Department of Sociology
College of Liberal Arts
Texas A&M University

(2019 Spring) SOCI 312 – Population and Society

Syllabus

– Course information

Meeting location: Chemistry Building (CHEM) 255, campus map

Meeting times: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 9:10–10am

– Instructor information

Ernesto F. L. Amaral
Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology

Office location: Academic Building 415, campus map

Office hours: Wednesday, 1–2:30pm; and by appointment. Appointment requests must be made at least 72 hours in advance.

Phone: (979)845–9706

Email: amaral@tamu.edu

– Lectures, exams, and other materials

Day 01 – January 14, 2019 – Monday
Day 02 – January 16, 2019 – Wednesday

Syllabus & An introduction to demography
Lecture (chapter 1)

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)

Day 03 – January 18, 2019 – Friday
Day 04 – January 23, 2019 – Wednesday

World population change over time
Lecture (chapter 12)

January 21, 2019 – Monday
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, no class

Day 05 – January 25, 2019 – Friday
Day 06 – January 28, 2019 – Monday

Population change in the United States
Lecture (chapter 13)

Day 07 – January 30, 2019 – Wednesday
Day 08 – February 1, 2019 – Friday
Day 09 – February 4, 2019 – Monday
Day 10 – February 6, 2019 – Wednesday
Day 11 – February 8, 2019 – Friday

Theories of demography
Lecture (chapter 2)

7 Billion and Counting – Population Reference Bureau (PRB)

Human Population Through Time – American Museum of Natural History

Demographic Transition Model Song – D Sims

Day 12 – February 11, 2019 – Monday
Day 13 – February 13, 2019 – Wednesday

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.

Day 14 – February 15, 2019 – Friday
Exam 1

Students should bring a 8.5"x11" Scantron testing form to the exam. Mark your responses on the Scantron testing form. Only No.2 pencils can be used to bubble in answers (not ink).

Day 15 – February 18, 2019 – Monday
Day 16 – February 20, 2019 – Wednesday

Overview of demographic methods
Lecture (extra)

Population growth rate

Person-years, rates, probabilities

Lexis diagram and other packages in R

Day 17 – February 22, 2019 – Friday
Day 18 – February 25, 2019 – Monday
Day 19 – February 27, 2019 – Wednesday
Day 20 – March 1, 2019 – Friday

Fertility
Lecture (chapter 4)

Example of fertility rates

Extra readings

March 1, 2019 – Friday
Assignment has to be submitted on eCampus
Assignment 1

Day 21 – March 4, 2019 – Monday
Day 22 – March 6, 2019 – Wednesday
Day 23 – March 8, 2019 – Friday

The family and sexuality
Lecture (chapter 5)

Extra readings

March 11, 2019 – Monday
March 13, 2019 – Wednesday
March 15, 2019 – Friday

Spring Break, no classes

Day 24 – March 18, 2019 – Monday
Day 25 – March 20, 2019 – Wednesday

Contraception and birth control
Lecture (chapter 6)

Extra readings

Day 26 – March 22, 2019 – Friday
Exam 2

Students should bring a 8.5"x11" Scantron testing form to the exam. Mark your responses on the Scantron testing form. Only No.2 pencils can be used to bubble in answers (not ink).

Day 27 – March 25, 2019 – Monday
Day 28 – March 27, 2019 – Wednesday
Day 29 – March 29, 2019 – Friday

Mortality
Lecture (chapter 7)

Example of standardization

Example of life table

Extra readings

MortPak – The United Nations Software Package for Mortality Measurement
Site

Day 30 – April 1, 2019 – Monday
Day 31 – April 3, 2019 – Wednesday

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
SPSS
Excel

Day 32 – April 5, 2019 – Friday
Day 33 – April 8, 2019 – Monday
Day 34 – April 10, 2019 – Wednesday

International migration
Lecture (chapter 9)

Extra readings about economic effects of immigration

Extra readings about U.S. Census citizenship question & Southern border wall

Day 35 – April 12, 2019 – Friday
Population Policy
Lecture (chapter 15)

The Earth in the 21st and 22nd centuries
Lecture (chapter 16)

Assignment has to be submitted on eCampus
Assignment 2

Day 36 – April 15, 2019 – Monday
Exam 3

Students should bring a 8.5"x11" Scantron testing form to the exam. Mark your responses on the Scantron testing form. Only No.2 pencils can be used to bubble in answers (not ink).

Day 37 – April 17, 2019 – Wednesday
Day 38 – April 22, 2019 – Monday

Age and sex composition
Lecture (chapter 10)

Examples of age-sex structure and other indicators in Excel

Population Age Structure – Population Reference Bureau (PRB)

April 19, 2019 – Friday
Easter, reading day, no class

Day 39 – April 24, 2019 – Wednesday
Day 40 – April 26, 2019 – Friday

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.

Day 41 – April 29, 2019 – Monday
Day 42 – April 30, 2019 – Tuesday (redefined day)

Population distribution
Lecture (chapter 14)

Day 43 – May 3, 2019 – Friday, 8–10am
Final exam

Students should bring a 8.5"x11" Scantron testing form to the exam. Mark your responses on the Scantron testing form. Only No.2 pencils can be used to bubble in answers (not ink).

– Quizzes
All quizzes

– U.S. Census Bureau

Census Bureau
Official website
Site

American Community Survey (ACS)
Official website
Site

American Community Survey (ACS)
Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS)
Site

American FactFinder
Site

Current Population Survey (CPS)
Site

Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP)
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: A lively introduction
Joseph A. McFalls – Population Reference Bureau (PRB)
Site

Population
Science special issue
Site
Material

Population Connection
America's Voice for Population Stabilization
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

Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS)
Minnesota Population Center (MPC)
University of Minnesota
Site

United Nations Manuals
Techniques for Demographic Estimation
Material

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)
Site

Population Reference Bureau (PRB)
Data
Site

Population and Poverty Research Network (PopPov)
William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
Population Reference Bureau (PRB)
Site

European Social Survey (ESS)
Site

Eurostat - Your Key to European Statistics
Site

– Mortality data sources

The Human Mortality Database
Site

Latin American Human Mortality Database
Site

– Fertility data sources

The Human Fertility Database
Site

Human Fertility Collection
Site

European Fertility Project
Office of Population Research (OPR)
Princeton University
Site

– Migration data sources

World Migration Map
Site

Foreign-Born Population: A Nation of Overlapping Diasporas
Digital Scholarship Lab
University of Richmond
Site

Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
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

– Resources about refugees

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
Site

Syria Regional Refugee Response
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
Site

Syrian Refugees - A Snapshot of the Crisis
Site

Asylum Quarterly Report
Eurostat Statistics Explained
Site

REACH - Informing more Effective Humanitarian Action
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: Opinion Pública Lationamericana
Site

Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP)
Site

Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES)
Site

– Aggregated-level data

Gapminder: Unveiling the beauty of statistics for a fact-based worldview
Site
Videos

World Bank 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

– Academic associations

American Sociological Association (ASA)
Site

Population Association of America (PAA)
Site

American Political Science Association (APSA)
Site

American Marketing Association
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

– Resources to write about numbers

Purdue Online Writing Lab
Manuscript formatting (American Sociological Association – ASA style)

Site

Purdue Online Writing Lab
Writing with statistics

Site

Examples of tables and figures
PDF file

– Stata Resources

Instructions for Accessing Stata Through the Virtual Open Access Lab (VOAL) at Texas A&M University
VOAL Instructions

Stata: Data Analysis and Statistical Software
Resource links

Institute for Digital Research and Education (IDRE)
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
Stata material

Carolina Population Center (CPC)
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC)
Introduction to Stata

Generalized Linear Latent And Mixed Models (GLLAMM)
Stata Programs for estimating, predicting, simulating

Stata extra modules
Material

– Public-opinion polls

RealClearPolitics
Political news and polling data aggregator
Site

FiveThirtyEight
Statistical analysis about elections, politics, sports, science, economics and culture
Site

– Resources for migration syllabus

Migration and Citizenship Syllabus Bank
American Political Science Association
Site

Immigration Syllabus
Created by immigration historians affiliated with the Immigration History Research Center at the University of Minnesota and the Immigration and Ethnic History Society
Site
Syllabus in pdf