Associate Professor Bernard Baffour
Research interests
Survey Methodology
Census Methodology
Official Statistics
Statistical Methods for Sparse Data
Migration
Indigenous Demography
Biography
Bernard Baffour completed his PhD in social statistics from the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom, where he investigated the statistical properties of triple system capture-recapture estimators in population censuses, and subsequently undertook a post-doctoral fellowship examining the relationship between weather and health, through quantifying the impact drops in temperature had on hospital admissions.
Prior to joining the School of Demography at the ANU in 2017, he was a research fellow in social statistics at the Institute for Social Science Research at the University of Queensland from 2012 where he contributed to consultancy projects and provided methodological support to a wide range of social scientists, while developing a research focus in survey research and official statistics. Bernard has methodological expertise in survey methods and the analysis of complex data. He has a diverse range of experience in working across a wide spectrum of areas from education, sociology, epidemiology, public health and operational research.
Researcher's projects
Recent Publications
Das, S, Baffour, B, and Richardson, A (2024). Trends in chronic undernutrition in Bangladesh for small domains. Population Studies, 78(1), 43-61, DOI: 10.1080/00324728.2023.2239772
Das S, Baffour B, and Richardson A. (2024) Trend estimation of sub-national level daily smoking prevalence by age and sex in Australia. Tobacco Induced Diseases. 23;22. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18332/tid/183804
Thandrayen J and Baffour B. (2024). Gaining further insights into the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia: Evidence using capture-recapture methods. Heliyon;10(1):e23408. DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e23408
Baffour, B, Aheto, JMK, Das, S, Godwin, P, and Richardson, A (2023). Geostatistical modelling of child undernutrition in developing countries using remote sensed data: evidence from Bangladesh and Ghana demographic health surveys. Scientific Reports, 13(21573), 1-13. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-48980-y
Kocar, S and Baffour, B (2023). Comparing and improving the accuracy of nonprobability samples: profiling Australian surveys. methods, data, analyses. 17(2), 171-206. DOI: https://doi.org/10.12758/mda.2023.04
Guha, S, Das, S, Baffour, B, and Chandra, H (2023). Multivariate small area modelling of undernutrition prevalence among under five children in Bangladesh. The International Journal of Biostatistics, 19(1), 191-215. DOI: https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/ijb-2021-0130/html
Lazzari, E, Baffour, B and Chambers, GM (2022). Residential proximity to a fertility clinic is independently associated with likelihood of women having ART and IUI treatment. Human Reproduction. 31;37(11):2662-2671. https://academic.oup.com/humrep/article/37/11/2662/6702085
Current student projects
Tita Tabije (associate supervisor) - The role of socio-economic structure on fertility and mortality in Australia's capital cities: 1991-2016
Kristen Power (primary supervisor) - The impact of pre- and post-migration stressors on the integration trajectory of humanitarian migrants in Australia
Syauqy Lukman (associate supervisor) - Sexual Reproductive Health Knowledge among Young People in Indonesia
Mu Li (primary supervisor) - Two-Way Bivariate Outcomes Small Area Estimation using Spatial Bayesian Hierarchical Models
Past student projects
Ester Lazzari (associate supervisor) - PhD in Demography 2022 - An assessment of the demographic contribution of assisted reproductive technologies in Australia
Reiko Okumura-Rougeaux (associate supervisor) - PhD in Demography 2021 - Youth Employment Pathways in Indonesia
Munkhbadar Judger - Masters in Demography 2018 - Patterns of Fertility in Mongolia: has the pro-natalist policy influenced chilbearing?
Publications
- Saha, U, Das, S, Baffour, B et al. 2023, 'Small Area Estimation of Age-Specific and Total Fertility Rates in Bangladesh', Spatial Demography, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 1-24.
- Lazzari, E, Gray, E & Baffour, B 2022, 'A dyadic approach to the study of perceived subfecundity and contraceptive use', Demographic Research, vol. 47, no. 1.
- Das, S, Baffour, B & Richardson, A 2022, 'Prevalence of child undernutrition measures and their spatio-demographic inequalities in Bangladesh: an application of multilevel Bayesian modelling', BMC Public Health, vol. 22, no. 1.
- Thurber, K, Brinckley, M, Jones, R et al. 2022, 'Population-level contribution of interpersonal discrimination to psychological distress among Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults, and to Indigenous non-Indigenous inequities: cross-sectional analysis of a community-controlled First N', Lancet, vol. 400, no. 10368, pp. 2084-2094.
- Baffour, B, Brown, J & Smith, P 2021, 'Latent class analysis for estimating an unknown population size - with application to censuses', Journal of Official Statistics, vol. 37, no. 3, p. 6730697.
- Thurber, K, Barrett, E, Agostino, J et al. 2021, 'Risk of severe illness from COVID-19 among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults: the construct of "vulnerable populations" obscures the root causes of health inequities', Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, vol. 45, no. 6, pp. 658-663.
- Jugder, M, Baffour, B & Zhao, Z 2021, 'Recent fertility changes in Mongolia: What can we learn from examining tempo-adjusted fertility?', Asian Population Studies, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 162-180.
- Baffour B, Raymer J and Evans A (2021) Recent trends in immigrant fertility in Australia. Journal of International Migration and Integration 22(3), 1205-1226.
- Li, M, Baffour, B & Richardson, A 2020, 'Bayesian spatial modelling of early childhood development in Australian Regions', International Journal of Health Geographics, vol. 19, no. 43, pp. 1-16.
- Ononokpono, D, Baffour, B & Richardson, A 2020, 'Mapping maternal healthcare access in selected West African countries', African Population Studies, vol. 34, no. 1, pp. 5081-5106.
- Bon, J, Baffour, B, Spallek, M et al. 2020, 'Analysing Sensitive Data from Dynamically-Generated Overlapping Contingency Tables', Journal of Official Statistics, vol. 36, no. 2, pp. 275-296.
- Bon, J, Ballard, T & Baffour, B 2019, 'Polling bias and undecided voter allocations: US presidential elections, 2004-2016', Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A: Statistics in Society, vol. 182, no. 2, pp. 467-493.
- Zenkteler, M, Darchen, S, Mateo-Babiano, I et al. 2019, 'Home-based work in cities: In search of an appropriate urban planning response', Futures, pp. -.
- Carroll, A, Gillies, R, Cunnington, R et al 2019, 'Changes in science attitudes, beliefs, knowledge and physiological arousal after implementation of a multimodal, cooperative intervention in primary school science classes', Information and Learning Science, vol. 120, no. 7/8, pp. 409-425.
- Haynes, M, O'Rourke, T, Nash, D et al. 2020, 'Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander preferences for healthcare settings: effective use of design images in survey research', Australian Health Review, vol. 44, no. 2, pp. 222-227.
- de Looper, M, Booth, H & Baffour, B 2019, 'Sanitary improvements and mortality decline in Sydney, New South Wales, 1857-1906: drinking water and dunnies as determinants', The History of the Family, vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 227-248.
- Baffour B and Raymer J (2019) Estimating multiregional survivorship probabilities for sparse data: An application to immigrant populations in Australia, 1981-2011. Demographic Research 40(18), 463-502.
- Baffour, B, Chandra, H & Martinez, A 2019, 'Localised Estimates of Dynamics of Multi-dimensional Disadvantage: An Application of the Small Area Estimation Technique Using Australian Survey and Census Data', International Statistical Review, vol. 87, no. 1, pp. 1-23pp.
- Baffour, B, Silva, D, Veiga, A et al 2018, 'Small area estimation for the 2011 Census in England and Wales', Statistical Journal of the IAOS, vol. 34, no. 3, pp. 395-407.
- Raymer J, Shi Y, Guan Q, Baffour B and Wilson T (2018) The sources and diversity of immigrant population change in Australia, 1981-2011. Demography 55(5), 1777-1802.
- Raymer J and Baffour B (2018) Subsequent migration of immigrants within Australia, 1981-2016. Population Research and Policy Review 37(6), 1053-1077.
- Perales, F & Baffour, B 2018, 'Respondent Mental Health, Mental Disorders and Survey Interview Outcomes', Survey Research Methods, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 161-176pp.
- Moni, K, Jobling, A & Baffour, B 2018, 'Literacy Learning Outcomes in a Longitudinal Study of a Postschool Literacy Education Program for Young Adults With Intellectual Disabilities', Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities, vol. 15, no. 2, pp. 155-165.
- Baffour, B, Roselli, T, Haynes, M et al 2017, 'Including mobile-only telephone users in a statewide preventive health survey?Differences in the prevalence of health risk factors and impact on trends', Preventive Medicine Reports, vol. 7, pp. 91-98.
- Gillies, R & Baffour, B 2017, 'The effects of teacher-introduced multimodal representations and discourse on students' task engagement and scientific language during cooperative, inquiry-based science', Instructional Science, vol. 45, no. 4, pp. 493-513pp.
- Houghton, S, Hattie, J, Carroll, A et al 2016, 'It hurts to be lonely! Loneliness and positive mental wellbeing in Australian rural and urban adolescents', Journal of Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools, vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 52-67pp.
- Baffour, B, Haynes, M, Dinsdale, S et al 2016, 'Profiling the mobile-only population in Australia: insights from the Australian National Health Survey', Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, vol. 40, no. 5, pp. 443-447.
- Baffour, B, Haynes, M, Western, M et al. 2016, 'Weighting strategies for combining data from dual-frame telephone surveys: Emerging evidence from Australia', Journal of Official Statistics, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 549-578.
- Baffour, B & Chesters, J 2015, 'School-to-work transitions during volatile economic times', Australian Journal of Labour Economics, vol. 18, no. 3, pp. 307-327.
- Perales, F, Baffour, B & Mitrou, F 2015, 'Ethnic differences in the quality of the interview process and implications for survey analysis: The case of Indigenous Australians', PLOS ONE (Public Library of Science), vol. 10, no. 6, pp. 20pp.
- Sahu, S, Baffour, B, Harper, P et al 2014, 'A hierarchical Bayesian model for improving short-term forecasting of hospital demand by including meteorological information', Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A: Statistics in Society, vol. 177, no. 1, pp. 39-61.
- Owusu, N, Baffour, B, Johnson, F et al 2013, 'Examining intersectoral integration for malaria control programmes in an urban and a rural district in Ghana: a multinomial multilevel analysis', International Journal of Integrated Care, vol. 13, pp. 10pp.
- Baffour, B, Brown, J & Smith, P 2013, 'An investigation of triple system estimators in censuses', Statistical Journal of the IAOS, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 53-68pp.
- Baffour, B, King, T & Valente, P 2013, 'The Modern Census: Evolution, Examples and Evaluation', International Statistical Review, vol. 81, no. 3, pp. 407-425pp.
- Baffour, B 2013, 'Crowded out: a case study of homelessness, crowding and the Tennant Creek Women's Refuge', Parity: Council to Homeless Persons, vol. 26, no. 4, pp. 16-17.
- Baffour, B & Valente, P 2012, 'An evaluation of census quality', Statistical Journal of the IAOS, vol. 28, no. 3-4, pp. 121-135pp.
Projects and Grants
Grants information is drawn from ARIES. To add or update Projects or Grants information please contact your College Research Office.
- ACT Treasury population projections (Secondary Investigator)
- Filling in the blanks: a spatial visualisation tool to align national health outcome data with regional health policy objectives (Secondary Investigator)
- State Population Projections Model for the Centre for Population (Secondary Investigator)
