Chapter Title: Reliability of the Estimates

Reliability of the Estimates reasons indicated in Chapter i i, the reliability of the estimates for the numerous cells that make up the income total year by year cannot be revealed clearly in a classification based on the character of the underlying data and procedures. To get a quantitative measure the margins of error must be evaluated by those who, being familiar with the estimates, dare to surmise how far wrong they may be. In the first two sections of this chapter we describe in detail the procedure by which the investigators who participated actively in the prepa-ration of the estimates and hence know them best evaluated their margins of error. The evaluation concerns the margin of error that could be assigned to each total for the various cells makin.g up national income in each year and cannot be ap-plied directly to the changes from year to year or to differ