Department of Sociology
College of Liberal Arts
Texas A&M University
(2024 Fall) SOCI 312 – Population and Society
– Course information
Time: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 12:40–1:30pm
Location: Scoates Hall (SCTS) 208, campus map
Canvas website:
https://canvas.tamu.edu/courses/327974
I will utilize Canvas to write announcements to students, receive assignments, quizzes and exams, and post grades.
Recorded lectures from previous semesters:
http://www.youtube.com/c/ErnestoAmaralPhD
You can find some of my recorded lectures from previous semesters in my YouTube channel.
– Instructor details
Ernesto F. L. Amaral
Associate Professor, Department of Sociology
Phone: (979)845–9706
Email: amaral@tamu.edu
Office hours: https://tamu.zoom.us/my/amaral
I will provide office hours by appointment. Students must request appointments by email at least 48 hours in advance. When you enter this Zoom session, you will be placed in a waiting room. I will add you to the chat after I finish talking to the previous student.
– Assignments, quizzes, and exams
Students should read instructions about Perusall assignments, essay assignment, quizzes, and exams in the syllabus before starting them on Canvas. Submit all coursework on Canvas. Look for exact due dates in the syllabus and on Canvas.
– Lectures, exams, and other materials
Chapter 1. An introduction to demography
Lecture (chapter 1)
Article about cohort definitions by Dudley Poston
Example of person-years (in Excel) and article about rates and probabilities (in PDF)
Joel Cohen: An Introduction to Demography (Malthus Miffed: Are People the Problem?)
Don't Panic: Hans Rosling Showing The Facts About Population
The Population Bomb? – by Retro Report – The New York Times
Break It Down – The Pop Song – Population Reference Bureau (PRB)
Chapter 10. Age and sex composition
Lecture (chapter 10)
Examples of age-sex structure and other indicators (in Excel)
Population Age Structure – Population Reference Bureau (PRB)
Chapter 12. World population change over time
Lecture (chapter 12)
Exam 1
Available on Canvas.
Students should read instructions about online quizzes and exams in the syllabus before starting them on Canvas.
Chapter 13. Population change in the United States
Lecture (chapter 13)
U.S. life expectancy decreased after 2014
U.S. life expectancy decreases due to COVID-19
Chapter 2. Theories of demography
Lecture (chapter 2)
Theories of Demography: Objection! – Professor Matt Hauer
7 Billion and Counting – Population Reference Bureau (PRB)
Human Population Through Time – American Museum of Natural History
Chapter 3. The sources of demographic information
Lecture (chapter 3)
Population and vital statistics report (United Nations, 2006) with information on countries with censuses conducted on a de facto or de jure basis.
Exam 2
Available on Canvas.
Students should read instructions about online quizzes and exams in the syllabus before starting them on Canvas.
Chapter 4. Fertility
Lecture (chapter 4)
Example of fertility rates (in Excel)
Extra readings
Chapter 7. Mortality
Lecture (chapter 7)
The New York Times article about child mortality
Netflix documentary about Bill Gates (see part 1 about developing technology to provide better sanitation to developing countries)
Example of standardization (in Excel)
Example of life table (in Excel)
Extra readings
MortPak – The United Nations Software Package for Mortality Measurement
Site
Exam 3
Available on Canvas.
Students should read instructions about online quizzes and exams in the syllabus before starting them on Canvas.
Chapter 8. Internal migration
Lecture (chapter 8)
GeoDa: An introduction to spatial data analysis
Site
TableCurve 2D: Automated curve fitting analysis
Site
Examples of modeling migration rates
TableCurve2D by Prof. James Raymer
In SPSS
In Excel
Articles about internal migration in the United States
Domestic outmigration from some urban counties slowed, smaller gains in rural counties by Luke Rogers, Marc Perry, Lindsay Spell, 2023
Americans' local migration reached a historic low in 2022, but long-distance moves picked up by William Frey, 2023
For the first time on record, fewer than 10% of Americans moved in a year by William Frey, 2019
William Frey interview to NPR, 2019
Chapter 9. International migration
Lecture (chapter 9)
Extra readings about economic effects of immigration
Extra readings about U.S. Census citizenship question & Southern border wall
Prof. Mushfiq Mobarak: Does Immigration Create Jobs?
2019 Nobel Prize-Winning Economist Esther Duflo: 'You have no reason to fear low-skilled migration'
Final exam
Available on Canvas.
Students should read instructions about online quizzes and exams in the syllabus before starting them on Canvas.
Chapter 5. The family and sexuality
Lecture (chapter 5)
Extra readings
Chapter 6. Contraception and birth control
Lecture (chapter 6)
Extra readings
Chapter 11. Race and ethnicity
Lecture (chapter 11)
Study about race and economic opportunity in the U.S.
The New York Times article about race and economic opportunity in the U.S.
Chapter 14. Population distribution
Lecture (chapter 14)
Chapter 15. Population policy
Lecture (chapter 15)
Chapter 16. The Earth in the 21st and 22nd centuries
Lecture (chapter 16)
– U.S. Census Bureau
Census Bureau
Official website
Site
U.S. and World Population Clock
Site
Quick Facts about the United States
Site
Explore U.S. Census Bureau Data
Data.census.gov
What is data.census.gov?
Explanation about transition from American FactFinder
Site
American Community Survey (ACS)
Site
Current Population Survey (CPS)
Site
Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE) Program
Site
Migration/Geographic Mobility
Site
County-to-County Migration Flows
Site
Census Flows Mapper
Site
TIGER/Line Shapefiles
Site
Demographic Analysis and Population Projection System (DAPPS)
Site
– Demographic resources
Population Pyramids
Site
Population Division
Department of Economic and Social Affairs
United Nations
Site
Population.io
The World Population Project
Site
The Pudding - Human Terrain
World's Population in 3D
Data from the Global Human Settlement Layer
Site
Population Reference Bureau (PRB)
Data Visualization and Dissemination
Site
Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS)
Minnesota Population Center (MPC)
University of Minnesota
Site
The DHS Program
Demographic and Health Surveys
Site
European Social Survey (ESS)
Site
Eurostat - Your Key to European Statistics
Site
Population
Science special issue
Site
Population Connection
America's Voice for Population Stabilization
Site
Family Inequality
Dr. Philip Cohen, University of Maryland
Site
Rob J. Hyndman – Monash University, Australia
Demography: Forecasting mortality, fertility, migration and population data
R package
Site
Coherent population forecasting using R
Site
Applied Demography Toolbox
Department of Demography
University of California Berkeley
Site
Population and Poverty Research Network (PopPov)
William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
Population Reference Bureau (PRB)
Site
– Aggregated-level data
Gapminder: Unveiling the beauty of statistics for a fact-based worldview
Site
Videos
World Bank Data
Site
Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Data
Site
World Wealth & Income Database
Site
Opportunity Insights
Site
National Vital Statistics System
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Site
Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME)
Data Visualizations
Site
Pew Research Center Data
Site
Global Attitudes & Trends
Pew Research Center
Site
OXFAM - The Power of People Against Poverty
Site
Doctors without Borders
Site
Brookings Institute
Site
– COVID-19 Pandemic
Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19)
Our World in Data
Site
Coronavirus COVID-19 Global Cases
Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE)
Johns Hopkins University (JHU)
Site
COVID-19 Coronavirus Pandemic
Worldometer
Site
Coronavirus Map: Tracking the Global Outbreak
The New York Times
Site
Resources about demography and COVID-19
Population Europe
Site
Sex, gender and COVID-19
Global Health 5050
Site
– Mortality data sources
The Human Mortality Database
Site
– Fertility data sources
The Human Fertility Database
Site
Human Fertility Collection
Site
– Migration data sources
Foreign-Born Population: A Nation of Overlapping Diasporas
Digital Scholarship Lab
University of Richmond
Site
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Tool to generate graphs of countries of birth for U.S. immigrants, 1960-Present
Site
Mexican Migration Project (MPP)
Princeton University & University of Guadalajara
Site
Mexican Family Life Survey (MxFLS)
Iberoamerican University (UIA)
Center for Economic Research and Teaching (CIDE)
Duke University
Site
The New Immigrant Survey
Princeton University
Site
Migrant Integration Policy Index (MIPEX)
Site
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
Site
Syria Regional Refugee Response
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
Site
– Other microdata and surveys
Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID)
Institute for Social Research
University of Michigan
Site
Health and Retirement Study (HRS)
Institute for Social Research
University of Michigan
Site
American Life Panel
RAND Corporation
Site
World Values Survey
Site
Latinobarómetro: Opinión Pública Lationamericana
Site
Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP)
Site
Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES)
Site
– Academic associations
American Sociological Association (ASA)
Site
Population Association of America (PAA)
Site
American Political Science Association (APSA)
Site
American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR)
Site
– Sources for literature review
Web of Science
Scientific citation indexing service
Site
JSTOR (Journal Storage)
Digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources
Site
American Journal of Sociology
Site
American Sociological Review
Site
Annual Review of Sociology
Site
Science Direct
Source for scientific, technical, and medical research
Site
PubMed
Citations for biomedical literature, life science journals, and online books
Site
– Public-opinion polls
RealClearPolitics
Political news and polling data aggregator
Site
