SOCb2589 Population Changes

Faculty of Social Studies
Autumn 2019
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 9 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Dr. Zuzanna Brzozowska, M.Sc., M.A. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Dr. Zuzanna Brzozowska, M.Sc., M.A.
Department of Sociology – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Ing. Soňa Enenkelová
Supplier department: Department of Sociology – Faculty of Social Studies
Timetable
each even Monday 10:00–13:40 PC25
Prerequisites
!NOW( SOC289 Population Changes ) && ! SOC289 Population Changes
There are no formally enforced prerequisites, but some interest in qualitative and quantitative societal changes and in using Excel will make your course participation more efficient. This is a BA level course and this defines the teaching style, the anticipated workload, and the level of student involvement. The course will be given as lectures (50%) and computer labs (50%). Reasonable ability to write and speak in English is anticipated.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 15 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/15, only registered: 0/15, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/15
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
This is an introductory course to population studies with a strong practical component: it will help understand the demographic changes in contemporary developed societies (mostly in Europe) and teach some basic tools to describe and analyse these changes. We will discuss the causes and consequences of fertility, mortality and migration trends, population ageing and de-standardisation of family forms. During the lab sessions, you will learn where to look for comparative demographic data and how to compute, visualise and interpret basic demographic indicators. We will do all analyses in Excel.
Learning outcomes
At the end of this course, students should be able:
(a) to understand basic concepts of population studies and demography (b) to formulate interpretations of demographic phenomena by means of sociological concepts.
Syllabus
  • Seminar 1: Lecture: Organizational and administrative issues; Introduction: main topics of population studies; Key dimensions of population structure Lab: Constructing population pyramid; computing, visualising and interpreting basic indicators (e.g. different kinds of age dependency ratio) Seminar 2: Lecture: Fertility: measures, trends and implications Lab: Computing, visualising and interpreting different kinds of fertility indicators Seminar 3 Lecture: Mortality, morbidity and health Lab: Computing and interpreting life expectancy at different age; computing, visualising and interpreting mortality indicators Seminar 4: Lecture: People on the move: migration yesterday and today Lab: Computing, visualising and interpreting in- and outflows vs. stocks of migrants Seminar 5: Lecture: Future population: forecasting Lab: Population forecasting Seminar 6: Participants’ presentations
Literature
  • Paul Demeny & Geoffrey McNicoll (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Population, 2003, Macmillan Reference USA.
  • LUNDQUIST, Jennifer Hickes, Douglas L. ANDERTON and David YAUKEY. Demography : the study of human population. Fourth edition. Long Grove: Waveland Press, 2015, xix, 476. ISBN 9781478613060. info
  • Handbook of population. Edited by Dudley L. Poston - Michael Micklin. New York: Springer, 2006, xiii, 918. ISBN 0387257020. info
Teaching methods
Lectures, discussions, presentations, computer lab.
Assessment methods
Grading consists of four parts: five short tests covering material of the most recent class and readings (5 x 3 points = maximum 15 points, 15%), six assignments (6 x 5 points = max. 30 points, 30%), research report (max. 35 points, 35%) and its oral PowerPoint presentation (max. 20 points, 20%).
Language of instruction
English
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