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The scheme, in theory, is an ingenious adaptation of European registration systems to the conditions of African life.

But it places a severe strain on the administrative resources ( already burdened in other ways ) of a widely dispersed, poor and largely illiterate population.

The sampling program was instituted before the principles of probability sampling were widely recognized in population studies.

The system was not well adapted to conditions of life in urban centers.

The distinction between domiciled ( de jure ) and present ( de facto ) population was not clearly defined.

So the results are subject to considerable confusion.

The system tended to break down during the war, but was reactivated ; ;

it had reached the pre-war level of efficiency by 1951.

In spite of the defects in this system, the figures on total population during the late 1930's and again in the early 1950's seem to have represented actual conditions in most districts with approximate fidelity.

But the information on the dynamics of population was often quite misleading.