Demography - American Sociological Association

POPULATION AND SOCIETY
Susan D. Stewart, University of Richmond
Course Rationale*
Whether you realize it or not, demographic processes are constantly influencing your life. What
do I mean by demographic processes? I mean patterns of childbearing (fertility), death
(mortality), and the geographic movement of human beings (migration), both in this country and
around the globe. Demography, also called Population Studies, is the study of human populations
in terms of their size, composition, and distribution, and the causes and consequences of changes
in these three characteristics. Demography is a fascinating topic because it deals with many
questions you may find personally relevant, such as: At what age will I marry? Have children?
Will I live with my partner before marriage? What are my chances of divorce? What kind of job
will I have? How many times will I move? When will I retire? How long will I live? What will I
most likely die of? In sum, nearly all of the major events in your life have demographic
implications.
*adapted from “Population: A Lively Introduction,” by Joseph Mcfalls Jr., vol. 53, no. 3
(Washington DC: Population Reference Bureau, Sept. 1998).
Course Objectives
This course provides you with a basic introduction to the discipline of demography, in terms of its
main theories, concepts, measures, and uses. Emphasis is placed on contemporary population
issues and their origins, although important past developments will also be examined. Lectures
and discussions will often focus on the global situation and we will make frequent comparisons
between more developed countries (MDCs) and less developed countries (LDCs). Video material
will be used to further illuminate these issues.
Another major goal of the course is for you to become an informed consumer of demographic
information. Toward that end, you will engage in a semester-long project in which you will learn
how to access demographic data, calculate demographic measures, interpret these measures, and
evaluate their usefulness. This project will provide you with practical experience using
demographic techniques, which can be applied to careers in business, marketing, government, and
human services. Demography is one of the more quantitative sub-fields of sociology, but please
don’t let this scare you. Students with basic math skills (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and
division) should have no trouble. We will work on calculations together in class, and you may
work on your assignments in groups, if you wish. I ask that you try to bring a calculator to class
each day for this purpose.
Textbook:
Weeks. (1999). Population: An Introduction to Concepts and Issues (Seventh Edition).
Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1999.
Primary Texts (on reserve):
Malthus. (1798). Essay on the Principle of Population (Preface, Chapter 1 & Chapter 2). The full
text of this essay can be found at www.ecn.bris.ac.uk/het/malthus/popu.txt.
Erlich. (1968). The Population Bomb. NY: Ballantine Books. (Prologue, Foreward, pp. 1-44)
Simon. (1981). The Ultimate Resource. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press (Introduction,
pp. 159-187).
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