Any program of development is found to need demography. Whether or not it actually wishes to adopt a pop policy, it will have to: (a) forecast its future pop development; (b) ensure the full utilization of the manpower levels indicated by these forecasts, for both econ & soc reasons. The following demographic aspects of development are examined: C1) the general relationship, in a given country, between demographic conditions & ED; (2) adoption of the aims of a pop policy; (3) means of realizing these aims; (4) general inventory of human resources in terms of production; (5) establishment of a nat'l accounting model; (6) preliminary econ & financial balance sheet; (7) agri & industry, Ur & Ru pop; (8) general policy for educ & training; & (9) health & soc policy. It is shown how & what demographic data can be used as a basis for decision-making in these areas, & which choices have to be made. Individual choices must depend on conditions obtaining in each case. The final decision must always rest with the pol'al authorities. But those authorities should be fully informed & (A) should not pursue absolutely irreconcilable objectives, & (B) should employ means which are appropriate to the ends they have in view. The importance of human resources is pointed out. M. Maxfield.
Organizational demography may be conveniently broken into four areas of theoretical development: intraorganizational demography, interorganizational demography, individual careers, and organizational and external populations. The bulk of the work has been conducted in the first three areas and deals with turnover of both personnel and jobs; growth, decline and stability; opportunity structures; and performance and policy. As for the latter, there are new insights into innovation and adaptation; cohort conflict and competition; labor costs and labor cuts; and EEO and Affirmative Action, particularly sex segregation. Here, only one of the four areas, intraorganizational demography, is extensively covered, with the other three areas briefly reviewed. Overall, the potential for organizational demography appears great, especially for yielding new insights into organizational behavior. There are also current linkages with internal labor market theory, and linkages with ecological and network theories are beginning to emerge. New implications for stratification theory and national opportunity structures, the dynamics of labor markets, and for research in aging are also indicated. From this review, we conclude that there is much to be gained from theoretical development at the interface of organizations and demography.
In: Human biology: the international journal of population genetics and anthropology ; the official publication of the American Association of Anthropological Genetics, Band 81, Heft 2-3, S. 275-286
Activity during 1960-1965 period in ecological & demographic res is traced on a number of dimensions. For both disciplines a definition of the field is advanced & special emphasis placed upon the various sub-areas of concentration. An outline of recent developments is presented for each subarea of specialization summarizing: (1) what types of conceptual frameworks have been brought to bear against what problems, (2) who are the principal investigators & supporting agencies, & (3) bibliographic locations of the complete analysis & additional related source materials. Recent major advances in human ecology include Duncan's 'ecosystem' approach as a general ecological orientation; the attempts of Sjoberg, Schnore, Bogue & Beale, & others to overcome an historical limitation of temporal & cultural scope in ecological res; & the increased sophistication of census tabulations & cross-tabulations as a spur to more diverse & extensive study. The signif excess of activity in demographic areas over that in human ecology is attributed to the greater interdisciplinary & internat'l nature of demography, & its growing salience for gov'al policy & planning purposes. Foremost developments in demography have stemmed from the fertility & fam planning studies. Intense activity is also noted in the innovations in mathematical demography & methods, interaction of pop & econ growth, & the voluminous production of popular literature stressing pop problems. AA.
This paper is dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the Stanovnistvo (Population) journal, launched by the Center for demographic research in Belgrade in 1963. The anniversary is an opportunity to reflect on developments and trends in demography as a discipline, thus the paper points out certain specifics of these developments. The specifics discussed mirror the author's choice, which was guided primarily by the criterion of interestingness, but also by the intention to make a survey. Hence points about the development of demography are backed by insights made by a number of other demographers. The major source of references were papers and speeches given on similar occasions - anniversaries of journals, anniversaries of associations of demographers, as well as special issues of journals dedicated to theory and methodology. Certain points are also made based on other sources of reference. The major part of the paper is related to transformations of demography, which has started as a predominantly formal discipline and has developed into a social and interdisciplinary field. Topical and methodological expansion of demography induces mixed reactions among demographers. Ones welcome its diversification, whereas others see such changes as signs of abandoning the essence of demography. This makes it harder and harder to define the area of demographic research. Changes in demography are mostly studied from the standpoint of polarized dimensions: quantitative-qualitative, macro-micro, and, in the context of diversification, formal demography vs. population studies. Another important segment of development trends in demography is that of improving its vocabulary, which is affected by other fields related to demography. Terminological changes are also related to the specification of certain branches and subfields of demography. For instance, anthropological and spatial demography have roots in earlier development phases of demography. Still, these terms have become popular at a later stage, only when the methodological and cognitive capacities of the corresponding research approaches have increased. The paper also indicates that demographers do not find new inspiration only outside of the core demographic problems. As an example, man fertility is briefly discussed as an increasingly popular topic in literature during the last decade. Finally, attractive presentation of demographic content is found to be very important for visibility and applicability of demography, which is illustrated by interpreting some of the most frequently videos related to demography on YouTube. The paper concludes that different paths that open during the development of demography are not incompatible, that they represent demographers' diverse choices, and that they all contribute to strengthening the field.
The paper presents an outline of the relationship between anthropology and demography, sometimes depicted as "long, tortured, often ambivalent, and sometimes passionate." Although early anthropologists (primarily British social anthropologists) routinely made use of demographic data, especially in their studies of kinship, the two disciplines gradually drifted away from each other. The re-approachment took place from 1960s, and the last fifteen years saw more intensive cooperation and more insights about possible mutual benefits that could be achieved through combining of methodologies and revision of some theoretical assumptions, primarily through anthropological demography. As summarized by Laura Bernardi and Inge Hutter, "Anthropological demography is a specialty within demography that uses anthropological theory and methods to provide a better understanding of demographic phenomena in current and past populations. Its genesis and ongoing growth lies at the intersection of demography and socio-cultural anthropology and with their efforts to understand population processes: mainly fertility, migration, and mortality. Both disciplines share a common research subject, namely human populations, and they focus on mutually complementary aspects" (2007: 541). In the first part of the paper, the author presents some general considerations, like the one that "demography is one of the best understood and predictable parts of human behavior, even if demographers still find themselves unable to predict accurately when parameters will change in interesting ways, such as the ?the baby boom? or the shift to later childbeanng in the 1970s and 1980s North America" (Howell, 1986: 219). Nancy Howell also noted the importance of demographic anthropology, because, in her words "if we knew, reliably, the birth and death probability schedules of particular populations, we would know a great deal about their size, age composition, growth rate. And with just a little more information we would know a great deal more such as household and family composition, economic organization, social problems, and something of the political structure. It we knew the schedules for populations in general and could correlate the schedules with the causes, genetic or environmental, that produce them, we would know a great deal about the possible range of human social structure" (Howell, 1986: 219). In the second part of the paper, the author discusses several examples of interplay between anthropology and demography. One of them is Patrick Heady?s study of the shift in ritual patterns, which combines elements of some "classical" anthropological topics (Mauss?s theory of gift exchange and L?vi-Strauss?s concept of kinship) with his own field research in the Carnian Alps. "By marrying and raising children, parents participate in a system of gift-exchange in which the gifts in question are human lives, and the parties to the exchange are the kinship groups recognized in the society concerned. Fertility reflects the attitudes of prospective parents to their place in the existing system of reproductive exchange, and the relationships of cooperation and authority which it implies - as well as their confidence in the system?s continuing viability. It is shown that this view is compatible with earlier ideas about self-regulating population systems - and that changing economic circumstances are an important source of discrepancy between existing exchange systems and the attitudes and expectations of prospective parents" (Heady, 2007: 465). The paper concludes with the discussion of the directions in which relationship between these two disciplines can proceed. Some of the epistemological issues are mentioned, as well as a need to apply different theoretical perspectives to better understand demographic behavior (especially in Europe) and to better understand certain cultural components that shape this behavior. In order to achieve this, most of the scholars whose works are discussed in this paper emphasize "the need for a holistic approach to data collection and the added value of triangulating quantitative and qualitative analyses" (Bernardi, Hutter, 2007: 541).