The course programme of Demography
(prepared by prof. P. Zvidrins)
1. Subject of demography and a method.
Subject of demography. Movement forms of population: natural movement of population, migration and social mobility. Structures of population.
Place of demography in the system of sciences. Demography and demographic statistics. Branches of demography.
Method of demography. Statistical, mathematical, sociological methods in studies of population reproduction.
History of demography and historical demography.
2. Sources of information on population.
Population Censuses - main source of news on population. Main features of contemporary Population Census. Microcensus. Pilot Census. Main organizational matters of Population Census. Counting time and critical moment. Unit of observation. Methods and ways of population counting. Census questionnaires. Population Censuses in Latvia.
Current enumeration of natural and mechanical movement of population. Registers and lists of population.
Population register in Latvia.
Demographic surveys.
Recent literature on population development.
3. Special methods of population research.
General demographic coefficients and average number of population.
Population reproduction, their types and characteristic indices.
Demographic models.
Demographic tables, its layouts.
Concept of generation. Real and hypothetical generation.
Method of cohort and anamnesis in demography.
4. Size and distribution of population.
Categories of population.
Settlements. Urban and rural population. Urbanization.
Population density and territorial distribution of their number.
5. Population structures.
Sex and age structure of population. Pyramids of population.
Ageing of population, reasons and consequences of ageing. Indices of demographic burden.
Social and economic structures of population. Economically active and inactive population.
Education and cultural level of population.
Ethnic composition of population. Ethnic minorities. Assimilation. Human races. Population structure by mother tongue. Dynamics of ethnic structure in Latvia.
Population structure by marital status. Structure of families and households.
6. Nuptiality and divorce.
General and special indices of nuptiality. Nuptiality tables.
Nuptiality indexes.
Historical evolution of marriage and family. Nuptiality differentiation.
Divorce indices. Tables of divorce and cessation of marriage. More important regularities of divorce. Main reasons and motives of divorce in Latvia.
7. Fertility.
General and special measurements of fertility. Tables of fertility. World Fertility Survey. Fertility and family Survey.
Concept on natural fertility.
Infertile marriages. Illegitimate fertility. Adolescent fertility.
Historical evolution of fertility. Main regularities of fertility in modern times. Underreplacement fertility in Latvia. The rise of cohabitation and illegitimacy. Qualitative characterization of new - borns.
Reproductive behaviour, essence and indices. Reproductive motivation.
Family planning. Methods and ways of regulation of fertility in developed and developing societies. Reproductive health.
8. Mortality and life expectancy of population.
General and special mortality measurements. Infant mortality. Characterization of premature mortality level.
Life tables, their compilation and indices. Average life expectancy. Registration and classification of causes of death. Life tables by causes of death.
Historical evolution of mortality. Differential mortality, its determinants. Occupational mortality.
Main regularities of mortality and average life expectancy in Latvia. Explanations of mortality increase in countries with economies in transition.
9. Migration.
Classification of migration.
Characteristic indices of migration. Causes of migration.
Migration history of population. Main directions of migration in the world, Europe and in Latvia.
Regulation of migration processes.
10. Economic demography.
Demographic - economic interrelations.
Production and consumption in different sex and age groups of population.
Labour activity and efficiency of population. Population economic pyramids.
Work period tables.
Life budget, its structure.
Labour resources, its structure.
Balances of labour resources.
11. Demographic situation and demographic policy.
Essence and main measurements of demographic situation. World - wide demographic
situation. Demographic situation in economically developed and in developing countries.
Causes and consequences of demographic explosion. Demographic revolution and demographic transition.
Demographic optimum, determination possibilities of its parameters and use in practice.
Demographic policy, its essence and methods of realization.
Policy of assets and liabilities. World - wide activity plan on matters of population density accepted by UN.
Demographic policy in Latvia. Comprehensive long-term demographic development programmes. National programme "Population of Latvia".
12. Demographic projections.
Types and methods of demographic projections. Realistic forecasts, forecasts - warnings and analytic projections. Short - term, mean - duration and long - term forecasts. Demographic now - casts.
Stochastic population projections. The use of model tables and high - level programming packages.
Forecasting of fertility, mortality and migration processes. Forecasting of fertility and mortality by generation. Projections of demographic structures and special groups.
Role of UN specialized organizations in forecasting of demographic development of the world and its regions. Latest national and regional population forecasts.
13. Development of demographic concepts and theories.
Precocious demographic concepts.
Points of view of classics of political economy.
Malthusianism, its evolution T.R. Malthus's principle of population.
Marxist - Leninist theory.
Theory of demographic transition. Economic theory of fertility.
Ideological contradictions on matters of demographic development in UN and other international conferences. Concepts of World Population Plan of Action (1994).