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The article discusses the latest challenges of research and teaching related to statistical education of the society. The technological revolution change the economic and social life radically. They require a transformation of the way of thinking and acting. Society need statistics that provides information about the country and its neighbors. Through statistics citizens can actively participate in democratic processes. These new conditions define the tasks set for the statisticians — to develop statistics skills and adapt statistical information to the needs of citizens.

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The ratio of male to female births described as the male proportion is expected to be about 1.06. The secondary sex ratio can be influenced by various stresses experienced by parents (e.g., parents' exposure to chemical and physical pollution, natural phenomena, wars and economic crises). The seminal study in this field speculated that fewer goods and services than needed or desired might sufficiently stress human populations to lower the secondary sex ratio. The main purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between economic stress and the fluctuations of sex ratio at birth in Poland. The statistical analysis was based on annual demographic data obtained from year-books issued by the Central Statistical Office on the overall number of male and female live births in Poland in the years 1956-2005 as well as on the annual data of percentage change in total private consumption. In order to verify the hypothesis that the observed time-series of the secondary sex ratio in Poland declines with deterioration in economic conditions, we constructed mathematical models (ARIMA) of both analyzed phenomena following the statistical procedure proposed by . We found a statistically significant decline of SSR in Poland over the last 50 years. The decrease appeared to be stronger in villages than in towns. However, the consumption rate as related to the strength of economic stress had no effect on the fluctuation of the sex ratio at birth.KEY WORDS: proportion of male live births, SSR, human sex ratio, total private consumption

The article briefly discusses the creation and activity of statistical institutions in the Łódź region during the interwar years. In particular, the history of the Statistical Department at the City Council of Łódź, established by the City Council on 19 September, 1917, was presented. The Department functioned from 1 January, 1918 and its most important task was to conduct censuses of the population, one of the largest and most difficult statistical undertakings. In the discussed period, the urban statistics of Łódź covered the most important spheres of the city’s life, including state and municipal offices.