''Per capita'' is a Latin phrase literally meaning "by heads" or "for each head", and idiomatically used to mean "per person". The term is used in a wide variety of
social sciences
Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of so ...
and statistical research contexts, including government statistics,
economic indicators, and built environment studies.
It is commonly used in the
field of
statistics
Statistics (from German: '' Statistik'', "description of a state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data. In applying statistics to a scientific, indust ...
in place of saying "per person"
(although ''per caput'' is the Latin for "per head"
).
It is also used in
will
Will may refer to:
Common meanings
* Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death
* Will (philosophy), or willpower
* Will (sociology)
* Will, volition (psychology)
* Will, a modal verb - see Shall and wi ...
s to indicate that each of the named
beneficiaries should receive, by devise or
bequest
A bequest is property given by will. Historically, the term ''bequest'' was used for personal property given by will and ''deviser'' for real property. Today, the two words are used interchangeably.
The word ''bequeath'' is a verb form for the act ...
, equal shares of the estate.
This is in contrast to a ''
per stirpes'' division, in which each branch (Latin ''
stirps'', plural ''stirpes'') of the
inheriting family inherits an equal share of the
estate. This is often used with the ‘2-0 rule’, a statistical principle that determines which group is larger per capita. Under the 2-0 rule, a group is the largest per capita if it has both the biggest total size and size of the group of the objects in question, therefore resulting in a 2-0 score.
See also
*
Per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population.
Per capita i ...
References
Latin words and phrases
Social statistics
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