What does the field of demography study? Explain the three major processes that are examined. How do these processes vary by rich or poor country? What social, political, cultural, and/or technological factors influence these processes?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Demography studies human populations. The three major processes are births, deaths, and migration. Demographers use two birth measurements: fertility (the number of children that a woman has) and fecundity (the maximum number of children that she could possibly have). Poor countries tend to have high fertility, while rich countries have low fertility. The mortality rate measures the number of deaths per year per thousand people. The mortality rate in rich countries is low. It can be either low or high in poor countries – a low rate means that the fertility rate is so high that the proportion of older people in the population goes down (thus fewer deaths due to old age). A higher mortality rate generally means that due to famine, war, or disease, many people do not live to see old age. Migration refers to people entering (immigration) or leaving a territory. The immigration and emigration rates are measured as the number of people entering or leaving the territory per year per thousand, and the net migration rate is the difference between the two. Most rich countries have sizeable populations of immigrants, while more people emigrate from poor countries. Voluntary migrants (as opposed to those displaced by war or natural disasters) may be motivated by "pull" factors attracting them to the new country, such as a good economy, political and cultural tolerance, civil stability, and knowing someone in the new country, or by "push" factors, reasons they want to leave, such as a sluggish economy, political and cultural oppression, and civil unrest.