SOCIAL DEMOGRAPHY

Meaning of Demography:
The word ‘Demography’ is a combination of two Greek words, ‘Demos’ meaning people and ‘Graphy’ meanin
science. Thus demography is the science of people. In the middle of the nineteenth century in 1855, the wor
‘Demography’ was first used by a French writer Achille Guillard.

Donald J. Bogue Demography is the mathematical study of size, composition and special distribution of
population and of changes through the operation of the five processes of fertility, mortality, marriage, migrat
and social mobility.

Benjamin Demography is concerned with the measuring of the past and future population change and for th
purpose the demographers must quantify the elements of fertility, mortality and migration as well as social a
economic influences.
DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL DEMOGRAPHY
• Social demography emerged as an academic discipline in the United States over
the course of the last half of the twentieth century.
• Kingsley Davis coined the term social demography in a 1963 paper (Heer 2005).
Previously, the term population studies was used to denote the study of social
status using demographic techniques.
• In 1970, Thomas Ford and Gordon DeJong published a textbook titled Social
Demography, which included research exemplars in the field.
• In 1975 the first conference on social demography was held at the University of 
Wisconsin.

• Sociology and social demography developed in tandem over the course of the
twentieth century. Early social theorists utilized demographic data as empirical
evidence of their claims.
• Robert Park and Ernest Burgess, along with many others within the Chicago
 school of sociology, later extended the use of demographic data to support
sociological claims of urban growth and population distribution by socioeconomic
status.
• In the late 1950s, Philip Hauser and Otis Duncan codified the connection of
sociology and demography in their work Population Studies.
NATURE OF SOCIAL DEMOGRAPHY

• The nature of demography according to John V Grauman ,Demography is

both and abstract science and applied technology.
• Population studies cover three main aspects namely; Size , composition
and distribution.

• A). SIZE Demographic studies aim to achive the objective of gaining

knowledge of the size.The study aims at problem like how many people
live in a population group,change taking place in the size ofc the
group,how these change affect the size of population.
NATURE OF SOCIAL DEMOGRAPHY

B) COMPOSITION : it covers the measurable character of the people in

a given population . Composition of different groups differ in
different ways .Age and sex are major components which are majorly
used in population studies .The composition of population is very
important in specific aspect of social life.

C) DISTRIBUTION : Population distrubation study is about how the

people are distributed in a particular State /Area /Nation.

Population distribution can be done in three basic pattern .They are

• UNIFORM
• RANDOM
• CLUSTERED
SCOPE OF SOCIAL DEMOGRAPHY
1) Size of population : Population is primarily studied in the form of its size . In
Indian context population survey’s are undertaken after every ten years.

2) Organization of population : It include Age ,sex ,marital status, educational

attainment ,religion ,caste etc.

3) Population distribution : population distribution is studied according to

geographical areas, classification of residence,density and percentage of
population.

4) Fertility : It is expressed in terms of birth rate, birth order,family size,

sterility and contraception etc.

5) Mortality :It is measured by crude death rate and infant mortality rate.
Mortality includes cause of death ,level and trends of mortality,urban rural
differences etc.
5) Migration : Is movement of people from one place to another.Demographers
study general trends of migration,reasons for migration.It studies
differential migration by age ,sex, marital status,educational qualification
etc.
7)Labour force : labour force is active field of demography
which counts economically active population both employed
and unemployed.Many studies related to unemployment are
undertaken by demographers.

8) Population policy: population policies are framed by

different demographers.the study of population policy includes
Family planning progress and achivements,organizational
structure,services and supplies,education and motivation.

Hence to conclude the nature of social demography performs

all function of scientific discipline such as cause and effect
relationship,prediction about future .It uses all scientific
methods of studies like observation and analysis.It is a positive
science which studies bith quantitative and qualitative aspect
of demography.
IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL DEMOGRAPHY
The importance of social demography can be gazed from the work it
is involved in .They are;
1. Health Planning:
• Demography studies help in the health planning of states and
nations.
• Demographers play a vital role in framing of National Health
policies and programs.
2. Employment planning:
• unemployment and under employment are serious problems both
in developed and developing Nations
• Employment planning requires the assistance of population studies
and demographical experts to study migration,immigration which
are important areas of demography.
3. Food supply;
• food supply is one of the prominent prerequisite for under
developed and developing nations.
• Inadequate food supply results poverty and high death rate.
• Population studies help in proper implementation of food supply.
4. Educational planning ;
• Nations progress is dependent on the educational attainment of the people.
• Demographical studies help in the estimation of number of literate and
illiterate.
• Educational planning for children as well as uneducated adults needs
demographical assistance to enhance literary and educational attainment
5. Housing planning ;
• Housing is one of the basic necessities of life .Increase in population leads to
increase in demand of house.
• The data provided by the demographers such as mortality , fertility,migration
and family formation provide basis for the house required.
6.Planning regarding migration;
• Many developing nation of the world like India facing the problem of
migration.
• People especially highly qualified are moving to western countries in search of
jobs.
• Data concerning migration , immigration and emigration are of utmost
importance to ring qualitative changes.
7.Economic Planning;
• Economic Planning is must for a nation to achieve sustainable
development.
• Economic plan of the country is planned and prioritized based on the data
provided by demographers.
• Population data are used to project future trends related to birth ,death ,
ageing, employment and migration etc.

Importance of demography in general.

1. ECONOMY
• Study of demography is very essential for the growth of economy.
• Rise in population need to be curbed with appropriate measures to
accelerate the growth of economy.
2. SOCIETY
• Society faces innumerable social problems in order to find solution to this
problem study of population is must.
• Demographers helps in resolving general social problems like transport and
electricity etc.
3.POLITICAL SYSTEM
• Electoral constituents are made using the census
• Political parties use demographical features like age ,sex , education and
income to create their manifesto.
FOR ADMINISTRATORS;
• Demographical studies are useful in administration and
bureaucracy.
• Increase in population has led to many problems like Migration ,
Urbanization ,scarcity of water , electricity and transportation.
• Demographical studies helps to address these problems.
THANK YOU