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Population and Society: An Introduction to Demography is an ideal text for undergraduate, as well as graduate, students taking their first course in demography. It is sociologically oriented, although economics, political science, geography, history, and the other social sciences are also used to inform the materials. Although the emphasis is on demography, the book recognizes that, at the individual level, population change is related to private decisions, especially in relation to fertility, but also to mortality and migration. The text thus considers in some detail, especially early in the book, the role of individuals in population decision making. At the level of countries, and even the world, changes in population size have an important effect on the environmental and related challenges facing all of the world's inhabitants. Therefore, attention is paid to the broad implications of population growth and change. ... Read more

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Summary: Demography in Transition: Emerging Trends in Population StudiesThe discipline of demography, much like the population processes which comprise its focus, changes theoretically, methodologically, and substantively as the world s populations respond to internal and external forces.These disciplinary shifts are often identified and examined by demographers in academic journals and at annual population studies conferences.Demography in Transition is a compilation of seven studies presented by demographers at the Southwestern Sociological Association s 2005 Annual Meeting.The works selected for this volume provide unique insight into complex demographic issues, as well as highlight many of the growing foci in the discipline.Summary: Demography in Transition: Emerging Trends in Population StudiesThe discipline of demography, much like the population processes which comprise its focus, changes theoretically, methodologically, and substantively as the world s populations respond to internal and external forces.These disciplinary shifts are often identified and examined by demographers in academic journals and at annual population studies conferences.Demography in Transition is a compilation of seven studies presented by demographers at the Southwestern Sociological Association s 2005 Annual Meeting.The works selected for this volume provide unique insight into complex demographic issues, as well as highlight many of the growing foci in the discipline.There has been a movement in demographic research towards focusing on understanding population processes for more heterogeneous, rather than homogenous, populations.This movement has resulted in an increase in research concentrating on outcomes dependent on gender, race, and ethnicity.Changes in population structures within the United States have resulted in another notable disciplinary focus.Aging populations, altering family structures, and a rise in Asian and Latino immigration to the U.S. have all attributed to novel areas of research for demographers.These timely issues, and their intersections, are central to the research explored in the chapters contained in this volume.In their chapters, these demographers examine the manner in which race and ethnicity affect access to heath care; the consequences and concerns associated with an aging population; the factors affecting Asian migration patterns; and the demographic implications of changing family structures.These chapters provide a glimpse into the current insights provided by demographic research, as well as directions for its future. ... Read more

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The central aim of many studies in population research and demography is to explain cause-effect relationships among variables or events. For decades, population scientists have concentrated their efforts on estimating the ‘causes of effects’ by applying standard cross-sectional and dynamic regression techniques, with regression coefficients routinely being understood as estimates of causal effects. The standard approach to infer the ‘effects of causes’ in natural sciences and in psychology is to conduct randomized experiments. In population studies, experimental designs are generally infeasible.

In population studies, most research is based on non-experimental designs (observational or survey designs) and rarely on quasi experiments or natural experiments. Using non-experimental designs to infer causal relationships—i.e. relationships that can ultimately inform policies or interventions—is a complex undertaking. Specifically, treatment effects can be inferred from non-experimental data with a counterfactual approach. In this counterfactual perspective, causal effects are defined as the difference between the potential outcome irrespective of whether or not an individual had received a certain treatment (or experienced a certain cause). The counterfactual approach to estimate effects of causes from quasi-experimental data or from observational studies was first proposed by Rubin in 1974 and further developed by James Heckman and others.

This book presents both theoretical contributions and empirical applications of the counterfactual approach to causal inference.

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The objective of this thesis is to assess the importance of socioeconomic and other factors on mortality differences across Europe over time and between regions to determine which factors should be incorporated into future mortality scenarios. When possib ... Read more

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This book presents and develops the basic methods and models that are used by demographers to study the behaviour of human populations. The procedures are clearly and concisely developed from first principles and extensive applications are presented. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

great for reference and as textbook
This is the best textbook I have encountered for learning demographic methodology, i.e. the mathematical methods used when analyzing demographic variables (mortality, fertility, migration).

Initially I used Hinde's book Demographic Methods, but I had great difficulty understanding his explanations, so I decided to find another, hopefully better, book.

I am glad I decided to look elsewhere because this book is just what I was looking for:
> the symbols are easier to understand than Hinde's
> there are examples for each method or technique
> it is more mathematical which makes it easier to see the logic and also makes it more practical
> the words used to describe the concepts are also better than in Hinde's book

I am not going to say that this book explains demographic methods in an easy way, as a subject Demographic Methods is not easy to learn, especially if you don't have a strong background in calculus.
The best I can do as a reviewer is to compare this book with others like it.

The mathematical pre-requisite for this book is any first-year calculus course, you should know what these are:
differentials, derivatives, integrals, logarithms. I especially encourage you to revise the use of integrals, the authors covers both continuous and discreet distributions.
But that said, I think you could manage to understand the formulas even if you don't know calculus very well, he explains them in words too and shows you how to do the calculations through examples.

To me the two best things about the book is that he uses so many examples and that he explains the concepts so clearly, for me this was priceless because that is what I struggled with in Hinde's book.
For example I first read about person-years and Lexis charts in Hinde, but even after I read through the chapters 5-6 times I still did not having a good understanding of them.
When I read Preston's book I understood everything the first time I read it.

I should mention that there are no exercises at all in this book.

Great Book
Great book. I have used it during my Master's program and now I am using it in a PhD program in Demography. One strong point is that the book presents the intuition behind the formulas. ... Read more

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The Demography of Victorian England and Wales describes in detail for the first time the changing population history of England and Wales between 1837 and 1914. Its principal focus is the great demographic revolution that occurred during those years, especially the secular decline of fertility and the origins of the modern rise in life expectancy. It is lavishly illustrated with numerous tables, figures and maps, many of which are reproduced in full color. This clear, comprehensive and engaging reference work makes a seminal contribution to demographic history. ... Read more

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This book analyses a peculiar phase in the history of Stockholm which has not previously been systematically investigated. Between 1750 and 1850 the Swedish capital experienced long-term stagnation, characterized by de-industrialization and slow population growth. In this study various aspects of the economic and social history of the period are examined in detail, including the decline of manufacturing, the causes of the extremely high rates of mortality and extra-marital fertility, and the distribution of economic resources. Social and spatial patterns of poverty are described and the trends and fluctuations in prices and real wages charted and compared with other European towns and cities. ... Read more

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Surveying the impact of population growth where it is believed to matter most--the rural areas of developing countries--this volume explicates its effects on food production. It examines such factors as forecasts of global food output, technological progress in agriculture, choice of agricultural systems, and population growth and access to land. ... Read more

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This book is a detailed examination of the demographic policy of Mussolini's Fascist regime. Based on archival research, it examines both the Italian statistics, and the demographic theory of the time. The author shows how the Fascists used statistics to mold public opinion through propaganda, as well as to form policy. He describes their program to increase the population in Italy, and reveals what the policy behind this program tells us about the contradictory nature of Fascism itself--it was at the same time modern and antimodern, revolutionary and reactionary. ... Read more

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This is a book about the population of London during the early modern period and a detailed book about the population of a European metropolitan city at that time. Much is now known about the historical demography of rural England, but very little is understood about the larger towns and cities. Roger Finlay applies new techniques in historical demography, principally family reconstitution and aggregative analysis of parish registers, to study the growth of population in London. He shows that parish registers are as reliable for the analysis of population trends in London as in rural England. The death rate was much higher in London than in the countryside, and this difference was not offset by a markedly higher birth rate, so the population would have declined but for migration. There were striking variations in both fertility and mortality between contrasting social areas of London. ... Read more

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This volume presents the analytical report for the World Population Prospects: The 1998 Revision, the official world population estimates and projections for each of the 184 countries or areas. The figures represent a unique set of comprehensive, consistent and internationally comparable estimates and projections of population by age and sex as well as age and sex patterns of mortality, fertility and migration. Estimates and projections are made and presented for each country separately. The estimates cover the period 1950-1995 and the projections the period 1995-2050. Results are also presented in terms of the world as a whole, its 21 regions and five major areas. In addition, countries are organized by level of development. The Analytical Report is the third volume of a three-volume set; the earlier two published volumes provide the comprehensive tables and the sex and age distribution of the population of all countries of the world. ... Read more

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Written specifically for classroom and student use, with over 35 tables and figures, this book sets out the political demographics of the Arab countries. In this revised and expanded second edition, the author updates all the data; adds analysis on North African countries; and discusses the phenomenon of intra-Arab labour migration and its socioeconomic-political impacts. ... Read more

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Discusses macro-economic determinants of international migration in Europe ... Read more