Population of India and Pakistan.

During a period of eight years the author and his assistants, aided by the resources of a research office, have made a sustained effort to exploit the existing population data. The expenditure of the Indian government in securing the raw data in the first place has been enormous, as measured by the money and labor of taking censuses and registering vital statistics for hundreds of millions of people during seven decades. Yet this gigantic effort to get the raw data is worth little unless the material is adequately analyzed and interpreted. Until now, despite the full reports in the census volumes themselves and the publications of various governmental agencies, there has not been enough systematic analysis by social scientists, and as a consequence the full return on the original investment has not been realized. The original investment was a wise one, for it produced a substantial body of data that is not perfect but is nevertheless remarkable for a relatively underdeveloped region. Viewed in this light, our extended at tempt to produce a reasonably full analysis, seemingly expensive but actually costing infinitely less than the original expenditure, seems justified.
The bulk of the statistical work on the volume and most of the writing were done while the author was on the staff of the Office of Population Research, Princeton University. How ever, it was still unfinished when he came to Columbia University, and so several of the chapters, together with some additional statistical work, were completed in the Division of Population Research, Bureau of Applied Social Research, at Columbia. The writer is grateful to his colleagues at both places for their interest and indulgence, and to his assistants numerous by now-for their devotion to dry tasks and their respect for accuracy and thoroughness.