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Origin or ancestry attempts to determine the roots or ethnic background of a person. The concept, however, is somewhat ambiguous since it does not usually specify an historical reference point. Given that new ethnic groups may arise over time, it may be difficult for a respondent to answer a question about origins. For example, if one of a respondent's great, great grandfathers was a Scottish fur trader who entered a marital union with a Cree woman then is the respondent Scottish or Cree? Or is the respondent Métis, a group which is recognized in the Canadian constitution as a distinct Aboriginal population? This also illustrates the legitimacy of the reporting of multiple origins. Inasmuch as any individual has two parents, four grandparents, eight great-grandparents and so on it is realized that there is a potential for those ancestors to come from a multiplicity of ethnic groups. The tabulation of the resultant data, therefore, becomes complex. This is usually handled by showing the population that has a single origin and the population that has multiple origins. The display of the combinations, such as French and English, in multiple responses is generally restricted to the dominant or most populous groups in the society. The concept may also suffer from a genuine lack of knowledge on the part of respondents. They may not know their backgrounds. In addition, public opinion may influence reporting under some circumstances. For example, it has been suggested that German origins may have been under-reported in the Census of 1941 which was taken during World War II.
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