On Oct. 31st, Dr. Fengqing Chao from the National University of Singapore (NUS) visited Asian Demography Research Institute (ADRI), Shanghai University (SHU), and gave a talk on her latest research. Dr. Chao is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies, NUS. She has been collaborating with UNICEF and the UN Population Division since 2013.
At ADRI, Dr. Chao gave a presentation on two topics. The first was “A systematic assessment of sex ratio at birth and identification of countries with outlying levels”. She introduced a model that used Bayesian methods for probabilistic sex ratio at birth (SRB) estimation and projections for all countries, based on an extensive database with data from vital registration systems, censuses, and surveys. The second topic addressed by Dr. Chao was “Estimating under-five mortality rate by household economic status”. She illustrated a Bayesian hierarchical time series model her team developed to assess disparities in the under-five mortality rates by household-level economic status. They found that important differences exist between children from the poorest and richest households with respect to survival up to age five.
There was a lively discussion after the presentation. In response to questions from participants, Dr. Chao provided further explanation of the internal mechanism of the model. Participants also discussed how the wealth indicator played its role in the research. Students said that this research, and the Bayesian methods in particular, would be helpful for own studies in the future.