

Original goal

The scope and main objective is to trace as many as possible of the people living in Norway since 1800 through as much of their life span as possible in order to link to the modern Central Population Register, which starts in 1964 and make longitudinal research of many types possible. The censuses and church records etc of the Norwegian Historical Data Center (NHDC) are now being linked more actively into the HPR due to the grant from the Research Council. The procedures are explained in the Historical Methods article at http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/01615440.2010.517470. More about the sources and their transcription is available at http://rhd.uit.no/indexeng.html.

Current status

The database is still under construction. First version to be expected in 2018. Until 2018 the main task is to create a full-count population register from 1800 to 1964 based on linking the main censuses and vital records. During the next five year period we plan to add more censuses (1920 and 1946) and other complimentary sources and for selected municipalities data from the 18th century.

Sample definition

The sample strategy is full count; to include everyone from censuses, emigration lists and church registers in the first round and next also from complementary sources such as confirmation lists, farm tax lists, probate inventories etc. Sampling units: The whole de facto and de jure population.Variables used for selection: In principle full count. More about the sources and their transcription is available at http://rhd.uit.no/indexeng.html.

Geographic area under observation

Norway

Keywords

demography, life course, longitudinal, census, church register, population register, history, social science, migration, emigration, occupations

Sources

From year	End year	Source	Explanation	PDF
1623	1930	Baptisms	Church records for increasing number of parishes.	PDF
1623	1930	Marriage from church registers	Church records for increasing number of parishes.	PDF
1623	1930	Burials	Church records for increasing number of parishes.	PDF
1930	1960	Civil birth certificates	Excerpt from church books to Statistics Norway.
1930	2015	Civil marriage certificates	Excerpt from church books to Statistics Norway.
1930	2015	Civil death certificates	Excerpt from church books to Statistics Norway.
1801	1910	Population Census	Full count	PDF
1838	1886	Farm taxes	Full count
1736	1930	Confirmations	Partial

Collection procedure

• Data collection period: Ongoing since 1968. • Data collection method: Transcription. • The transcription was done: By individuals, mostly by professional transcribers, but also genealogists. From originals, paper copies, microfilms, scans. • Proof reading: By the professional transcribers. • Automatic controls: By trained historian. • The checking of the transcription was done by proofreading, following transcription. • Purpose of the transcription: research, genealogy. • Control methods by researcher: Internal consistencies. • Data collection staff: 15 professional transcribers, many genealogists.

Observations

Units of observation

Unit of observation	Explanation	Number
Individuals	Linked individuals, increasing.	1,040,111
Married couples		250,000
Families	Only observed when research person and family cohabit (parents and families of unit of observation itself). Data are from linked censuses. A family is broad defined (including more generations).	500,000
Households	All households in which the research person is observed (including institutionalized households and households where the research person was serving, etc.). Data are from censuses.
Farms
Institutions

Are there any related observations that are not included in the database?

Domiciles

How do the units of observation enter observation?

Individuals enter observations in principle at birth. Households usually are defined as households when noted in the first census. However, they may also enter at the marriage if the couple is noted in a future census.

How do the units of observation leave observation?

Individuals leave conservation in principle at death or emigration. Households leave observation at emigration or at the death of the head of household.

Dates estimated

When outside Norway or when links are missing.

Are some entry or exit dates unknown?

For most census records before 1910, for many birth records before 1812.

Can observations be linked to geographic locations?

Yes

Are the dates and locations of movements within the observation area recorded?

Partly

Are all individuals who lived in the households of sample members recorded?

Partly

Linkage

• Which sources and units of observation have been linked? - Censuses, baptisms, marriages, burials are being linked. • Documentation of linking: Presently in Oracle, manual links will be added. • Name of software if used (and its parameters: Oracle PL-SQL. • What are the rules for linking? - Names (Jaro-Winkler), age, birthplace, sometimes birth date. Relations to family members. • How each reconstructed person is traceable to the original sources /transcribed data? - Unique source references. • How is linkage represented in the database? - Yes, all occurrences of an individual include a universal identification number (ID). • Linkage percentage: Varying between 40 and 70 % • Quality of linkage (own evaluation): The links are better in 20th than in early 19th century materials due to birthdates in more sources. The lowest quality is in the first death records lacking age information and info on relatives.

Variables

Events

Variables

On individuals: In open database (till ca 1930): Date of birth and death, age, gender, marital status, birth place, addresses, religion, occupations, migration, relationships to spouse and children, citizenship, ethnicity. In closed database (from ca.1930): Date of birth and death, age, gender, marital status, birth place, migration, relationships to spouse and children. On households: Children present, age and number of children.

Coding / Reference systems

Occupational titles: The version of NAPP (partly).

Locations (including geo-referenced systems): Only on level of municipality. A farm level system is constructed.

Religion, civil status etc.: Standardized and coded.

Other:Encoded birthplaces, household status, ethnicity.

Data representation

MySql, MS Access, Oracle.

Kinship relations

Recording

As pointers between spouses and parents/children.

Depth of information

Presently two.

Publications

1. Main publications about the database itself

Thorvaldsen, G. (2011). Using NAPP Census Data to Construct the Historical Population Register for Norway. Historical Methods, 11(1), 37-47.
Holden, L., Bråthen, T.R., & Thorvaldsen, G. (2012). The Norwegian Historical Population Register - particularly 1801 to 1815. Historical Informatics, 2, 21-33. http://kleio.asu.ru/2012/2/hcsj-22012_21-33.pdf
Solli, A., & Thorvaldsen, G. (2013). Norway: From Colonial to Computerized Censuses. Revista de Demografia Historica, XXX(I), 107–136.
Bull, H.H. (2006). Data and Methods. Chapter 3 from dissertation Marriage decisions in a peasant society (pp. 25-34). University of Oslo. http://www.rhd.uit.no/nhdc/Chapter%203%20Hans%20Henrik%20Bull.pdf

2. Main or exemplary publications on research based on the database

Thorvaldsen, G. (2014). Denominations of Faith in the Census. Diskus 16(2), 5-21. http://www.isa-rc22.org/the-problem-with-numbers-in-the-study-of-religions/
Glavatskaya, E., & Thorvaldsen, G. (2013). Sergej Sergel’s Field Research in Northern Norway and Finland: Contextualizing Early 20th-Century Sami. Arctic Anthropology, 50(1), 105-119. http://aa.uwpress.org/content/50/1/105.refs.
Jåstad, H., & Thorvaldsen, G. (2012). The incidence of consanguinity in Norway in the late 19th century. In E. Beekink, & E. Walhout (Eds.), Frans van Poppel : a sort of farewell : liber amicorum (pp. 58-62). Den Haag: NIDI.
Thorvaldsen, G. (2011). Testing and Constructing Ethnicity Variables in Late Nineteenth-century Censuses. In P. Axelsson, & P. Sköld (Eds.), Indigenous Peoples and Demography. The Complex Relation between Identity and Statistics (pp. 173-184). New York, Oxford: Berghahn Books.

European Historical Population Samples Network

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