The demographic perspective has become increasingly important in the social sciences. Demographically-based life table measures of employment, marriage, and other socially important areas have become prominent. The demographic perspective has become extremely important in the sociology of marriage and the family. This course aims for the student to understand the philosophy, the strengths, and the weaknesses of demographically-based measures. An important issue is: What measure is appropriate for addressing what question?

This is a course on methods of demographic analysis. There is no required background in demography, statistics, or mathematics beyond high school algebra. An open mind and a willingness to look at tables and work with numbers are necessary. This course aims to explain the demographic approach to data collection and analysis regardless of students’ substantive interests. There will be explanations adequate for students without a background in calculus to understand the material. This course aims to enable students to apply demographic methods in areas such as education, marriage and marital dissolution, labor force analysis, and study of health status, as well as in the classic demographic areas of mortality, fertility, and migration.

For each area considered, it is expected that each student will: (1) Understand the purposes of the measures and methods used, (2) Understand the strengths and weaknesses of the measures and methods used, and (3) Be able to interpret results from the application of the methods. Usually, the student will do a homework assignment in which the measure or approach is applied. Sometimes the student will not actually do problems or calculations applying a given measure or approach but will be able to understand articles that use the measure or approach and will have a conceptual background for further courses or reading based on the measure or approach.