University of Technology, Jamaica

SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

Introduction to Sociology

POPULATION AND URBANIZATION

The study of population is known as Demography. It involves:
 the measurement of the size of populations
 accounting for changes in the population caused by the increase or decrease in
births, deaths and migration
 the study of the causes and consequences of population change
 assessing the effects of rapid population change on society

Demography can, therefore, be defined as the statistical description and analysis of

population data.

Why study Demography?

 To have a clear understanding of the social structure of a society and of
population dynamics
 To determine the size and density of a population in order to facilitate the
planning, organization and development of society
 To provide information that can help to improve the relationships among the
people living in that society
 To provide statistics on the population that can help in the understanding and/or
anticipation of important social problems.

Characteristics of a Population
 It has a size - the total number of people living in the particular geographic area
 It has a sex ratio - consisting of male and females
 It has a religious composition - such as Christianity, Muslims and Hindus
 It has an ethnic composition - consisting of various races or ethnic groups
 It has an age distribution - a youthful sector, a middle age group and an aging
population.

Concepts and Concerns of Demography

1. Birth Rate
This is the number of live births per 1000 members of the population during a specific
period of time, usually one year. The formula for calculating the birth rate for a country is

Birth in a year
----------------------------------  1000 = crude birth rate
Mid Year Population

The birth rate computed by this method is referred to as the crude birth rate, because it
tells only the number of births per 1000 for a given period and is not of a specific type,
e.g. births per 1000 for women between 20 and 30 years of age

2. Fertility rate
This refers to the number of live births per thousands of women of childbearing age,
usually ranges from ages 15 to 44. Fertility rates have fallen in most countries the later
part of the last century.

Some reasons for falling fertility rate in the Caribbean:

 Women are taking advantage of more access to education and employment.
  Women are therefore delaying marriage, and are likely to produce fewer children.
 High economic cost of raising children.
 Children contribute little or nothing to the family's economic well-being in our
culture.
 Technology - more women can choose if and when to become parents due to
improvement and easier access to pharmaceutical and other contraception
technology
 Easier access to safer abortion.

3. Death Rate
This is the number of deaths from all cases during one year per thousand persons alive at
the middle of the year. That is:

Death in a year
------------------------------------------  1000 = crude death rate
Mid Year population

Again this computation give the crude death rate, since it is not specific to age, sex race
or class. The death rate has been lowered to a great extent in most countries due to
reasons such as improvement in:
 sanitation
 nutrition - evidence shows that there is a link between diet and death rates
 medical science
 pre-natal and post-natal care
 inoculation against infectious diseases.

4. Infant Mortality
This is the number of infants who die before their first birthday for every 1000 live births.

Infants who die in first year

-------------------------------------  1000= infant mortality rate
Number of live births

Infants and child death rate has fallen significantly in most countries due the same factors
noted in 3 above.

5. Life Expectancy
This is the average number of years an individual can expect to live. This number varies
in societies depending on factors such as food, housing and health care. Due to modern
technology and medicine, life expectancy at birth in the Caribbean has greatly increased
over the years. Generations are now overlapping each other and men and women are
staying alive to see great grandchildren.

Factors Affecting Life Expectancy

 Diet and Nutrition
 Access to health care
 Exercise
 Stress levels
 Sanitation
 Disease control
List any other factors
6. Population Base
This is the total number of persons in a society at a given time.

7. Population Increases
1. The percentage increases is total population over a specific period of time, such as
a year. The formula for computing a population increases is:

Population increase in numbers

--------------------------------------  100 = % of population increase
Population base

2. Natural increase = Births – Deaths

3. Population increase = Births – Deaths + Immigrants – Emigrants

8. The Census
One of the most useful tools to a demographer is the information provided by the periodic
census. Censuses are taken in every ten years in most of the Caribbean territories. The
information collected in a census includes:
 Total population of a country (population base)
 Birth rate and death rate (natural increase)
 Age to sex ratio (population pyramid)
 Male to female ratio (population pyramid
 Number of people in the labour force
 Number of people employed/ unemployed
 Dependency ratio
 Migration levels
 Education and skills of the population

Census data, therefore, describes the population in terms of its demographic, social and
economic characteristics. Such information helps the government in the following:
 Employment creation
 Land use management
 Provision of education and health facilities
 Provision of housing for the socially disadvantaged
 Decide what amount of money should be set aside for social welfare
Any other?

9. Population Pyramid
A population pyramid is a graphical representation of the composition of a given
population. It shows the sex and age distribution of a population at a given time. A
pyramid indicates the percent of a total population who are male or female, the data for
males being on the left side of the pyramid and the data for females on the right. The
pyramid steps indicate the percentage of the population that is in a specific age group,
arranged in five-year intervals.

10. Migration
This is the movement of people from one location to another with an intention to settle on
a permanent basis.
International (External) Migration
This occurs when a person or a family leaves one country to settle in another. It can take
two forms:
 i. Immigration
This is the movement of people into a society. This increases population. An immigrant is
a person who enters a country with the intention of living there for a year or more, having
lived in the country of departure for at least a year.

ii. Emigration
This is the movement of people out of a country to settle in another.

Net Migration
This is the difference between the number of immigrants (inflow) and the number of
emigrants (outflow) in a country for a particular year. It may be positive in which cases
most people leave the country or negative in which case more people leave than enter

Factors influencing Migration

These are classified under two broad categories>

 Push Factors
These are conditions existing in a particular location where persons are residing at
present, which are not conducive to progress, development and welfare. In such a
locality, there are limited opportunities for residents to improve their standard of living,
so they are pushed to greener pastures elsewhere.

Examples of Push factors:

 Natural disaster
 Unemployment, low wages and high cost of living
 Discrimination ( racial, religious, etc)
 Poor housing, educational, health and recreational facilities
 Lack of natural resources, modern amenities and technology
 Political instability

 Pull Factors
These are said to exist in a country when conditions and opportunities are favourable so
as to attract new residents.

Examples of Pull factors:

 Employment opportunities and high wages
 High standard of health care, access to good quality education and social security,
 Proper infrastructure for recreation
 Technological advancement
 Political stability and low levels of crime

Internal Migration
This is the movement of people who have changed residence within a country. This can
take many forms – urban to urban, rural to rural, urban to rural and rural to urban. The
latter has been a major concern of the sociologist since the industrial revolution.

Urbanization
This is the movement of people in large numbers from rural to urban areas.

Activities
Identify some factors (Push and Pull) that influence urbanization.
List some of the problems that are associated with urbanization and identify ways of
addressing these problems.

Tutorial Questions
Discuss the impact of migration on the population of Jamaica
What are some of the factors which could be used to substantiate the following statement
– ‘Kingston has underdeveloped the rest of Jamaica.’