Vaid’s/2018-19/ANE-/1  

Demography
By Dr. M.P.Srivastav
The term demography has been derived from two proportional to the achievements of statistics.
Greek terms Demo & Graphy, meaning thereby to write 3) This deals with the size, structure and distribu-
about the people. This terms was first of all applied by tion and related aspects of human beings. According to
Achilic Guillord. Victor Petrov — ‘It does not study the very phenomena
The data related to population have been collected of economics, history and so forth, but the participating
even in ancient period in some or other form, but these population and its reproduction as a totality i.e. the
have been confined to census. In the present time, it movement of these totalities.
includes size, territorial distribution etc. This further 4) This deals with size, structure, distribution and
became a new branch of science. A number of scholars the factors responsible for changes of population. This
attempted to define this branch of knowledge; some of includes some important demographic facts like —
them are given below : fertility, mortality, infant mortality, maternal mortality.
— According to Achillic Guillord — ‘It is a This also includes studies like — still birth, abortion,
rational knowledge of the general movements and of marital status etc.
physical, social, moral and intellectual conditions of 5) The demography is the dynamic science.

011-
populations. This deals with past, present and predicts future social
Ph.011-
— Phillip M. Houser and Ottes Dudley Duncan — phenomena.
Demography is the study of size, territorial distribution Ph. No. In the words of Petrov “Demography holds within
and composition of population, changes therein and the its field of vision not only the life of people of day but
1985, 1985,
aid's ICS, The IAS Life Line, Since 1985, Ph. 011-

components of such changes, which may be identified also the past and predictable future social phenomena
as nationality, mortality, territorial movement and social as well”.
Line, Since

mobility (change of status). 6) This is not only concerned with the factors
— Barclay — ‘The numerical portrayal of hu- influencing the changes but is also interested to conduct
Life Since

man population is sometimes known as demography. continuous research related to these factors.
The population is viewed as an aggregate of persons According to — A. Ya Boyarsky — “We discover
IASLine

represented by certain types of statistics. Demography in it huge accounts of material accumulated by mankind
is concerned with behavior of the aggregate (or some which serve as the basis for research on it as a result
TheLife

of its parts) and not with the behavior of individual. of which laws & regularities are revealed.
— Warren S. Thompson and Lewis — ‘It is inter-    
On the basis of above discussion, the subject matter or
The IAS

ested not only in size, composition and distribution of scope of demography may be summarised in following
's ICS,

population at the present time, but also changes in these points :

aspects through time and the causes of these changes .’ a) size of population
ICS,

— P. R. Cox — ‘Demography is the science which b) structure of the population

s aid

denotes the study by statistical methods of human — age compositgion

VaidV'V

population and deals primarily with size and growth or — sex composition
diminution with the number and proportion of persons — working composition
living, being born or dying within same area or region — marital composition
and with the measurement or related functions, such as — educational status
rates of fertility, mortality and marriage’. — religion etc.
To sum up, the demography is that branch of c) Distributiohn of population
science that deals with size, structure, distribution of d) Population dynamics
population, population dynamics its causes and popu- e) Factors influencing change in population
lation policy. f) Population policy
II Subject Matter and Scope of Demography III Relationship with Other Sciences
On the basis of different definitions, the subject In the initial state of development, this simply
matter and scope of demography can be summerised described statistical aspect of population but in present
in following points : time this has very close relationship with other sciences
1) The demography does not deal with individual of knowledge. As Victor Petrov rightly states that “sci-
problems but it studies the problems related to human ence, the subject of all social phenomena is population,
community. demography touches on all the social & other sciences”.
2) The demography is the statistical & mathe- The demography is not only closely related with
matical study of population. According to Victor Petrov other social sciences but they are also dependent on
— the successes attained in demography are directly demography. It is difficult, now a days to draw a clear
 Vaid’s/2018-19/ANE-/2  
demarcation line between the two social sciences due population can be done on the basis of net reproduction
to application of interdisciplinary approach among all rate according to following manner.
the sciences. i. — Total number of women of child bearing
In this context reference may be mentioned of age is divided into age groups of five years i.e. 15-19,
relation between demography and anthropology. An- 20-24, 25-29, so on
thropology is a science of biocultural variation of man- ii. — Probability of child-bearing women birth of
kind of all ages and all the society. Being a multifaceted each age cohort is computed.
study of human beings, it has developed several specific iii. — The probable number of all the women is
branches in course of time, one of them is bio-physical subtracted from the probability of women birth
anthropology. Along with other biological aspects, it a) Probability of death of women before
is also interested to study various aspects of human child bearing age
population. In this way it is dependent on demographic b) Probability of unmarried women
terminology and concepts as well. c) Probability of widows
However with application of interdisciplinary All this data must be registered.
approach, both the sciences are able to enrich their iv — The net reproduction rate is the rate of
knowledge in this respect. number of women of child bearing age and probable
Theories of Population number of women would be at child bearing age.
A number of scholars have attempted to postulate The net reproduction rate may equal or less than
different theories of population like Malthus, Karl Marx, one or more that signifies stationary population, increas-
ing population or declining population.

011-
Dalton, Robbins, Sadler, Castro, Spencer, Dumont,
Ph.011-
Henry George, Thompson and Notestein. Some of them Evaluation
may be grouped into biological theory and socio-cul-
Ph. No. 1. — This theory explains difference between fertility
tural Economic Theory of population. & fecundity.
1985, 1985,
aid's ICS, The IAS Life Line, Since 1985, Ph. 011-

A brief description of some of the scholars from 2. — This theory adopts rational perception from
bio-socio cultural theories of population is given below the point of view of measurement of population growth,
Line, Since

but cannot be considered as a complete theory of popu-

A— Biological Theory of Population lation because though this theory explains the method
Kuczynsky’s Theory of net reproduction rate :
Life Since

to measure the population, it ignores other aspects.

Kuczynsky conducted several studies related to B — Theory of demographic transition
growth of population and in the analysis of increase or Theory of demographic transition is a modern
IASLine

decrease of future population he proposed the theory of theory of population based on data from several coun-
net reproduction rate. This theory explains the method tries of Europe. This explains the population growth
TheLife

to measure population.     to different levels of socio-cultural-economic

related
The IAS

According to him the growth rate of population development of the society. This theory reveals how the
of country is not dependent on the differences between
's ICS,

biological form of reproduction is affected by economic,

birth & death rate. But it depends on the number of socio-cultural conditions of a society. Along with this,
women of child bearing age.
ICS,

according to this theory, rational decision may play

According to G. H. Barclay — “The rate at which
s aid

an important role in changing biological determining

female population replaces itself, is know as net repro- factors of reproduction.
VaidV'V

duction rate. Warren Thompson had mentioned three stages of

The growth rate of population cannot be computed population growth in 1929. Notestein has contributed
only on the basis of birth rate, death rate and migration significantly in the field of demography. Therefore, he
but it is also based on nature of birth & death rate. It is considered father of Demographic Transition Theory,
is essential that the number of women of child bearing In this connection his article was published entitled
age and the death rate of women of child bearing age “Population The Long View” in the book of T. W.
should be considered at the time of computation of Schitz “Food For The World” (1945). In this connection
population growth. several demographers surveyed K.A.P. (Knowledge,
It has been experienced in several countries that Attitude and Practices) in a number of countries in the
though the birth rate is higher than death rate, popula- 6th decade of 20th Century. On the basis of this Survey
tion is decreasing. The main reason behind that is that they concluded that the socio-cultural & economic
several girls die before attaining child bearing age. On development influences the decline in fertility. In this
the other hand, it has been found that in several other context change in attitude of the women is also very
countries death rate is higher than birth rate. However important.
the population is increasing. The main reason is higher According to this theory, the rate of fertility is
death rate of boys and old people. Therefore, computa- very high in underdeveloped economies, poor people,
tion of net reproduction rate is essential to know growth and rural areas. Because there is high death rate, in turn
rate of population. The computation of growth rate of it is essential that the birth rate would be high. In this
 Vaid’s/2018-19/ANE-/3  
condition more number of children are surplus hand therefor reduction in reproductive period.
for economy. Due to industrialization and urbanization, — People adopt small family.
the situation gets changed. This theory explains how — There is increase in the economic ambitions,
does change occur from high death & birth rates to low fecundity is influenced by luxurious life style.
death and birth rates as per socio-cultural economic — The death & birth rate are on low level there-
conditions. fore there is no net increase or it is very less.
A brief description of various stages of Demo- 5. Fifth Stage : This is the maximum developed
graphic transition is given below. stage of economy.
1. First Stage : This stage is related to undevel- — Women are more conscious towards their
oped economies. physical beauty, and therefore, they are not interested
— The birth rate and the death rate are high in child bearing.
— The main source of income is agriculture — Due to expansion in the society, security
sector. measures are provided by government or industrial
— The health services are at the low levels sector. The importance of children as a security of
— There is high rate of illiteracy. old-aged parents is declined.
— Marriageable age is also very early and that — The birth rate is less than death rate, there-
is why the whole fertility period is available. fore, there is decline in population.
— Children are asset because they also partic- Criticism
ipate in economic activities. 1. This theory does not explain how much time
According to A. J. Coale and E. M. Hoover — is consumed in different stages.

011-
Ph.011-
“Children contribute at an early age --- and traditional 2. Demographic transition & economic devel-
source of security in the old age of parents. The prev- Ph. No. opment both influence each other.
alent high death rates especially infancy simply show Fertility and Fecundity
1985, 1985,
aid's ICS, The IAS Life Line, Since 1985, Ph. 011-

that such security can be attained only when many A number of scholars attempted to differentiate
children are born. between fertility and fecundity. Views of some of them
Line, Since

2. Second Stage : In this stage the economic are given below :

development is started. Thompson & Lewis — “most students of pop-
Life Since

— There is an improvement and expansion in ulation use the term fertility to indicate the actual
the health & medical facilities, as a result there is reproductive performance of a woman as women.....
rapid decline in death rate. fecundity on the other hand denotes the physiological
IASLine

— People are able to take more nutritious food capacity to conceive and bear children. The proportion
due to increase in income. of all women who are fecund or infecund is not known
TheLife

— The birth rate is constant or a very less de-    any precision.”

with
The IAS

cline in birth rate, because there is no change in the Barclay — “The fundamental notion of fertility
's ICS,

socio-cultural and religious aspects of society. is an actual level of performance in a population based
In this way the main feature of this stage is high on the number of live-births that occurs. It must be
ICS,

birth rate and low death rate. As a result the rate of distinguished from fecundity, the potential level of per-
population growth is very high. This stage is also called
s aid

formance (or physical capacity for bearing children) of

Population Explosion Stage. the population. Fertility can be ascertained from statis-
VaidV'V

3 Third Stage : In this stage the pace of eco- tics of Birth. The study of fertility does not indicate the
nomic development is more rapid. level of fecundity for which there is no direct measure.
— More improvement in health and medical fa- Alfred Saurvey — “fecundity is the reproductive
cilities, due to this there is more decline in death rate. potential of a species, it is a Biological Concept. Fertil-
— There is expansion in education, especially ity is the result observed in a given group over a period
among the women and that in turn changes the attitude of time. It is a Statistical Concept with social relevance.
of the people regarding number of children. On the basis of various views, fecundity & fertility
— Women also take part in economic activities can be differentiated in following points :
— The chain of changes related to sociocultural 1. The fecundity denotes the potential level of
tradition also starts. performance (or physical capacity for bearing children)
— People also adopts family Planning devic- of the population.
es. As a result the decline in birth startes. But there The fertility indicates the actual reproductive
is no or very less difference between birth & death performance of a woman as a woman.
rate. Therefore, this stage is also state of Population 2. The fecundity is the reproductive potential of
Explosion. a species, it is a biological concept whereas fertility is
4. Fourth Stage : The level of economic devel- the result observed in a given group over a period of
opment is very high term, it is a Statistical Concept.
— Adequate increase in the marriageable age 3. The fecundity cannot be measured directly this
 Vaid’s/2018-19/ANE-/4  
can be known only through certain biological tests, ning. In this type of fertility physiological and cultural
whereas fertility can be assured and can be ascertained both the factors are included.
from statistics of birth. On the basis of views of various scholars, factors
4. The fecundity may be stopped for some period affecting fertility may be described in brief under fol-
or this may be reduced with age. lowing headings :
Factors affecting Fertility a) Biological factors
There is variation in the rate of fertility in different b) Social factors
countries, different classes of same society or different i) Direct social factors affecting fertility
socio-cultural, religious & economic communities include use of contraceptives, abortion, infanticide,
of same country. There are several factors affecting fertilization, death rate.
fertility. ii) Indirect social factors affecting fertility in-
Louis Henry has divided fertility into two catego- clude marriageable age, polygny, divorce & separation,
ries on the basis of factors affecting fertility. These are : widowhood, post-partum abstinence, abstinence due to
i) Natural fertility — In this type of fertilty mensturation and other reasons, celebacy, frequency of
people are not conscious towards limited size of family. coitus.
They do not bother about number of children. In this c) Other factors — include socio-economic
condition the number of children depends on physical status, social status of women, attitude towards chil-
potentiality and coital frequency, In this type of soci- dren, social and cultural values, type and structure of
ety the fertility is usually affected by physiological or family, education, food supply, nature of employment,
urbanization.

011-
biological factors.
Ph.011-
ii) Controlled fertility — In this type of fertility Ethnic, religion, region, residence.
people accept the ideology of family planning therefore Ph. No. Occupation of employed woment etc.
they apply various methods or devices of family plan-
Life Since
IASLine
TheLife 1985, 1985,
aid's ICS, The IAS Life Line, Since 1985, Ph. 011-
Line, Since

   
ICS,
s aid
VaidV'V The IAS
's ICS,