Obituary Analysis and Describing a Life Lived: The Impact of Race,Gender,Age,and Economic Status

A Comparison Of The Sampling Distribution Of The 2,262 obituaries from the Sunday edition of The Arkansas Democrat Gazette, for the year 1993, was made with the actual mortality patterns of Arkansans, as reported by the state health department. The two distributions were found to be nearly identical on gender and age. This is a significant methodological improvement over previous methods used in obituary analysis that relied on using the ratio of obituaries to death notices as an indicator of mortality experience and then using that as a basis for evaluating the likelihood of obituary discrimination.

We tested three hypotheses derived from a status continuum model. This model was based primarily on race and gender. Economic status of racial background was also taken into account as was age. Detailed analysis was done on the 4 percent (n = 90) of the 2,262 obituaries accompanied by a photograph. Racial and gender differences existed regarding length and complexity of the obits. Whites were more likely than blacks to have longer and more complex obituaries. Blacks were more likely than whites to have a picture accompany their obituaries. Economic background of racial membership explains the differences found in length of the obituary. Evidence suggested a set of conditional relationships based on the interaction of race and gender. Within each racial community, those hypothesized to be of higher status were more likely to have a photograph accompany their obituary. Differences were found by race and gender on themes mentioned in the obituary. There were no significant differences within each racial group by gender on length of the obituary. Age was not related to length or number of themes in the obituaries.