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Demographic Methods for Public Health

Prerequisite:

Introduction to Online Learning.

Description:

Teaches students the basic methods demographers use to describe populations and analyze population change. Introduces the concept of a population, describes the demographic approach to populations, and identifies sources of population data. Covers four sets of methods with broad applicability in public health: 1) techniques for describing population composition, distribution, and growth; 2) methods to compare populations (age-period-cohort approaches and standardization and decomposition of rates); 3) single-decrement life tables; and 4) the cohort-component method for population projection. Covers the basic tools used to study the fundamental population processes of fertility, mortality, and migration.

Learning Objectives:

Upon successfully completing this course, students will be able to:

1. Analyze population growth, components of growth, composition, and distribution
2. Differentiate and apply age, period, and cohort approaches to population data
3. Utilize standardization to compare populations across time and space
4. Create and interpret single-decrement life tables
5. Project a population’s size and age-sex composition using the cohort-component method
6. Calculate and interpret measures of mortality, fertility, and migration
7. Locate appropriate sources of demographic data and describe their limitations
8. Explain the role of quantitative methods and sciences in describing and assessing a population’s health

Methods of Assessment:

This course is evaluated as follows:

• 40% In-class Exercises
• 60% Four long assignments

Instructor Consent:

No consent required