Demography The Study of Populations

What is Demography?  Gathering and analysis of information about human populations  Eg. birth rates, death rates, literacy rates, population growth  Demographer- the type of geographer who collects and analyzes this information

Demographers want answers to…  How many? Where can this info be found?  How is this population changing and how quickly?  What are the characteristics and composition of the population?  How is the population distributed?  What implications do these factors have for the future?

Collecting Information on Population  Census- a questionnaire style form which are sent to households to fill out and return to the government  Ask about family members living in household, race, income level, ages, etc.  Demographers use this information to make statistics for communities, provinces or the country

How is the information used?  Track shifts in society that warrant changes in immigration policies,  Track internal migration  Determine the number of elected representatives  Identify a good location for a new business  Plan a marketing strategy  Set up social services that meet a populations needs

Early Census  Census have been conducted since Roman times  These census collected info on the number of people, the property they owned and their agricultural harvest in a year  This information was collected to find out how much a citizen could pay in taxes

Mid 1700’s  1 st national census were performed in Sweden and US  Hired enumerators- people who travel door to door to ask questions/ count the numbers of people

How is data collected?  Home visits by enumerators  Completed online  Send in by mail  Depends on the country you are collecting the information on Sending in by mail works in MDC where high literacy rates and reliable mail system Enumerator visits work best in LDC where lower literacy rates

Types of Questions  Questions will vary depending on what the country wants to find out  A census which covers everything will include questions on the following: Education Religion Language spoken Nationality Home ownership Occupation Possessions

Question to think about…  Some people think a census is an invasion of personal information. What do you think? What would you tell these people?

Problems with Inaccuracy  Results can never be 100% because: Homelessness- no permanent address therefore hard to receive a census form to fill out Fear of entering slums or crime ridden areas- enumerators might not want to enter these areas to collect info Isolation- enumerators/ mail does not reach them Confusion- people not living at their permanent address not counted (eg. university students)

 Privacy issues- not wanting to disclose personal info even though kept confidential  Reputation- info used to be used for taxation purposes, or how many men could serve in war. Some people are still suspicious Inaccuracies cont’d

Problems that result from inaccuracies  Unfair political representation #’s of people = political boundaries  Unfair levels of funding #’s of people = $ money receive  Lack of funding for homeless people #’s of homeless people recorded = more or less funding

Problems cont’d  Product failure How a company will market a new product based on demographics of community  Faulty economic policies Economic growth related to population growth. Higher pop. growth = higher economic growth. Inaccurate measures of pop. growth may = inaccurate predictions of economic growth

Problems with interpretation  Countries can interpret definitions of statistics differently (eg. what is urban living?)  United Nations (UN) has written standard definitions, but not every country uses them  Eg. Canada’s definition of urban = min. size of community 1000 people. Sweden’s definition = 200 people

Canadian Census  Statistics Canada- federal government agency that collects, analyzes and publishes data  First started in 1871 and continued every 10 years until 1986 when it moved to every 5 years  Every person must be included in the census

Canadian Census cont’d  Two types of forms- short (7 questions) and long (55 questions)  80% of Canadians receive short forms  20% receive the long form which requires more information given  Long forms allow the demographers to determine trends for the entire country without everyone having to fill one out  Failure to complete the census form can lead to a $500 fine or 3 months in prison

Canadian census cont’d  Data is entered into databases over the next 4 months  Statisticians analyze the data over the next 4 years  Stats Canada is recognized as one of the most accurate statistical information collection agency in the world