Frequently Asked Questions

Questions about registration and access to the data:

• Why do I have to register?
• How can I delete my name from your registration database?
• Are the data free?

Password problems and password-related issues:

• I registered but never received a password.
• My password does not work!
• I cannot remember my password.
• How can I change my password to something other than this 10-digit string of random numbers?
• Can I let someone else use my password?

Downloading the data and importing it into Excel:

• How can I download the data from your website?
• How can I load the data into Excel?
• How can I read the data into a statistical package?

Do you have...?

• ...data on cause of death?
• ...data for COUNTRY X?
• ...infant mortality rates?
• ...mortality data by race/ethnicity?

What we do NOT have:

• What type of information will I NOT find here?
• Where can I find such information?

Data series to be added or expanded:

• What countries do you plan to add in the near future?
• Do you plan to extend existing data series farther back in time?

Uses for the HMD data:

• Who can use these data?
• What do people use these data for?

Questions about registration and access to the data:

1. Why do I have to register?
   
   We require you to register before accessing the data in order to obtain basic contact information (i.e., your name, e-mail address, affiliation, and title) because we may occassionally need to contact you with important messages about the database (e.g., updates, other critical information). We will NOT give your e-mail address to anyone else for any reason. Nor do we ask for any other personal information other than that listed above.

2. How can I delete my name from your registration database?
   
   Please send a delete request to: deleteme@mortality.org. It is important that the request be sent from the e-mail address that was registered, if possible. If that is not possible (e.g., cancelled account), then the delete request should include your name, the e-mail address used to register, your affiliation, and your job title. We need this information in order to verify the user address to delete (and avoid deleting the wrong person).

3. Are the data free?
   
   Yes, but you must register before you can access the data files.

Password problems and password-related issues:

1. I registered but never received a password.
   
   You must provide a valid e-mail address in order for us to issue you a password (otherwise, how will we e-mail you the password?). Make sure you provide your complete e-mail address (e.g., "joeuser@aol.com" NOT "joeuser" or "joeuser@aol"). If we determine that the e-mail address you provided is not valid (i.e., the e-mail we send to you is rejected), you will be dropped from the user registry and you must start over by registering as a "new user". After registering, you should receive an acknowlegement via e-mail within a few minutes. If not, then the registration was not successful.

2. My password does not work!
   
   Make sure that you are using the correct user-ID; your "user-ID" is your COMPLETE e-mail address (i.e., "joeuser" will NOT work). Also, make sure you enter the user-ID using lowercase characters (even if you originally typed in your e-mail address using upper-case characters). In addition, your password is case sensitive (e.g., if you changed your password to "AbCd", then entering "abcd" or "ABCD" will not work). Make sure you type in the password EXACTLY as you entered it (Do you accidentally have the CAPS lock on?). If all else fails, you can reset your password (see answer to next question).

3. I can't remember my password.
   
   Go to Change/Reset Password where you will have the option of resetting your password. You will be asked to enter your e-mail address (i.e., the one that you registered with originally) and a new password will be sent to you via e-mail. Note: If you have not already registered with a valid e-mail address, you must start over by registering as a "new user".

4. How can I change my password to something other than this 10-digit string of random numbers?
   
   Go to Change/Reset Password where you will have the option of changing your password. You will be asked to enter your e-mail address and your current password, and then you can change your password to whatever you would like.

5. Can I let someone else use my password?
   
   No. Each HMD user must register separately. If there is some important change to the database, we need a complete list of HMD users so that we can contact everyone who may be using the data.

Do you have...?

1. Do you have data on cause of death?

   No. The Human Mortality Database (HMD) contains only information on total mortality (e.g., death rates, life tables, life expectancy) for selected national populations. We do not provide data on cause of death at the present time. The World Health Organization (WHO) Mortality Database http://www.who.int/healthinfo/morttables/en/index.html
   contains cause of death information for a wide range of countries.  For more detailed information, we suggest you contact the national agency responsible for collecting vital statistics in the country for which you are seeking data. For example, for the United States, the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/ compiles vital statistics (e.g., births, deaths) and other health-related data at the national level.   (See also the following list of national statistical agencies http://www.census.gov/main/www/stat_int.html)

2. Do you have data for COUNTRY X?

   If COUNTRY X is not listed on our home page, then we do not (yet) have data for that population. The countries and areas currently included in the HMD, with ranges of years covered by the period life tables can be found on the Data Availability.

   See the answers to questions below for a list of countries to be added or extended in the near future.

3. Do you have infant mortality rates (IMR)?

   Yes. We consider q(0) -- the probability of dying in the 1st year of life -- from the life table to be the best indicator of infant mortality. The q(x)'s for a given calendar year are provided in the 1x1 life tables accessible from each HMD country page. For example, among females in the United States q(0) was 0.00842 in 1990, which can be interpreted as an IMR of 8.42 per 1000 live births.

   Another method commonly used to calculate the IMR is the ratio of deaths in the 1st year of life to live births in that same calendar year (typically expressed per 1,000 births). One problem with this method for calculating the IMR is that the numerator (deaths) and the denominator (live births) represent different cohorts. For example, if the IMR for year t is calculated in this manner, the denominator represents only the cohort born in year t, but the numerator also includes infants born in year t-1 who died in year t before reaching their 1st birthday.

   Despite this drawback, you may wish to calculate the IMR using this method in order to make comparisons with other estimates of the IMR defined in this way. The data files on each country page provide the annual number of live births and the annual number of deaths at age 0 (see 1x1 deaths). Using these numbers, one can simply calculate the ratio (and multiply by 1,000) to get the IMR.

   Other common sources for IMRs are: The Demographic Yearbook, published by the United Nations; and the World Development Indicators, published by the World Bank.

   Despite its common name, note that the "infant mortality rate" is NOT a rate, but rather a probability.

4. Do you have mortality data by race/ethnicity?

   No. The HMD currently includes mortality data only at the national level (by sex and age).

What type of information will I NOT find here?

• Mortality data by cause of death
• Population of the world
• Mortality data for the world population (e.g., average worldwide human lifespan)
• Population forecasts/projections of any kind
• Data on morbidity (i.e., illness/disease)
• Mortality data at the subnational level (e.g., by province, state, region)
• Mortality data by race/ethnicity
• Proportion of people with blond hair and blue eyes

Where can I find such information?

• Ask a librarian (it's their job!).

Data series to be added or expanded:

1. What countries do you plan to add in the near future?

   We plan to add data for the following populations in 2008 and 2009:

   • Greece
   • Ireland
   • Northern Ireland
   • Scotland
   • United Kingdom

2. Do you plan to extend existing data series farther back in time?

   Yes. During 2008, we plan to extend the data series for the following populations:

   • France (1806-1898)
   • Japan (1899-1946)

Uses for the HMD data:

1. Who can use these data?

   Anyone may use the HMD data (after registering), but HMD users are typically professional demographers, actuaries, or other persons with demographic training. The HMD is designed for users who have a basic knowledge of demographic methods. If you cannot answer the following question, "What is a life table?", then your ability to make effective use of these data will be rather limited.

2. What do people use these data for?

   These data are used primarily for research and teaching purposes. For example, professional demographers use these data for comparative studies of mortality and analyses of time trends in mortality decline. Demographers and actuaries may also use these data to assess mortality risk among specific populations (i.e., by country, sex, age) for financial purposes. Others use these data in making mortality and population projections. In addition, educators use the HMD for teaching courses in demography and actuarial science. Students often use the data for homework assignments in demographic methods or other courses.