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)