120
(ii) Non-Chinese Races.
For all non-Chinese Races the proportion in the resident population is 765.54 females per 1,000 males. Persons of Indian race have the lowest proportion, and Eurasians and the Local Portuguese the highest. If the Defence Forces and Mer- cantile Marine are included, the proportion falls to 385.55.
The non-Chinese races include several Western, Indian and other Eastern races and, when grouped together, they form such a heterogeneous community that it is dangerous to draw any conclusions from the figures shown. Similarly, each group by itself is too small to warrant any deduction from the stated figures.
(2) AGES.
Tables 1, 2 and 3 in Appendix B give the ages of persons of Chinese Race- in the three sections of the community and Tables 4 to 13 give similar information for persons of the non-Chinese Races by individual years. The age tables for Chinese have been adjusted to the European method of reckoning, as a Chinese states that he is 40 years of age whenever he has entered on his 40th year.
No Census report is complete without reference to misstatements of age. These are of two kinds (i) those which arise from a looseness of statement or from ignorance of the precise facts, and (ii) wilful omissions or deliberate misstatements. Misstatements of the first category are to be expected in dealing with a large popu- lation unaccustomed to birth registration, and with little idea of accuracy as regards ages. The extent of these misstatements is, however, identifiable from the resultant total figures obtained and, as they are easily recognised, they can be removed by graduation or owing to their local and neutralising character by the grouping together of several years' figures chosen around points of greatest inflexion.
Referring to the diagrams, which appear later, it will be observed that, while irregular below the age of 15, they do not point to any serious inaccuracy. But beyond that figure, both the male and the female curves show a regularly serrated edge with the upper points of the teeth occurring pronouncedly at the years 19, 29, 39, 49, and 59 (corresponding in Chinese reckoning to the even tens of years). Similarly also 24, 34, and 44 have been attractive. It would be an interesting piece of work to form a graduated curve and to obtain some idea of the extent of the error. It is impossible to do so this year, but might be considered on a future occasion.
Deliberate misstatements were by no means uncommon, but these cannot be identified from the age curve itself and for that reason they cannot be corrected by passing a graduated curve through the crude irregularities of the figures obtained. Misstatements by the non-Chinese community were probably more com- mon and, as no diagrams have been drawn of these age tables, such misstatements are best ignored.
The tables, prepared this year for the first time, showing individual years of age, do not present any very marked advantage over the shorter and more easily studied series of 5 year groups. When the numbers for several successive years are amalgamated, errors, which are accidental or casual, tend to neutralise each other and a clearer view of the whole age curve is obtained. But these individual age tabulations are useful, in that they give definite proof of and provide material for detecting and measuring some of the misstatement tendencies.