The word "demography" was formed from the words "demos" and "grapho". Translated from Greek, they mean "people" and "I write" respectively. The literal interpretation of this phrase is “description of the population”, or “description of the people”. However, the science of demography throughout its history has never been limited to description. Her subject matter has always been deeper and wider.
History of Appearance
Science, the subject of which is the demography of the population, has a specific foundation date. Its beginning was laid in January 1662. It was then that a book written by the English captain and merchant, self-taught scientist John Graunt saw the light of day in London. During the period when the author worked on his work, outbreaks of plague and other contagious diseases often occurred in the country. Mortality bulletins were published weekly in London, and this information was of practical importance, because readers could leave the dangerous city at the first sign of a threat to their lives.
Graunt saw benefits for science in mournful bulletins. He studied all the records of births and deaths published in London for eighty years. WhereinGraunt drew attention to a number of regularities. In particular, he noticed that the number of born boys is greater than girls, and this difference is constant and amounts to 7.7%. The scientist drew attention to the excess of deaths over births, concluding that the number of inhabitants of London is increasing only due to the resettlement of people from the provinces. A certain pattern was also found in marital relations: on average, there were four births for each union. By the number of births and deaths, the scientist was able to determine the number of residents of the city, and by the age of the dead, the age structure of the population.
The conclusions made were extremely important, because at that time there were no censuses. In addition, no one kept statistics of the population, except for church statistics.
A small book, the text of which was located on ninety pages, became the source of the development of not only demography, but also sociology, as well as statistics.
Further development
The formation of demography as a science in subsequent centuries took place in two directions. On the one hand, there was a narrowing of the subject of its study. In contrast, the object of demography was influenced by an increasing number of various factors. At the same time, it became obvious that this science covers an extremely wide area, which is the entire social life. She was unable to cope with such a task. That is why, from the subject of study of demography, there was a gradual exclusion of issues of economics, social structure, education and upbringing, morality, mobility andpublic he alth, etc. These questions began to be explored by other sciences, such as sociology, pedagogy, ethnography, political economy, medicine, etc.
By the mid-sixties of the last century, many experts began to limit the tasks of demography to the study of natural population movement. Moreover, the movement here is understood not in the physical, but in a general way. And it means change.
Classification
Population demographics can be of two kinds. One of them is natural, and the second is mechanical, or migratory. The second type of population change is the movement of people across a territory. Natural movement is a constant change in the structure and size of the population. It occurs as a result of deaths, births, divorces and marriages. The natural movement of the population also includes a change in the age and sex structure of the inhabitants, which has a direct impact on all demographic processes.
From this we can draw a definite conclusion: the demography of the world shows that the population is in motion and is constantly changing. People are born and die, get married and divorced, change their place of residence, work, profession, etc. As a result of these processes, the structure and size of the population is constantly changing.
The social nature of demographics
The continuous movement of the renewal of the population in mathematical terms can have both a plus sign and a minus sign. It happens under the influence of lawssocial development, is one of the components of social life, therefore, it has a social character. The demographic area is the result of human activities. Life expectancy, the birth of fewer or more children in the family, celibacy or marriage - all relate to social factors. They are subject to social laws and are part of the functioning of the entire social organism.
At the same time, the main elements that make up the social structure of society are social communities and groups. They are groups of people who work together. At the same time, all their work is aimed at meeting the needs of representatives of this social group.
Subject of study
The goal pursued by any science is to reveal the laws of development of a certain area, which is simply impossible without establishing existing patterns.
The concept of demography can be revealed as follows: it is a science whose subject is regularities in the processes of natural reproduction of the population. At the same time, the concept of population is deciphered here in a specific way. It's not just a collection of people. This is their large number, which has a rich structure necessary for constant renewal. The main quality that determines the population is its ability to reproduce itself. Thus, this concept does not include such aggregates as laborcollectives, residents of houses, etc.
Study Objectives
Besides the knowledge of regularities, any science has practical tasks. There are also demographics. Their list includes the following:
- study of factors and trends of diverse demographic processes;
- development of measures and forecasts of demographic policy.
It is not an easy task to identify the trends that exist in the field of vital movement. This is where statistics come to the rescue. Demography chooses the indicators necessary in each specific case and evaluates their reliability.
No less importance is attached to the study of various factors of population movement. In this case, as a rule, the causes of processes and phenomena are implied.
Based on the analysis of the results obtained, demographers develop forecasts regarding future changes in the structure and size of the population. The planning of the national economy of the country is based on their conclusions. These forecasts are important in the distribution of labor resources, training, housing development, etc.
Based on the knowledge of the real trends in the processes of population movement, the goals of the country's social and demographic policy are being determined. The development of such programs is complex, so the list of necessary measures is prepared not only by demographers. This is done by sociologists and lawyers, doctors and psychologists, advertising specialists, etc.
Demographic characteristics
The distribution of the population according to some significant difference is understood by its structure. In this case, any characteristic can be taken. The main thing is that it is of interest to the researcher. These characteristics represent a demographic.
Differences between different populations
What is a demographic? This is the distribution of the population according to gender structure and age, nationality, etc. One nation necessarily differs from another in certain features. This is the demographic. Examples of this are numerous. As a sample, you can take the demographics of the Scots and the British.
Gender structure
The entire population is divided into women and men. This is the demographic feature of the sex structure. Three factors influence the main characteristics of this classification. The first of them is a biological constant and is determined based on the sex ratio of newborn babies. The second factor is the gender differences of the dead people. Demographic characteristics in terms of gender structure also depend on differences in the intensity of migration of men and women.
So, on average, boys are born slightly more than girls. The ratio among newborns is stable. For one hundred girls, it is one hundred and five to one hundred and six boys. However, physiologists are of the opinion that in infancy, the male body is less viable. That is why a little more boys die at the initial stage. Further, the mortality rates by sex are modified. So, in developed countriesmore men die due to occupational diseases, injuries and adherence to alcohol and smoking. In developing countries, the picture is reversed. The mortality rate for women is higher here. This is due to hard work and frequent childbirth, low social status and malnutrition.
Age structure
The distribution of the population is also made according to the period from the birth of a person to a certain point in his life. What is a demographic characteristic by age structure? This is the distribution of people according to the years they lived, and for babies by months, weeks, days and hours.
The age structure of society has a significant impact on demographic processes and on the magnitude of indicators existing in this area. So, if the percentage of young people among the population is high, then it is possible to predict an increase in the marriage rate, as well as the birth rate, with a decrease in mortality.
The age structure affects not only demographic, but also all social processes. With the duration of a period of a person's life, his emotionality, psychology, and also, to a certain extent, his mind are connected. Revolutions and riots are more likely in states that have a young age structure. Aging societies, where there is a high proportion of older people, by contrast, are prone to stagnation and dogmatism.
Marriage structure
The demographic sign of the population is also determined by the form of relations between a woman and a man. Knowledge of the marriage structure of society is important for the study of the processes of fertility, as well as mortality. Whereindemographics are interested not only in the legal form of marriage. Marital relations, regardless of their legal form, are also studied by scientists.
When people get married, divorced or widowed, their marital status changes from one state to another. On the scale of the whole society, these cases become components of one process. Taken together, they represent a reproduction of the marriage structure.
Knowledge about these processes is important for determining the causes of family breakdown and formation, changes in trends in the birth rate and mortality of the population.
Creation of a new scientific discipline
Social demography was formed at the intersection of demography and sociology. This is a new scientific discipline. It studies the mutual influence of social and demographic processes. The study of the natural movement of the population in this discipline is carried out at the micro level. Social demography studies family relationships and personality. It also looks at family structure.
The focus of social demography is demographic attitudes and behaviors, as well as social norms.
Social orientation of demographics
Any community of people is formed on the basis of certain characteristics. The science of demography studies the population by sex, by age, etc. However, the demographic feature itself is neutral. It acquires social status only when considering the general socio-historical context.
What is a demographic in this case? For example, being a woman or a man means not just having the physiological characteristics inherent in the sex. This concept includes the assimilation of a system of social role, as well as the corresponding stereotype of behavior, tastes, interests, character traits, etc. Socio-demographic characteristics are factors in a person’s femininity or masculinity. This has its pros and cons. On the one hand, the demographic feature of social groups is an essential condition for happiness and peace of mind. However, the medal also has a downside. The demographic sign of social groups felt by a person can become an obstacle to the formation of a gifted creative person. It will fetter manifestations of freethinking, forbidding deviating from stereotypes of thinking and behavior, as well as from accepted rules.
Sections and branches of demography
Any science has many thematic parts. Demography is no exception. It includes various sections that allow you to study specific issues.
Thus, the task of theoretical demography is to develop a general theory of population. Moreover, all factors are analyzed on the basis of ongoing empirical research and put forward scientific hypotheses that reveal quantitative relationships that exist between events and phenomena in the natural movement of the population.
The next section of science is the history of demography. This discipline explores the evolution of knowledge in the field of population movement.
Studying the socialThe demographic composition of the population deals with demographic statistics. This sub-branch of the scientific discipline is interested in studies of the composition of the population. The subject of study of demographic statistics is nationality and education, qualifications and position held, profession, as well as the grouping of the population by source of income, etc. This discipline examines migration flows and the economic burden in families.
Information on family structures is collected by household statistics. It pays attention to the quality of nutrition and the provision of durable goods, the level of income and life of the population. She focuses on data on the number of married couples, whether they have children, etc.
A detailed system of information about the dynamics and reproduction of the population is descriptive, or descriptive, demography.
It's no secret that there is a certain relationship between the reproduction of the population and the level of development of the country. Its study is economic demography. This discipline analyzes the impact of all demographic processes on the proportions and structure of economic growth.
Economic demography includes three areas (sections). They are the following: the economics of population growth and quality, as well as the economics of socio-demographic structures.
Ethnic demography is also an interdisciplinary scientific direction. It explores the structure of migration of ethnic groups and the influence of ethno-confessional systems of behavior on the level of population reproduction.
There are demographics and political. Her area of research is the interaction of socio-political and demographic processes. The subject of this discipline is the political risks of the demographic policy pursued by the state.
In the early seventies of the last century, another branch of the scientific discipline arose. Medical demography appeared, which began to study the state of he alth of the population, the influence of environmental and social conditions on the mortality rate. At the same time, the main task of this industry was to analyze the causes of population loss, as well as to develop, based on the data obtained, the most favorable conditions for the demographic processes of the country.
