Syllabus
Having successfully completed this course a student will be able to: · Identify the scope and purpose of demography, its unique approach to reality, sources, collection and dissemination of demographic data, basic methodological principles and selected findings; · Describe the historical development of the discipline, its milestones, and relevance for current studies of population development, as well as the (changing) relation of demography to other disciplines; · Understand the mechanisms, basic determinants and consequences of population development, and its basic mutual relationships with the development of society and environment; · See the potential applicability of demography and demographic findings and his/her own professional perspective in the studied field; · Sort more effectively new information obtained during further studies. Syllabus
1. Prologue I: a. History and milestones of demography b. Education and research in demography c. Main demographic journals and websites d. Major professional association in the field of population studies e. Basic demographic terminology and multilingual demographic dictionary
2. Prologue II: a. Demographic reproduction and demographic development b. Specificities of demographic cognition process b. Two types of demographic data - stock and flow numbers c. Time in demography and lexis diagram d. Period and cohort perspectives
3. Data sources: a. Collection of demographic data (census, current registration of demographic events, sample survey) b. Demographic data quality and availability c. Main sources of demographic data on internet, metadata d. Difference in data from different sources and their roots; differences in population balance in the census year, stock and flow numbers reference time
4. System of demographic indicators: a. Classification of demographic indicators b. General rules of demographic indicators construction c. Interpretation and applicability of basic demographic indicators d. Population based indicators (example of SDGS)
5. Demographic structures: a. Basic demographic structures and their general regularities b. Principles of demographic structures description c. Graphical tools – construction of age pyramid d. Numerical characteristics of age structure e. Age structures typology
6. Principles of fertility analysis a. Basic indicators b. Fertility table c. General fertility patterns
7. Principles of mortality analysis a. Basic indicators b. Life table c. General mortality patterns
8. Principles of migration analysis a. Basic indicators b. Construction of gross migraproduction rate c. Demographic patterns of migration
9. Aggregate process of demographic reproduction a. Annual growth rate b. Reproduction rates construction c. Replacement level
10. Basic demographic theories and concepts: a. Malthus theory and neo-Malthusians b. Theory of demographic transition/revolution c. Second demographic transition concept
11. World population development I: a. World population history b. Current demographic situation in the world c. Demographic issues of contemporary Europe
12. World population development II: a. Un world population prospects b. Population perspectives of the world c. Population ageing as a global process and its potential consequences
13. Seminars (I-IV)
Annotation
This module is outlined as a cross-sectional introductory course of Demography covering all the main topics and knowledge relevant to the basic understanding of demographic reproduction and development, their foundations, courses and consequences, and the principles of their cognition. It starts with the introduction to the basic concepts and historical development of demography and the principles of demographic research. The course presents demography as a scientific discipline with the specific object and subject of interest. It traces the purpose and specificities of demographic cognition and the current position of demography, among other disciplines. Students also get acquainted with basic information on sources, collection principles, quality assessment and dissemination of population data. The data block completes a detailed explanation of different concepts of time in demography and the display of demographic data in the Lexis diagram. Basic approaches, methods and indicators employed in the classical demographic analysis of all reproduction processes, as well as the basics of population forecasting, are further depicted. The presentations of real cases, discussions of the interaction of population reproduction and its components with other social, economic, political, cultural and environmental processes and practical applicability of demographic findings close this introductory module.
To familiarize students with demography as an area of study and its practical applications, to build a solid base for further gathering knowledge and skills in the field and raise students’ interest in studying population reproduction.