Sociology unit 2 notes

1. CAPE®
POPULATION STUDIES
LESSON 1
Directed by
REMONE L. FOSTER

2. OBJECTIVES
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to answer the following
questions:
• What is Demography?
• Why is studying the population important in sociology?
• How to quantify population?
• What is the Human Development Index.
• Consider the Caribbean Human Development Index
• How to interpret a population pyramid.
• How does the population pyramid differ from developed and
developing nations.

3. DEMOGRAPHY
• Population refers to a collection of people or living organism living in
a given geographical area. Such may be unevenly distributed,
dynamic in nature and composes of people of different age, sex,
ethnicity and race.
• Demography is the study of population (Weeks, 2015).
• Anderson and Taylor (2019) are of the view that demography is a
scientific study which zooms in on the current state, distribution,
composition and changes of a population over time.

4. Why is studying the population important in sociology?
When one considers population studies, they are concerned with systematic study of
population models and phenomenon in relations to different social structures and
behaviors.
Population studies are therefore important because:
• there is need to monitor the consumption of limited resources within a society
• population changes reflect the social and economic development of a particular society
• to counteract the harsh effects of overpopulation
• to appreciate the population trends in a society and understand their implications
• to determine and implement social policies such as education, housing, education and
health care
• to make further predictions about population growth and declines
• to regulate land uses.

5. Population and other social problems:
•Weeks (2015) is of the view most of social issues
affecting people have a demographic underpinning. He
contends that population growth doesn’t cause social
ills but ignites them. That is, it only makes other
problems such as food security, women’s rights,
unemployment, aging, housing and urbanization,
inflation, pollution, education and literacy become
more evident.

6. IMPORTANT CONCEPTS IN QUANTIFYING POPULATION:
Crude Birth Rate: This is the number of live births per 1000 of the population. This is calculated by
means of: CBR=
# 𝒐𝒇 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒃𝒊𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝒙 𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟎
𝑻𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒑𝒐𝒑𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏
. The Crude birth rate is significant because it reveals the overall
health development of society and reflects population changes. Giddens (2005) mentions, however,
that the crude birth rate is really “crude” in that it offers nothing precise. It doesn’t tell us about the
composition of the population.
Crude Death Rate: This is the number of deaths per 1000 persons each year and is calculated as:
CDR=
# 𝒐𝒇 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒙 𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟎
𝑻𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒑𝒐𝒑𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏
. Similarly this can reflect the development of a society but offers little
information as to the patterns of death in that society. Anderson and Taylor (2011) notes that the
higher the standard of living in a society the lower the Crude death rate.
Fertility Rate: This is the number of children born for every 1000 women of child bearing age
(usually between 15 and 49) and is calculated as: FR=
# 𝒐𝒇 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒃𝒊𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝒙 𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟎
# 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝟏𝟓−𝟒𝟗 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒍𝒅
.

7. Natural Increase: This is the number of population caused by more birth than deaths at a given
period and is calculated as NI= # of births in a year - # of deaths in a year. Often people confuse an
increase in birth for natural increase but birth is only one component of population change and is not
to be seen as population growth.
Infant Mortality Rate: This is the yearly number of deaths under the age of one year for every
thousand births and is calculated as IMR=
# 𝒐𝒇 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉 (𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝟏) 𝒙 𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟎
𝑻𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒊𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒔
. The Infant mortality
rate is significant because it reflects improvements in health care, maternity well being and the
overall status of women in a society.
Life expectancy: This is the average years an individual is expected to live. Over the years, life
expectancy has increased significantly in most Caribbean territories. Factors that affect life
expectancy include diet and nutrition, medical care, health facilities, the availability of
appropriate recreational facilities, the availability of jobs, stress level, wages etc.

8. Population growth Rate: This is the rate at which a population is
increasing and decreasing in a given year due to natural increase and net
migration expressed as a % (percentage) of a base population. It is
therefore calculated as PGR=
𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 +𝒏𝒆𝒕 𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏
𝑻𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒑𝒐𝒑𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏
.
The Dependency Ratio compares the number of dependence with the
number of economically able people in a society. It is calculated as DR:
% 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝟏𝟓 + % 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝟔𝟓 𝒙 𝟏𝟎𝟎
% 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝟏𝟓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝟔𝟒
.

9. POPULATION STATISTICS: CENSUS AND SURVEYS
• Demographers use a variety of measures to study population and statistics is collected by
way of national census, and registration systems such as voter’s list, national registration
and surveys.
• Such statistics are important because they indicate the level of human Development in a
particular country and allow that country to appreciate the extent to which their policies
and programs in social services (such as education and health) are working.
• A census is a head count of the entire population of a country, usually done at regular
intervals.
• Although by law, a census is to be taken every ten years, studies have should that this is
best since population changes normally takes about that time to manifest itself.
• However, a census may ignore people in mountainous areas and areas of high crime rates.
• In developed countries such as Canada, Britain and the USA, a survey may also be used
to track demographic changes. This is collecting data from a sample group within a
specific geographic area.

10. THE HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX
The Human Development Index was developed by the United Nations and uses a
combination of socio-economic measures to give an indication of human welfare.
Sustainable development (and economic development) is only possible where human
welfare is addressed positively. The HDI is concerned with:
(a) Longevity: This is measured by life expectancy at birth and gives an indication of
the overall health resources of a country and access to such resources, the level of
poverty and the education of mothers.
(b) Knowledge: This is measured by access to education, adult literacy and the means
years of schooling attained. This reflects the extent to which members of a society are
gravitating towards educational opportunities to enhance their quality of lives.
(c) GDP per capita: This is an economic indicator of development which is adjusted
for the purchasing power parity and reflects the cost of living in a country. This
underscores the fact that economic growth is a vital part of development.

11. Caribbean Human Development Index –
2016 REPORT by the United Nations
• The Caribbean Human Development Index reveals that the region is
experiencing greater levels of adult literacy, equity in the schools and greater
enrollment at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels of education.
• Countries such as Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados have ensured that education
is free for all students at all levels and there is evidence that other countries have
been increasing educational opportunities for people.
• The report focused heavily on the impact of crime on the region and believes that
the high crime rate has severely undermined the progress of the region.
• The top island in the Caribbean Human Development Index is Barbados
• The lowest island in the Caribbean Human Development Index is Haiti – ranked
“Lowest human development”.

12. POPULATION PYRAMIDS
• A population pyramid is used as a blueprint for interpreting the
dynamics of a population and is used essentially to show the age and
sex distribution of a population.
• A population pyramid is significant as it reveal the structural changes
in a population of a particular society over a specific period of time.
• Such pyramids differ from one society to another and their shapes
have serious implications

15. How would the population pyramid of a developed nation
differ from that of a developing nation?
• A developed nation would more than likely have a broad top with
women outliving men.
• There is evidence that such countries have very narrow base which
reflects a very low birth rate.
• These pyramids tend to be of a pear shape. Developing nations or less
developed nations, on the other hand, would tend to have narrow tops
although this has been broadening over the years.
• Often, the base is extremely wide which reflects a very high birth rate.
Such pyramids tend to be triangular in nature.

16. SOURCES
• Andersen, M. and Taylor, H. 2019. Sociology: The Essential, 10th
Edition. Belmont: Washington.
• Weeks, J. 2015. Population: An Introduction to Concepts and Issues,
12th Edition. Wadsworth Publishing.

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