INTD 216/SOC 358

POPULATION PROBLEMS AND  POLICY

Les Howard /Abi Fattahi    

Fall, 2003

 

STUDY SHEET FOR THE MIDTERM (Thursday, Oct. 16)

 

I.                    Be familiar with the observed ranges and mathematical definitions of the following concepts and measures, able to define them, to provide estimates of them from known values of other measures, and to make inferences about probable relations to "development" and demographic transition of the populations which they describe.

 

                        Linear and Exponential Growth

                        Rate of Natural Increase

                        Doubling Time

                        Longevity

                        CDR

                        ASDR

                        Infant Mortality

                        Epidemiological transition

                        Fertility 

                        Impaired fecundity       

                        Menarche, menopause

                        Amenorrhea

Proximate determinants of fertility  (intercourse, conception, and gestation variables)

Contraceptive Use Effectiveness

Abortion Rate and Abortion Ratio

                        Period vs. cohort vs. synthetic cohort measures of fertility

                        CBR

                        GFR

                        CWR

                        ASFR

                        TFR

                        GRR

                        NRR

 

II.         Be prepared to discuss:

 

A.            The relation of a country to the epidemiological transition and/or demographic transition based only on basic data on the prevailing rates of key demographic processes.

 

B.            The differences between “causes” of demographic rates and “causes” of individual behavior or vital experience.

 

C.                 “What is uncertain is not that the future rate of growth will be about zero but how large the future population will be and what the combination of fertility and mortality will be.”  Coale

D.                 The insights provided by a particular theoretical perspective within demography relative to a specified set of issues or to one of the questions above.

E.                  The role of “theory” in the generation and interpretation of demographic data.

 

F.                  The interplay of linear and exponential processes in explaining the pattern of growth observed for each of your countries or for the world during a specified time period.

 

G.                 The implications of "Proposition 54" for the study of demography in California

 

H.                 Ethical questions raised by available positive and negative interventions in fertility processes

 

 

Note:  Make sure to bring your calculator -- you will need it!   You may also bring up to one page of formulas for key concepts