PS 112 Introduction to Demography

Programme:  B.A. Environmental Studies

Credit value: 12

Level: Year 1, Semester 1

General objectives

This introductory module will prepare students for further modules in population studies by introducing them to the main concepts, ideas and theories that underlie demography. It will also go more in-depth into measures that are the outcome of censuses, their analysis and the meaning they have for population studies. The module will also treat three issues with ever-growing importance, namely migration, urbanization and unemployment and thus prepare students with the necessary theoretical background to deal with some of the most pressing social problems of our times.

Learning outcomes

On completion of the module, students will have gained understanding and insight in the following issues:

• concepts of demography;

• sources of demographic data like population census, surveys, vital registration  etc., and how they are implemented;
• mortality, fertility, sex composition, sex and age structure and literacy levels of a population;
• the spatial distribution of world populations and their determinants;
• an introduction to migration and urbanisation;
• causes and effects of migration;
• causes and effects of urbanisation;
• labour force, participation and unemployment rates;
• causes and consequences of unemployment;

Approach to learning and teaching

The module will consist of 15 teaching weeks, one self-study week and two examination weeks. Each week will consist of:

• lectures during which the theoretical background will be discussed;
• guest lectures, presentations and group discussions and a practical group exercise involving data collected during PHCB 2005;
• self-study of the theory available, collecting information, and preparing papers and presentations.

Assessment

• Presentation                                    10%
• Individual assignments                    20%
• Group assignments                          10%
• End of semester examination          60%

Prerequisite: None

Course content

• demography as a scientific discipline and importance attached to its studies; relation of population studies with other disciplines;
• sources of population data-census; survey; vital registration; service statistics (data of different ministries, e.g. education, health etc.) and qualitative data; partial registers, international and national publications and others.
• some basic demographic concepts and components of population change- (a) fertility: (fertility, fecundity, natural fertility, Hutterite fertility and regulated fertility; crude birth rate, general fertility rate, age-specific fertility rate, children ever born, total fertility, marital fertility, gross reproduction, net reproduction, population momentum, cohort and period fertility);  (b) mortality: (mortality, crude death rate, age-specific death rate, cause-specific death rate, neonatal and post-neonatal mortality, still-birth, infant mortality, under-five mortality, maternal mortality rate and ratios, life expectancy, crude rate of natural increase); (c) morbidity (morbidity, incidence rate, prevalence rate, case fatality rate); (d) migration: (migration, in-migration, out-migration, immigration, emigration, net migration, gross migration); e) urbanization.
• fertility levels, trends and differentials- proximate determinants and differentials in fertility- biological, social and economic factors;
• population theories of fertility- Multhusian theory, Neo-Multhusian and Demographic Transition theory;
• mortality levels, trends, differentials and causes of mortality: age and sex pattern of mortality; levels and trends of mortality in the country (or with reference to a country); factors associated with decline in mortality in the country; different mortality by rural – urban residence, occupation, marital status, ethnic groups, factors deferring mortality in infancy; causes of death – international classification; epidemiological transition theory of mortality;
• concept and definition of nuptiality---its level, trends and determinants of age at marriage; nuptiality pattern by region;
• sex and age structure/ composition in the country; determinants of sex composition’ age structure of population in the country (or with reference to a country); changes in the age structure of populations; determinants of age structure; social and economic consequences of age – structures of populations;
• population characteristics: levels and trends in literacy in the country (or with reference to a country); levels and trends in literacy in the country;
• population characteristics: labour and economically active population in the country; basic concepts and definitions; various activity rates, levels, trends and pattern of economic activity rates for males and females in the country (or with reference to a country);
• world population- its size, growth & distribution by continents, regions, and developed and developing countries;
• spatial distribution of world population by countries; regions; its determinants – (a) physical (climate, topography, resource availability, space relationship), (b) economic and social (types of economic activities, techniques of production, irrigation, transportation, government policies etc.), (c) physical and social disasters, and (d) differentials in demographic factors;
• concepts, types and determinants of migration; consequences of migration; the study of population according to residential classification;
• definitions and concepts of urbanization; urbanization as a process; components of urban population growth; forces of urbanization; over – urbanization and its problems, and government policies for urbanization.
• population policy- definition and types of population policies.

Reading list

1.      Bhende, Asha A. and Tara Kanitkar, 1988.  Principles of Population Studies, Himalaya Publishing House, Bombay.

2.      Bogue, Donald, 1969. Principles of Demography, John Wiley & Sons, New York.

3.      Lewis, G.J. 1982. Human Migration, Gromm Helm, London

4.      Lucas, David and Paul Meyer (eds.), 1994, Beginning Population Studies, Second Edition (Canberra: The Australian National University).

5.      Herbert, David T and Colin J. Thomas, 1982.  Urban Demography, G. John Wiley and Sons, New York.

6.      Mc. Gee, T.G., 1971. The Urbanization Process in the Third World, G. Bell, London.

7.      Oberoi, A.S, 1989.  Problems of Urbanization and Growth of Large Cities on Developing countries: A Conceptual Framework for Policy Analysis, ILO, Geneva, World Employment Programme Research, Working Paper No.169.

8.      Shryok, Henry S., Jacob S. Siegel and Associates, 1971. The Methods and Materials in Demography, Vol. 1, US Bureau of the Census, Washington, DC

9.      Shryock, Henry S, Jacob S. Siegel and Associates, 1973. The Methods and Materials of Demography, Vol. I, US Bureau of the Census, Washington, D.C.

10.  U.N. 1973. The Determinants and Consequences of Population Trends, Vol 1. Population Studies No.50, New York

11.  Weeks, John R. 1989. Population – An Introduction to Concepts and Issues, Wordsworth Publication, Co.

Advanced reading

1. Easterlin, Richard A., 1975 "An Economic Framework for Fertility Analysis", Studies    in Family Planning. Vol.6, No.3, pp.54-63.
2.  Freedman, R., 1979 "Theories of Fertility Decline: A Reappraisal", Social Forces, Vol.58, No.1, pp.1-7.
3.  Haupt Arthur and Thomas T. Kane, 1998, 4th Edition, Population Handbook (Washington, DC: Population Reference Bureau).
4. Leibenstein Harvey, 1972, "The Economic Theory of Fertility Decline", Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol.89, No.1 pp. 1-31.
5. Mosley, W. H and Lincoln C. Chen, 1984, "An Analytical Framework for the Study of Child Survival in Developing Countries", in "Child Survival: Strategies for Research", in Supplement to Population and Development Review, Vol. 10. PP. 25-48.
6. Omran, A. R., 1982, "Epidemiological Transition", in J. Ross (ed.), International Encyclopedia of Population, Vol.1 (New York: Free Press), 172-83.