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Chapter 1: Canada's Population in a Global Context

The Study of Population

Introduction

  • The population problem: overpopulation

    • Peaked in 1960/1970 → population growth faster than ever

    • Effects on environment

    • Result = decline in population + industrial capacity

  • Highly developed countries: trouble = below-replacement birth rate + low population growth

    • Population aging

  • Developing countries: decline in population growth

  • Least developed countries: high growth rates → aggravates poverty, unemployment, slow economic development

  • Demographers: those who study population dynamics

  • Aggregate manifestations/measures

    • Birth rate

    • Death rate

  • 3 fundamental variables of demography:

    • Fertility

    • Mortality

    • Migration

  • Other variables:

    • Age

    • Sex

  • Highly industrialized countries: below-replacement fertility rate

    • Baby boom generation

  • Canada - urban expansion

    • More automobiles → greenhouse gas emissions → pollution

  • Importance of population for society

Population Defined

  • Population: a collectivity of people co-existing within a prescribed geographic territory at a given point in time. The collectivity changes as a function of the interplay of migration, birth, and death processes

  • Temporal continuity: people living today are descendants of many earlier generations

  • Demographic metabolism: a continuing process of societal renewal through the fundamental demographic processes of birth, death, and in- and out-migration

  • Census: a tool allowing to count the number of persons present in a given area at a specified time

    → Undercount!

    • Can identify:

      • Civilian population

      • Total resident population

      • Total population living abroad

  • Attrition: losses through deaths and emigration

  • Accession: gains through births and immigration

Formal Demography and Population Studies

  • Demography: the scientific study of population and how population is affected by births, deaths, and migration

    • Divided in 2 aspects that are complementary:

      • Population studies

      • Formal demography

  • Roland Pressat’s 3 core areas

Formal Demography

  • Formal demography: the quantitative study of population in terms of growth, distribution, and development/change

    • How many people of what kind are where?

Population Studies

  • Population studies: interplay between demography and other disciplines

    • Focuses on identifying determinants and consequences

    • How come? So what?

The Nature of Demographic Change

  • Static analysis: focus on demographic conditions at a fixed point in time

  • Dynamic analysis: study the change in demographic conditions over a period of time

    • Process variables: variables that reflect human behavioral processes (fertility, mortality, migration)

Change in Population Size

  • Net migration: the net difference between the number of incoming and outgoing migrants

  • Demographic balancing equation

Linear, Geometric, Exponential, and Logistic Models of Population Growth

  • Linear model: assumes a straight-line progression of change over time

    • The population grows by the same amount between time points

    • Rate of change is constant

  • Geometric/Exponential models: assume that growth follows a non-linear trend over time

    • Geometric model: growth occurs at discrete time points, such as the end of each year

    • Exponential model: assumes continuous compounding at discrete time points

  • Logistic model: assumes that a human population undergoing prolonged exponential growth will eventually experience insupportable levels of population density, which will impose strains on resources and the environment; and under such conditions, society would be compelled to implement measures to curtail growth or face increased rates of mortality

    • Small population + low population density = increase rate of growth

Compositional Change

  • Compositional change: change in the distribution of key population characteristics (age, sex, marital status, education, occupation)

  • Age-sex pyramid: a graphic representation of the distribution of the population in terms of age and sex

Individual Behavior and Demographic Processes

Individual State Transitions as Demographic Behavior

  • Multistate classification: intersection of statuses

  • State transitions: moving in and out of statuses

    • Repeatable

    • Non-repeatable

Individual State Transitions and Demographic Rates

  • Rate: a dynamic, quantifiable measure of risk given exposure to some specific events over some specified interval

Reclassification Processes

  • Reclassification: a change in identification by individuals

Demographic Change and Social Change

  • Social change has occurred when a social pattern is significantly different from what it has been in the past

    • Agents of social change: acts of individuals + changes in population

    • Processes: process of imitation + action of the mass media

  • Normative behavior: when a behavior becomes a standard form of behavior

Age, Period, and Cohort: The Mechanisms of Demographic Change

  • Biological aging: passage through life from birth to death

  • Chronological aging: passage through biological and calendar time simultaneously

  • Birth cohort: individuals who are born during a specified time interval and pass through biological and chronological time together

  • Timing: the age at which these events occur

  • Intensity: the number of persons involved

  • Period perspective: emphasis on some phenomenon occurring at a given point in time or time interval

Cohorts and Generations

  • Generation: one generation of parents produces a new generation of children…

    • Encompasses different birth cohorts that experience some significant defining societal experience

  • Baby boom generation

Chapter 1: Canada's Population in a Global Context

The Study of Population

Introduction

  • The population problem: overpopulation

    • Peaked in 1960/1970 → population growth faster than ever

    • Effects on environment

    • Result = decline in population + industrial capacity

  • Highly developed countries: trouble = below-replacement birth rate + low population growth

    • Population aging

  • Developing countries: decline in population growth

  • Least developed countries: high growth rates → aggravates poverty, unemployment, slow economic development

  • Demographers: those who study population dynamics

  • Aggregate manifestations/measures

    • Birth rate

    • Death rate

  • 3 fundamental variables of demography:

    • Fertility

    • Mortality

    • Migration

  • Other variables:

    • Age

    • Sex

  • Highly industrialized countries: below-replacement fertility rate

    • Baby boom generation

  • Canada - urban expansion

    • More automobiles → greenhouse gas emissions → pollution

  • Importance of population for society

Population Defined

  • Population: a collectivity of people co-existing within a prescribed geographic territory at a given point in time. The collectivity changes as a function of the interplay of migration, birth, and death processes

  • Temporal continuity: people living today are descendants of many earlier generations

  • Demographic metabolism: a continuing process of societal renewal through the fundamental demographic processes of birth, death, and in- and out-migration

  • Census: a tool allowing to count the number of persons present in a given area at a specified time

    → Undercount!

    • Can identify:

      • Civilian population

      • Total resident population

      • Total population living abroad

  • Attrition: losses through deaths and emigration

  • Accession: gains through births and immigration

Formal Demography and Population Studies

  • Demography: the scientific study of population and how population is affected by births, deaths, and migration

    • Divided in 2 aspects that are complementary:

      • Population studies

      • Formal demography

  • Roland Pressat’s 3 core areas

Formal Demography

  • Formal demography: the quantitative study of population in terms of growth, distribution, and development/change

    • How many people of what kind are where?

Population Studies

  • Population studies: interplay between demography and other disciplines

    • Focuses on identifying determinants and consequences

    • How come? So what?

The Nature of Demographic Change

  • Static analysis: focus on demographic conditions at a fixed point in time

  • Dynamic analysis: study the change in demographic conditions over a period of time

    • Process variables: variables that reflect human behavioral processes (fertility, mortality, migration)

Change in Population Size

  • Net migration: the net difference between the number of incoming and outgoing migrants

  • Demographic balancing equation

Linear, Geometric, Exponential, and Logistic Models of Population Growth

  • Linear model: assumes a straight-line progression of change over time

    • The population grows by the same amount between time points

    • Rate of change is constant

  • Geometric/Exponential models: assume that growth follows a non-linear trend over time

    • Geometric model: growth occurs at discrete time points, such as the end of each year

    • Exponential model: assumes continuous compounding at discrete time points

  • Logistic model: assumes that a human population undergoing prolonged exponential growth will eventually experience insupportable levels of population density, which will impose strains on resources and the environment; and under such conditions, society would be compelled to implement measures to curtail growth or face increased rates of mortality

    • Small population + low population density = increase rate of growth

Compositional Change

  • Compositional change: change in the distribution of key population characteristics (age, sex, marital status, education, occupation)

  • Age-sex pyramid: a graphic representation of the distribution of the population in terms of age and sex

Individual Behavior and Demographic Processes

Individual State Transitions as Demographic Behavior

  • Multistate classification: intersection of statuses

  • State transitions: moving in and out of statuses

    • Repeatable

    • Non-repeatable

Individual State Transitions and Demographic Rates

  • Rate: a dynamic, quantifiable measure of risk given exposure to some specific events over some specified interval

Reclassification Processes

  • Reclassification: a change in identification by individuals

Demographic Change and Social Change

  • Social change has occurred when a social pattern is significantly different from what it has been in the past

    • Agents of social change: acts of individuals + changes in population

    • Processes: process of imitation + action of the mass media

  • Normative behavior: when a behavior becomes a standard form of behavior

Age, Period, and Cohort: The Mechanisms of Demographic Change

  • Biological aging: passage through life from birth to death

  • Chronological aging: passage through biological and calendar time simultaneously

  • Birth cohort: individuals who are born during a specified time interval and pass through biological and chronological time together

  • Timing: the age at which these events occur

  • Intensity: the number of persons involved

  • Period perspective: emphasis on some phenomenon occurring at a given point in time or time interval

Cohorts and Generations

  • Generation: one generation of parents produces a new generation of children…

    • Encompasses different birth cohorts that experience some significant defining societal experience

  • Baby boom generation

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