CRITICISM OF POPULATION ACCOUNTING SYSTEM IN THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE BY RESEARCHERS OF 19th CENTURY

Abstract

The article studies the population accounting system which functioned in the Russian Empire during the 19th century. Its main components were revisions, current estimated population, metrics, industry statistics, and gubernatorial reports. The author analyzes the views of researchers of 19th century: A. B. Bushen, P. I. Keppen, V. Plandovsky and others. The focus is on account of deficiency in the population accounting system. The most criticism was caused by census records. Revisions were fiscal in nature and submitted information on the total population, its caste structure, allowing to determine the number of urban and rural residents. A. Bushen identifies disadvantages of accounting system in the following areas: lack of funding and the high cost of statistical operations, complexity of applications and tools applied, duration, inadequacy of data verification. P. I. Koppen told about lack of uniformity in the methods of collecting information about the population in different regions of the Empire. The whole states were left outside the method of census accounting. Describing accounting metric, the researchers noted that it was the most flawed, inaccurate and inadequate system. Significant disadvantages of metrics were impossible to trace the movement of the population, and fact that the efficiency of calculations was for only the Orthodox population. By definition of researchers of 19th century there was no single coherent statistical system in Empire. Statistical sources were unsatisfactory, the truth of information — questionable. The main factors that affected the objectivity were lack of professionalism of officials, absence of the center management studies, scientifically based method of accounting.