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I think you've made up a meaning for "systematically" in your head that does not align with the normal meaning of that word or something? It being unsafe and expensive to count rural populations is something that would lead to systemic undercounting of rural populations, but you seem to be unhappy about that word being used?

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Systematically and systemically are two different words with different meanings, despite both being related to systems.

The comment you’re replying to is correct in its usage.

Something done systematically is typically done explicitly and intentionally. This may be what the author of the article was implying, but the comment was pointing out that miscounting of the population due to an inability to perform the task is not systematic by definition.

>It being unsafe and expensive to count rural populations

Means they would be estimated, surely. Something simple like count the dwellings, match to a similar community that had been counted.

Estimation wouldn't necessarily be under-estimation, it could go either way.

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