UNIVERSITY AT ALBANY
Sociology 370
Social Demography
Fall 2003
Call #3797
Professor
Dr. H. D.
Horton
Social
Science 356
442-4907
email: hdh@csc.albany.edu
website: www.albany.edu/~hdh
Office Hours
T: 10 ~ 11:30am
T: 2:30 ~ 4pm
W: 10 ~ 11:30am
TH: 2:30 ~ 4pm
Class Meetings
TTH 1 ~ 2:20pm
SS 131
Course
Objectives: The purpose of this course is to provide the student with an
in-depth introduction to the field of demography and population studies. Specifically, the course emphasizes the impact of
population processes and events on human societies. Sociology,
along with other social science disciplines, will be employed to facilitate the
understanding of how social and demographic factors interact to create societal problems
throughout the world.
Texts: Weeks, John R. An Introduction to Population. 1999.
Garkovich,
Lorraine. Population and Community in Rural America.
1989.
Course
Requirements: Assigned readings and class attendance: The assigned readings
for this course are all required. For the
most part, these readings are easily understood. Consequently, the instructor will spend
little time repeating or summarizing what you are required to read. These materials will
be discussed in class, and you are encouraged to raise questions for purposes of
clarification and elaboration. Because much additional material will be provided in class,
and because this material as well as assigned readings will be covered on exams, regular
class attendance (90%) is necessary for a high level of performance and high grade. It is
the responsibility of the student to obtain missed lecture notes, changes in course
assignments, etc.
Group
Discussion: Periodically, the class will be divided into groups for the
purpose of discussing and/or addressing questions provided by the Professor. Students are graded upon their participation in
the groups.
Term
Paper: A minimum 10 page research paper is required. Students must submit a one-page paper proposal
prior to beginning work on the paper. The
paper must adhere to the guidelines that the professor will provide in class. Papers must be submitted by the deadline in order
to receive full consideration. Deadline for
proposal: September 22, 1999. Deadline
for paper: November 23, 1999. Late
papers will lose 5 percentage points per day. Students
have the option of submitting an early draft of their papers for comments and suggestions
by October 21, 1999. Papers received
after this date will be considered as final drafts.
Grading:
Exams
50%
Term
Paper
35% (5%
proposal; 30% final paper)
Group
Presentation
15%
Grading Scale:
90+: A
88-89: A-
86-87:
B+
80-85: B
78-79: B-
76-77:
C+
70-75: C
68-69: C-
66-67:
D+
60-65: D
59-: F
Examinations:
All exams will be in-class and objective in nature. Make-up exams are given only under
these circumstances: (1) written certification from a physician is presented indicating
that the student was too ill to take the exam; (2) a written certification of a death in
the family is presented; (3) written certification from a coach is presented stating that
attendance was necessary at a previously scheduled intercollegiate event; (4) when written
certification is available for some other extra-ordinary event that makes attendance at
the exam impossible. All make-ups will be given at 5 p.m. on the last day of finals.
COURSE OUTLINE
1.
Introduction to Demography
Weeks, Chapters 1-3
II
Demographics: Applying Demography to the Real World
Weeks, Chapter 15
Exam #1
III.
Mortality
Weeks, Chapter 4
IV
Fertility and Family Demography
Weeks, Chapters 5,6, 10
Exam #2
5.
Migration and Immigration
Weeks, Chapter 7
Garkovich (in its entirety)
VI
Population Structure and Characteristics
Weeks, Chapters 8, 9, 11
Exam #3
VII
Population and Contemporary Issues
Weeks, 12, 13, 14
FINAL EXAM
Study
questions for Garkovich, Population and Community in Rural America
1.
What are the major theoretical
approaches to the study of migration?
2.
What are the three eras of rural
history? What major events are associated
with each era?
3.
Identify the major migration streams
of the era of rural dominance. What were the
consequences of these migrations on rural and urban communities?
4.
What were the major migration
streams of the urban era? What factors
explain the change in rural population? What
were the consequences of the change?
5.
What major migration streams are
associated with the era of residential diversity? What
factors explain this era? What are the
demographic and socioeconomic consequences of residential diversity for rural communities?
6.
What factors have an impact on
present and future migration research? What are the important theoretical and
methodological issues involved? What impact
does migration research have on community studies?
Instructions
for Writing a Sociological Research Paper
The
research paper provides the student with an opportunity to do independent, in-depth study
on a topic of her/his choosing within the general rubric of this course. However, the research paper has two other
important objectives as well: 1) to provide the student with the experience of conducting
sociological research; and 2) to enhance the student’s writing skills. It is understood that most students may not have
had experience in writing sociological research papers.
Therefore, strict adherence to the following guidelines and standards is highly
advised in order to do well on this assignment.
The
Paper Proposal. The paper proposal is essentially a written plan for your
paper. It should be approximately one page
(typed) and should indicate the paper topic, the research questions that are to be
addressed, and the data and methods to be used. In
essence, the proposal functions as a road map for the student. It also allows the Professor to determine
if the paper that the student is planning to write is appropriate for the course or is
doable within the allotted time. The student
does not have permission to proceed on a paper topic until the proposals are approved. Papers submitted without pre-approved
proposals will be returned ungraded!!!!
Structure
of the Paper. The paper must
adhere to the following standards:
1. A
minimum of ten pages in length (not including references, figures, tables, graphs, etc.);
2. A
minimum of thirty references (at least 15 sociological journal articles; the rest
can be books);
3. A
cover page with the paper title, your name, the course title and number, and the
Professor);
4. An abstract that summarizes your paper. It should be about a paragraph and should have
the title of the paper at the top.
5. Free of spelling and grammatical errors.
6.
Pre-approved proposal attached.
Other
Helpful Hints. The student
should consult the website of the Professor for examples of research papers so as to be
clear on the structure that is expected. In
addition, students are encouraged to use the journal,
Sociological Inquiry as a primary source for their papers. It is the official journal of Alpha Kappa Delta
(AKD) the sociological honor society. In
addition, Sociological Inquiry is a professional journal that is accessible to students. In fact, both sociology students and professors
publish therein.