Quality of Data

Several different kinds of problems arise when parish records are used. First, the data include only the Christian population, and the population development of the Christians might be quite different from the other part of the society. During the 1930s the proportion of the Christian population of the whole population was already about 40 per cent in Ondonga, (Oshigambo, situated in this area), but in other areas the proportion was much lower.During the 1950s the proportion of the Christian population was at least 40 per cent, and in Ondonga the proportion was over 50 per cent. Although we can suppose that the Christian population was in various ways removed from the whole population, the proportion of the Christian population is starting to be so high that they form the majority in the research area after the 1950s and, in that sense they represent well the whole population in the research area.