Demography and the environment

Demographers' interest in the environment has generally been enmeshed in broader issues of population growth and economic development. Empirical research by demographers on environmental issues other than natural-resource constraints is limited. In this paper, I briefly review past demographic thinking about population and the environment and suggest reasons for the limited scope of demographic research in this area. Next, I describe more recent demographic research on the environment and suggest several newer areas for demographic research. Finally, I consider the future of research on the environment in the field of demography.     

小区域家庭户预测的理论、方法与应用

小区域人口和家庭户预测越来越受到学界和社会各界的重视 ,但该领域的研究受方法论和数据可得性等的限制 ,还存在许多没有解决的问题。而且发展中国家的综合家庭户和人口预测更是少见。本文应用近年来有关家庭人口学、区域人口学、小区域人口估计的理论和方法的最新成果 ,采用多维动态宏观家庭户预测模型ProFamy,对中国两个区域泰和县和深圳特区的人口和家庭户进行了同时、一致的预测。通过实际应用 ,提出了小区域家庭户预测的理论、方法和应用的一些思考     

Historical Demography: Achievements and Prospects

Historical demography as a separate discipline came into existence when family reconstruction was first developed for the analysis of a pre-transition population. This paper assesses the significant achievements made in this field of population studies since then. Attention is also paid to equally significant findings obtained from aggregative analysis based on back projection, and to a large body of research results for the period of the demographic transition. In the last part of the paper, new research directions are discussed. Data issues as well as methodological ones are raised. Special attention is given to newly emerging Asian historical demography where different source materials require different methods and techniques, which in turn are expected to broaden the scope of the so far disproportionality fertility-oriented field. Finally, discussions are extended to economic, cultural and institutional aspects of the subject, with a plea not to isolate demographic analysis from other branches of historical research.     

Historical demography: achievements and prospects

Historical demography as a separate discipline came into existence when family reconstruction was first developed for the analysis of a pre-transition population. This paper assesses the significant achievements made in this field of population studies since then. Attention is also paid to equally significant findings obtained from aggregative analysis based on back projection, and to a large body of research results for the period of the demographic transition. In the last part of the paper, new research directions are discussed. Data issues as well as methodological ones are raised. Special attention is given to newly emerging Asian historical demography where different source materials require different methods and techniques, which in turn are expected to broaden the scope of the so far disproportionality fertility-oriented field. Finally, discussions are extended to economic, cultural and institutional aspects of the subject, with a plea not to isolate demographic analysis from other branches of historical research.     

Evolutionary Approaches to Population: Implications for Research and Policy

Evolutionary theory is becoming an increasingly important perspective in many social science disciplines. Ironically, the impact of evolutionary theory has been minimal in the study of human population although among the social sciences it is in demography and related fields that evolutionary approaches would be most appropriate. In this paper I review varying perspectives within evolutionary theory, proceeding to a brief review of theoretical paradigms within the field of demography. I then examine how evolutionary perspectives can interface with these theories, showing how evolutionary approaches elaborate, strengthen, and unify these outlooks. Lastly, I explore the implications of evolutionary approaches for research and policy.     

Geographic Information Systems and Spatial Data Processing in Demography: a Review

This paper reviews the use of geographic information systems (GIS) software for spatial data processing in demography. The review begins with an introduction to GIS. Next, it traces the three major types of spatial data problems confronting demographers: the geocoding and geoprocessing of microdata, estimation of detailed population surfaces, and combining data aggregated to incompatible zone systems. GIS and non-GIS solutions to these problems are contrasted, with examples from published research. Spatially pre-processed datasets available to demographers are then discussed. The author concludes by noting that the solutions GIS provides to previously intractable data problems in spatial demography might encourage a focus on dynamic processes of population change in local areas.     

New challenges for demography

Challenges for demography have arisen from recognition of its potential contribution to interdisciplinary research in new areas of major public interest. This paper discusses three of these: research on anthropological demography, AIDS and the health transition. The paper examines priorities and the contribution of demography to progress in each area.     

Population theory—A long view

Any attempt to take a long view of population research, its findings, and applications is bound to raise questions about the state of population theory. Recent research on the history of population thought enables us to include a much more complete account of classical and early modern sources, and of parallel and complementary developments in population biology. This paper considers four major shifts in the conceptual and empirical ambitions of population inquiry over the long term. In general, major conceptual developments in ideas about population reflect major shifts in political and biological theory. The nature of population in European science and society was substantially established before demography emerged as a twentieth-century academic discipline focused chiefly on fertility and mortality. A long view suggests that demography is currently in the course of a shift that constructively re-integrates it with the wider field of scientific and historical population thinking.     

人口学是一门具有广泛应用价值的很有发展前途的科学

人口学的社会认知形象不清或偏狭 ,对人口学的地位、作用和学科发展造成了不利的影响 ,也是造成我国目前人口学研究萎缩的重要原因之一。人口学是一门很年轻的、在我国还远远没有被开发的很有发展前途的科学。应以市场经济为背景 ,从深化人口学的学科研究、专业人才培养和应用开发三个方面来解决当前人口科学发展问题。     

Interpolating demography with families and households

This paper argues that the field of household and family demography serves a critical role in the development of our understanding of the determinants and consequences of population trends. Like the community, families and households are situated between the two levels at which demographic research is ordinarily conducted — the individual and the nation-state. The results of the papers in this issue are used to illustrate the critical ways that intergenerational and gender relationships shape demographic processes.     

经典人口转变理论的再探索—现代人口转变理论研究评介

产生于20世纪30年代并盛行于60年代的人口转变理论,是当代世界人口学界普遍认同的最重要的人口理论之一。本文以现代人口转变理论发展历程为线索,对该理论已有的研究成果和存在的争论予以总结,试图为今后的人口转变理论研究提供思路。     

基于人口生态视野的贵州民族地区出生性别比失调问题研究

出生性别比是人口发展的"生态基础",而出生性别比失调问题是和谐人口生态关系的一个极不和谐的因素。已有的人口学研究一般从全国或区域的范围分析出生性别比问题,忽视了少数民族地区出生性别比失调自身的特点。基于人口生态视野分析贵州民族地区出生性别比失调的特征、成因和后果。男性偏好在该地区特定的人口生态制约下有着深刻的经济、文化、社会、性别根源。贵州民族地区综合治理出生性别比失调必须采取一系列措施,其中,提高贵州民族地区妇女社会地位具有根本性的意义。     

Indigenous Australian population projections: problems and prospects

According to estimates from the 2006 Census, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Indigenous) Australians made up 2.5 % of the total Australian population. However, the focus of research and policy debate on Indigenous Australians far exceeds their population size for reasons of history, socio-economics, geography and demography. This has led to a need for accurate population projections of the population. In this paper, we outline a number of issues related to Indigenous population projections. These include the nature of self-identification; the impact of particular policy changes; significant differences in demographic parameters; and high rates of exogamy, especially in urban areas. We also document the relative accuracy of past and current population projections. In the final section of the paper we outline a research agenda that has the potential to lead to new and better Indigenous population projections.     

What is applied demography?

Applied demography has recently gained recognition as an emergent specialization among practicing demographers. We argue that applied demography is intrinsically distinct from basic demography because it exhibits the value-orientation and empirical characteristics of a decision-making science while the latter exhibits the value-orientation and empirical hallmarks of a basic science. Distinguishing characteristics of applied demography are based on the context in which it places precision and explanatory power relative to time and resources as well as the fact its substantive problems are largely exogenously-defined, usually by customers. The substantive problems of basic demography, on the other hand, are largely endogenously-defined, usually by academic demographers. Moreover, basic demography is primarily concerned with offering convincing explanations of demographic phenomena and tends to view time and resources as barriers to surmount in order to maximize precision and explanatory power. This context is very different from the one in which applied demography is embedded, which views explanatory power and precision in terms of doing what is necessary to support practical decision-making while minimizing time and resources. We examine this conceptualization of applied demography in terms of the methods and materials that fall within its purview and discuss some important consequences, including research agendas and training programs. We conclude by posing several important but unanswered questions about the actual and potential scope of applied demography and discuss some of the implications inherent in these questions.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the Southern Demographic Association, 20 October 1995, Richmond, Virginia, USA.     

对人口学学科体系的重新认识

人口学是一门方兴未艾的朝阳科学 ,2 1世纪正是人口科学的用武之时 ,人口学科学体系构成的研究是人口学研究中的重要环节。国内外学者对人口学学科体系的认识并不统一 ,对重大人口学问题的看法也有待商榷。人口学分支学科是人口科学研究进一步深入的载体 ,是人口科学发展与创新的新的增长点     

Progress in demographic methodology

This paper examines developments in demographic methodology during the past decade or so. It focuses on methodological advances in the analysis of mortality of infants and young children, of adults, and on problems of mortality estimation in small populations. The other major areas reviewed here are related to the study of birth intervals, parity progression, proximate determinants of fertility, and the demography of the family. Concluding remarks relate the methodological issues to the information explosion in demography.     

艾滋病的人口学研究——以云南省为例

随着世界及我国艾滋病感染者的急剧上升,艾滋病的防治已不仅仅是一个医学上的问题,艾滋病的流行及传播影响到人类生活的各个领域,加强艾滋病的预防控制的研究显得尤为迫切。以人口学理论为基础,系统地分析研究艾滋病的人口学特征,从人口学的角度提出艾滋病的预防控制对策,对于艾滋病流行程度较高的云南来说,具有重要的意义。     

Demography as a Spatial Social Science

Scholars in many social science disciplines have taken note of the re-emerging interest in issues concerning social processes embedded within a spatial context. While some argue that this awakening is refreshing and new and, in fact, long overdue, I demonstrate that spatially focused demographic theories and research agendas clearly predate contemporary interest in these topics. I assert that recent methodological advancements have merely encouraged and brought refinement to the expanding body of spatially oriented population research—research strongly rooted in demographic tradition and practice. Indeed, I make the claim that, until roughly the mid-20th century, virtually all demography in the United States (and elsewhere, but not specifically examined here) was spatial demography. Then, shortly after mid-century, a paradigm shift occurred, and the scientific study of population quickly came to be dominated by attention to the individual as the agent of demographic action. Traditional spatial demography—macro-demography—gave way to micro-demography, and, I argue, most demographers simply abandoned the data and approach of spatial demography. In closing the paper I include a brief discussion of the recent awakening that has come to spatial demographers from developments in other disciplines, principally geography, regional science, and spatial econometrics.     

Population education: a life experience course for the young

The Philippines is the 1st country to adopt an extensive population education program at an early stage of its national population program. Population education is a "life experience" course with the following 5 areas of study: 1) demography, 2) determinants of population growth, 3) consequences of population growth, 4) human sexuality and reproduction, and 5) planning for the future. Many institutions in the Philippines are teaching the course materials and training teachers for the course. Difficulties encountered in initiating the course are: 1) lack of administrative support, 2) lack of cooperation from conservative parents, and 3) an overcrowded curriculum. It has been decided to integrate the aspects of this course into existing areas of the curriculum. Topics for future research in population are outlined. Use of the research was also covered.     

Spatial Demography: An Opportunity to Improve Policy Making at Diverse Decision Levels

The number of applications of spatial demography has been growing mostly since the 1990s. Ranging from simple visualization to sophisticated spatial analytical techniques, these applications bring a new layer of explanation to demographic phenomena. This paper reviews demographic studies that specifically addressed space with spatial statistical models, and that focused on fertility, mortality, migration, and population models. Additionally, it summarizes different spatial datasets and software freely available, as well as the challenges that exist for the development of spatial demography applications. These challenges include confidentiality issues, scale problems, and the lack of training on spatial analysis in population centers. Although the first and second challenges involve modeling and technical solutions, the latter depends only on demographers’ commitment and willingness to promote change. Several topics for future spatially focused research are also outlined. Finally, the paper makes a strong case regarding the significant contribution that spatial demography can make to the monitoring, evaluation, and implementation of population policies.