Demography

DR. SHERYL M. REYES

Demography
Science which deals with the study of the human populations size.
Composition and distribution in space

Population size- number of people in a given place or area at a given time

Populatin composition when it is described in relation to certain variables
such as age, sex, occupation and educational level.
Sources of demographic data
Censuses
Sample surveys
Registration systems
Census
Official and periodic enumeration of population
Demographic , economic and social data are collected from a specified
population group

2 ways of assigning people when census is being taken:
de jure- done when people are assigned to the place where they usually
live, regardless of where they are at the time of the census
De facto- assigned to the place where they are physically present at the
time of the census regardless of their usual place of residence

Sample surveys
Obtained data come from a small number of people proportionate to the
total population
Results is always generalized for the whole population

Registration systems
Collected by the civil registrars office deal with recording of vital events in
the community

Example: births , deaths , marriages , divorces
Population size
To make comparison about population changes over time.
Rationalize the types of health programs or interventions which are going
to be provided for the community

Method of measuring the population
size:
1. natural increase
Difference between the number of births and the number of death occurring in
a population in a specified period of time

Natural increase= number of births number of deaths
(specified year)

RATE OF NATURAL INCREASE= difference between the crude birth rate and the
crude death rate occurring in a population in a specified period of time

2. Absolute increase per year
Measures the number of people that are added to the population per year

Absolute increase per year= pt-po
___________
t WHERE : PT
= population size at a later time
po= population size at an earlier time
t= number of years beteween time 0 and time t
Relative increase= actual difference between the two census counts
expressed in percent relative to the population size made during an earlier
census
Population composition
Described in terms of age and sex

1. sex composition
Sex ration : number of males x 100
number of females

* This represents the number of males for every 100 females in the population

2. age composition

A. Median age
Divides the population into two equal parts

B. dependency ratio
Compares the number of economically productive group in the population
Economically dependent are those who belong to the 0-14 and 65 and above age group
Economically productive are those with in the age 15 and 64 age group

This ratio represents the number of economically dependent for every 100 economically
productive
3. age and sex composition
Can be described using a population pyramid

It is a graphical presentation of the age and sex composition of the population

Population distribution
Can be described in terms of urban-rural distribution, population density
and crowding index

Urban rural distribution proportion of people living in urban compared to
the rural areas
Crowding index- the ease by which a communicable disease will be
transmitted from one host to another susceptible host
Population density- will determine how congested a place is and has
implications in terms of the adequacy of basic health services
Vital Statistics
Able to describe the health status of the people which serves as the basis
for developing, implementing and evaluating programs and interventions
strategies
Common vital statistic
indicator