The crude death rate is the number of deaths in a year, per size of the population, multiplied by 1000.
a. According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, in 1995 Mexico had a crude death rate of 4.6 (i.e., 4.6 deaths per 1000 population) while the United States had a crude death rate of 8.4. Explain how this overall death rate could be higher in the United States even if the United States had a lower death rate than Mexico for people of each specific age.
b. For each age level, the death rate is higher in South Carolina than in Maine. Overall, the death rate is higher in Maine (H. Wainer, Chance, vol. 12, 1999, p. 44). Explain how this could be possible.