Sociology 674Sociology 674, Fall 2010 page 1 Sociology 674 Elementary Demographic Techniques Time: Tues/Thurs/Fri 2:30-3:45 Meeting dates: 09/02 - 11/12 (This is a 10 week course) Room: Birge 346 Instructor: Christine Schwartz Office: 4458 Social Science Building Tel: 262-5791 Email: [email protected] Office hours: Tuesdays 10-11am, Thursdays 4-5pm, or by appointment Course objectives: Sociology 674 is an introductory course in demographic research methods. The primary objective of the course is to learn how demographers measure population growth, mortality, fertility, marriage, and migration. By the end of the semester, you will be able to calculate and correctly interpret standard demographic indices such as expectation of life at birth and total fertility rates. This course is a prerequisite for the advanced demographic methods course (Sociology 756) and a key component of preparation for the demography prelim. Course requirements: Students are expected to do the assigned readings and to attend class - lectures will address, but will not duplicate, the reading materials. Classes will be interactive lectures and students should come prepared to participate. There will also be short problem sets due as listed in the schedule below. These assignments will require the use of a calculator and the CD-ROM accompanying the text. Basic familiarity with Excel (or other spreadsheet software) is assumed. Grades will be determined as follows: 1) Problem sets (25%) 2) 3 tests (69% - 23% each) 3) Class participation (6%) Homework Grading: You are welcome to work together on homework assignments but everyone should write up their own assignments. You should answer all of the problems yourself if you hope to do well on the tests. Problem sets are due the beginning of class on the due date. Homework will be graded on a “+,” “”, “-“ system. Exemplary assignments will be given “+”s (those that are virtually entirely correct and well-documented), “”s will be given for good assignments, but which have significant deviations from the “+” standard, and “-”s will be given for poor or incomplete assignments. You may also receive a “+” or “-” as an intermediary grade. If you miss an assignment or turn in an exceptionally poor assignment, you will receive a “0.” Homework turned in after the due date but by the beginning of the following class will receive a maximum score of a “.” If the assignment would have received a “” if turned in on time, itSociology 674, Fall 2010 page 2 will receive a “-.” Homework will not be accepted after the beginning of the class following the due date. Other relevant information: I will communicate by email regarding any scheduling changes or additional readings. I will post lecture outlines and materials on the course website at learn@uw. Readings: Required text: Demographic Methods and Concepts by Donald T. Rowland (2003, Oxford University Press). This book is available at UBS. The book comes with a CD-ROM that we will be using. Make sure that you have both the book and the CD. Other readings: We will also read several sections from Demography: Measuring and Modeling Population Processes by Preston, Heuveline, and Guillot, 2001, Blackwell (referred to as PHG in the syllabus). This is the main text for the advanced demographic techniques course (Soc. 756) so I would recommend that graduate students buy this book. We will also read several articles from other sources. These readings are all available through electronic reserve (indicated by *). You may access the electronic reserves through the course website at learn@uw or through my.wisc.edu. Date Topic and Assignment R 2-Sep Introduction, syllabus F 3-Sep Basics: Overview of concepts, measures, and introduction to the demographic transition Read: Rowland 14-22, Notestein "Population--The Long View"* T 7-Sep Demographic data: Census, vital statistics, and other sources of data Problem set 1 due Read: Rowland 24-29 R 9-Sep Crude rates and population growth Read: Rowland 29-70, PHG chap. 1 (sections 1.1 - 1.6.1, 1.9)* F 10-Sep Age composition Problem set 2 due Read: Rowland Chapter 3Sociology 674, Fall 2010 page 3 T 14-Sep Population comparisons, standardization Problem set 3 due Read: Rowland 120-134, PHG pp. 21-28* Kitagawa "Standardized Comparisons in Population Research"* R 16-Sep Periods and cohorts Read: Rowland 135-142, PHG section 1.8 & pp. 31-37* Ryder "The Cohort as a Concept in the Study of Social Change"* F 17-Sep Mortality and morbidity - The epidemiological transition Problem set 4 due Read: Rowland 180-192 T 21-Sep Mortality and morbidity: Concepts, data, and rates Read: Rowland 192-212, Rockett “Population and Health” (pp.1-20 - up to section "Designing Research ")* R 23-Sep Review/catch-up Problem set 5 due F 24-Sep Test 1 T 28-Sep Family demography – The “second demographic transition” Read: Van de Kaa “Europe’s Second Demographic Transition”*, New York Times "No Babies?"* R 30-Sep Fertility: Concepts, data, and rates Read: Rowland 221-238 Bongaarts, Frank, and Lesthaeghe "Proximate Determinants of Fertility in Sub-Saharan Africa"* F 1-Oct Reproduction: NRR, GRR, TFR Problem set 6 due Read: Rowland 238-251, PHG chap. 5 (pp. 92-97, 99-101,113-114)*Sociology 674, Fall 2010 page 4 T 5-Oct Marriage and divorce: Concepts, data, and rates Problem set 7 due Read: Rowland 251-255, Newell chapter 8 “Marriage and Divorce”* R 7-Oct More on marriage and divorce Read: Bianchi and Casper “American Families”* F 8-Oct Life tables Problem set 8 due Read: Rowland Chapter 8 Pollard et al. Chapter 3 "The Life Table"* T 12-Oct More on life tables Problem set 9 due Read: PHG chapter 3 (skip sections 3.7-3.9)* NCHS "Method for Constructing Complete Annual U.S. Life Tables" (pp. 1-10)* R 14-Oct Life tables for other events Read: Pollard et al. Chapter 4 "Applications of Stationary Population Models"* F 15-Oct Life table applications Problem set 10 due Read: Pettit and Western, "Mass Imprisonment and the Life Course"* Hirchman et al. "Vietnamese Casualties During the American War"* T 19-Oct Review/catch-up R 21-Oct Test 2 F 22-Oct Decomposition of differences between rates & means Read: PHG pp. 28-30 Kitagawa "Components of a Difference Between Two Rates"* T 26-Oct Spatial data, population mapping. Guest lecture by