Product Description
This book presents and develops the basic methods and models that are used by demographers to study the behaviour of human populations. The procedures are clearly and concisely developed from first principles and extensive applications are presented. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

great for reference and as textbook
This is the best textbook I have encountered for learning demographic methodology, i.e. the mathematical methods used when analyzing demographic variables (mortality, fertility, migration).

Initially I used Hinde's book Demographic Methods, but I had great difficulty understanding his explanations, so I decided to find another, hopefully better, book.

I am glad I decided to look elsewhere because this book is just what I was looking for:
> the symbols are easier to understand than Hinde's
> there are examples for each method or technique
> it is more mathematical which makes it easier to see the logic and also makes it more practical
> the words used to describe the concepts are also better than in Hinde's book

I am not going to say that this book explains demographic methods in an easy way, as a subject Demographic Methods is not easy to learn, especially if you don't have a strong background in calculus.
The best I can do as a reviewer is to compare this book with others like it.

The mathematical pre-requisite for this book is any first-year calculus course, you should know what these are:
differentials, derivatives, integrals, logarithms. I especially encourage you to revise the use of integrals, the authors covers both continuous and discreet distributions.
But that said, I think you could manage to understand the formulas even if you don't know calculus very well, he explains them in words too and shows you how to do the calculations through examples.

To me the two best things about the book is that he uses so many examples and that he explains the concepts so clearly, for me this was priceless because that is what I struggled with in Hinde's book.
For example I first read about person-years and Lexis charts in Hinde, but even after I read through the chapters 5-6 times I still did not having a good understanding of them.
When I read Preston's book I understood everything the first time I read it.

I should mention that there are no exercises at all in this book.

Great Book
Great book. I have used it during my Master's program and now I am using it in a PhD program in Demography. One strong point is that the book presents the intuition behind the formulas. ... Read more

Product Description
In recent years, demography has expanded the reach of problems it confronts, constantly developing the range of methodological tools it employs and illuminating the latest demographic issues. The third edition of Demography features up-to-date information on the study of the causes of changes in size and composition and the effects of these population trends. Like its highly regarded predecessor, this expanded third edition is written in a reader-friendly style, featuring a wealth of newly enhanced graphics, examples, exercises, and data. Its international focus offers updated, substantive discussion of long-term trends and projections, along with newly emerging topics of interest to demographers. End-of-chapter exercises and propositions for debate bring demography alive for readers and emphasize demography's relevance and importance in the twenty-first century. ... Read more

Product Description
Population and Society: An Introduction to Demography is an ideal text for undergraduate, as well as graduate, students taking their first course in demography. It is sociologically oriented, although economics, political science, geography, history, and the other social sciences are also used to inform the materials. Although the emphasis is on demography, the book recognizes that, at the individual level, population change is related to private decisions, especially in relation to fertility, but also to mortality and migration. The text thus considers in some detail, especially early in the book, the role of individuals in population decision making. At the level of countries, and even the world, changes in population size have an important effect on the environmental and related challenges facing all of the world's inhabitants. Therefore, attention is paid to the broad implications of population growth and change. ... Read more

Product Description
Wildlife Demography compiles the multitude of available estimation techniques based on sex and age data, and presents these varying techniques in one organized, unified volume. Designed to guide researchers to the most appropriate estimator based upon their particular data set and the desired level of study precision, this book provides quantitative consideration, statistical models, estimator variance, assumptions and examples of use.

The authors focus on estimation techniques using sex and age ratios because this data is relatively easy to collect and commonly used by wildlife management

* Applicable to a wide array of wildlife species, including game and non-game birds and mammals
* Features more than 100 annotated examples illustrating application of statistical methods
* Includes more than 640 references of the analysis of nontagging data and the factors that may influence interpretation
* Derives historical and ad hoc demographic methods in a modern statistical framework ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Wildlife Demography
This book is an outstanding wealth of information for the biologists working with complex population dynamics issues.It covers basic concepts as well as the more technical aspects.I highly recommend this book for wildlife managers and applied wildlife biologists.

... Read more

Product Description
Most analysts of corporations and industries adopt the focal perspective of a single prototypical organization. Many analysts also study corporations primarily in terms of their internal organizational structures or as complex systems of financial contracts. Glenn Carroll and Michael Hannan bring fresh insight to our understanding of corporations and the industries they comprise by looking beyond prototypical structures to focus on the range and diversity of organizations in their social and economic setting. The result is a rich rendering of analysis that portrays whole populations and communities of corporations.

The Demography of Corporations and Industries is the first book to present the demographic approach to organizational studies in its entirety. It examines the theory, models, methods, and data used in corporate demographic research. Carroll and Hannan explore the processes by which corporate populations change over time, including organizational founding, growth, decline, structural transformation, and mortality. They review and synthesize the major theoretical mechanisms of corporate demography, ranging from aging and size dependence to population segregation and density dependence. The book also explores some selected implications of corporate demography for public policy, including employment and regulation.

In this path-breaking book, Carroll and Hannan demonstrate why demographic research on corporations is important; describe how to conduct demographic research; specify fruitful areas of future research; and suggest how the demographic perspective can enrich the public discussion of issues surrounding the corporation in our constantly evolving industrial society. All researchers and analysts with an interest in this topic will find The Demography of Corporations and Industries an invaluable resource. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great Book!
The book is a great intro into organizational ecology research.Moreover, people working in other areas of macro organizational research will find this book very useful as well. ... Read more

Product Description
This book is a thorough update of the original Methods and Materials of Demography (1976). Every chapter is new, written exclusively for this edition.
Like the original, Red Book, the Second Edition presents a systematic and comprehensive exposition of the methods used by technicians and research workers in dealing with demographic data. It is concerned with the ways data on population are gathered, classified, and treated to produce tabulations and various summarizing measures that reveal the significant aspects of the composition and dynamics of populations. It also sets forth the sources, limitations, underlying definitions, and bases of classification, as well as the techniques and methods that have been developed for summarizing and analyzing the data. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Review of M&M2
Truly a classic. You need to have this book if you call yourself a demographer.

Go buy a copy
This new edition of a standard reference is most welcome and long overdue.Generally sound and providing the high quality expected, with several new topics covered very well. Special mention should be made of the very useful additional material on health issues. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for the chapter on race and ethnicity which is already well out of date, focuses on US material on race and provides very little by way of useful or factual information on ethnicity. The information about international practices seriously thin and is badly flawed, despite some valuable comments which seem to have sneaked in.Why on earth for such a central reference work did the editorial board not find an ethnicist to co-author this chapter at the very least - this chapter is a sad and jumbled disappointment with little understanding of the topic and it misses entirely key issues and concepts such as ethnic mobility and the role of paternity effects. A quick look through the reference list for the chapter reveals the source of this lack of depth and lack of discussion of key issues - the primary research is nowhere to be seen and it depends far too heavily and uncritically on official US census publications.The appendix on GIS is welcome but is already also starting to date, as would be expected for such a fast moving area. Despite these short-comings, still a most welcome book and tremendous value for the price.Well bound and well printed, and the editors need to be complimented on a very high quality publication.

Way too hard for the third grade!
My teacher used this book in third grade science.It was way too hard!This book might be good for grown-up people in college, but please... it's too hard for the third grade.

A new version of the "Bible" of Demography
I remember the early days where I used to go through the old book "The Methods and Materials of Demography" while studying at the Cairo Demographic Center in the early 90s of last century. The new version is an innovative and invaluable addition to the fundamental books in the field. I highly recommend this book for all demographers worldwide.

REVIEW OF THE 2ND EDITION
Another review displayed here refers to the 1st edition, which was published in 1976. This review covers the 2nd edition, which was published in March 2004. The 2nd Edition by J. Siegel and D. A. Swanson is hardbound and has around 850 pages. The price ($89.00) is unbelievably low for such a comprehensive and well-written book. It is filled with references and examples andprovides updates on data sources while covering the many advances in methods and technology that have occurred since the publication of the first edition. This book can be used both in the classroom and by practitioners. Besides covering and updating everything that was in the 1st edition, it adds new chapters, appendices, and a cross-referenced comprehensive glossary. The 2nd edition by Siegel and Swanson is a worthy successor to the 1st edition by H. Shryock, J. Siegel, and E. Stockwell and is a mandatory book for anybody interested in demography. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Fantastic synthesis of wildlife population biology
This is a must read for anyone pursuing a career in wildlife/conservation biology and a great book for anyone interested in the issues facing wildlife biologists.Mills does a fantastic job of including enough detail and new information to refresh and push practicing wildlife biologist.This includes a good review of relevant literature on a variety of topics: predator-prey relationships, small and declining populations, harvested populations, genetics in population biology; and includes a nice introduction to important tools for studying populations (i.e., population project matrixes and genetic techniques).Often these topics are presented as isolated sub-disciplines but I thought the exceptional aspect of this book was how Mills tied all these subjects together. For those not in the profession, skipping some of the details will provide a great overview of the critical issues of today and the future in wildlife conservation biology.

Stewart Breck
Research Wildlife Biologist

Excellent book for the practicing or developing wildlife/conservation biologist
As a practicing wildlife biologist for 40 years, I found this new text to be an excellent review of the key elements of population biology that are pertinent to wildlife management and conservation. Mills cogently discusses numerous new issues in population biology that have developed since I completed my academic studies (such as climate change) and updates long-known issues (like predator-prey relationships) with new studies and thinking.The boxes describing real-world examples of the issues described in the text are very helpful.This books fills a needed gap between traditionally-oriented texts and practical applications.It would be an excellent text for intermediate-level wildlife biology or conservation biology courses and would be an important addition to the shelves of any biologist working to resolve conservation problems in the real world where wildlife and people interact.
Sterling Miller Ph.D.
Senior Wildlife Biologist
National Wildlife Fedration (Missoula)
&
Research Biologist (Retired)
Alaska Department of Fish and Game ... Read more

Product Description
Shifting demographic conditions constitute a potent force in contemporary society. Business and government agencies have responded to this force through an increasing use of demographic techniques and the consequent emergence of the field of applied demography.

Much of the applied demographers work involves smaller geographic units in an approach which allows market segments and target populations to be studied in detail.

This volume brings together the essential elements of applied demography in a clear and concise manner. It details the kind of information that is available; who produces it; and how that information can be used.

The sources mentioned are American, but the techniques for estimating demographic outcomes have universal application. Both small and large-scale populations are dealt with. A background in elementary algebra is sufficient for this book and for applied demography in general.

Product Description
This volume clearly outlines the methods used to study population structure and change by presenting the major descriptive and analytical models developed by demographers to investigate the interrelationships between fertility, age, structure, and mortality. With illustrations, tables, and data drawn from a wide range of countries in both the developed and developing world, METHODS AND MODELS IN DEMOGRAPHY explicates the potential uses and limitations of the current models for population analysis, estimation, and forecasting.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

informative formula guide
This book gives heavily commented formulas for birth ratees, death rates, fertility rates, etc.
Each is developed logically with comparisons explained.Fully commented.This is a great starting point for demography studies.

An essential book for anyone interested in demography
This book is a must have for any demographer. The text is simple enough that even novices will understand the basics of demography, and it is quite a comprehensive guide. The book arrived very quickly and in excellent shape. ... Read more

Product Description

Sustainability of pension systems, intergeneration fiscal equity under population aging, and accounting for health care benefits for future retirees are examples of problems that cannot be solved without understanding the nature of population forecasts and their uncertainty. Similarly, the accuracy of population estimates directly affects both the distributions of formula-based government allocations to sub-national units and the apportionment of political representation. The book develops the statistical foundation for addressing such issues. Areas covered include classical mathematical demography, event history methods, multi-state methods, stochastic population forecasting, sampling and census coverage, and decision theory. The methods are illustrated with empirical applications from Europe and the U.S.

For statisticians the book provides a unique introduction to demographic problems in a familiar language. For demographers, actuaries, epidemiologists, and professionals in related fields, the book presents a unified statistical outlook on both classical methods of demography and recent developments. To facilitate its classroom use, exercises are included. Over half of the book is readily accessible to undergraduates, but more maturity may be required to benefit fully from the complete text. Knowledge of differential and integral calculus, matrix algebra, basic probability theory, and regression analysis is assumed.

Juha M. Alho is Professor of Statistics, University of Joensuu, Finland, and Bruce D. Spencer is Professor of Statistics and Faculty Fellow at the Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University. Both have contributed extensively to statistical demography and served in advisory roles and as statistical consultants in the field.

Customer Reviews (2)

Good Book
Great book, full of information, this is not a book for the beginner though, it is highly detailed and in depth on a graduate level assuming that you already have a high knowledge of more basic methods and have a complete understanding of statistics and mathematics! A great buy.

Statistical Demography and Forecasting
Book is in great condition.Arrived way before estimated date.Great seller! Thanks very much! ... Read more

Product Description
Despite our deep interest in mortality, little is known about why some individuals live to middle age and others to extreme old age. Life span, mortality, and aging present some of the most profound mysteries in biology. In Longevity, James Carey draws on unprecedented data to develop a biological and demographic framework for identifying the key factors that govern aging, life span, and mortality in humans and other animals.

Carey presents the results of a monumental, twelve-year, National Institute on Aging-funded research project on the determinants of longevity using data from the life tables of five million Mediterranean fruit flies, the most comprehensive set of life table studies ever on the mortality dynamics of a single species. He interprets the fruit fly data within the context of human aging and the aging process in general to identify the determinants of mortality. Three key themes emerge: the absence of species-specific life span limits, the context-specific nature of the mortality rate, and biodemographic linkages between longevity and reproduction.

A powerful foundation for the emerging field of biodemography and a rich framework for considering the future of human life span, Longevity will be an indispensable resource for readers from a range of fields including population biology, demography, gerontology, ecology, evolutionary biology, and medical research. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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Presenting a study of the demographic regime in towns and cities in England and elsewhere in Europe in the early-modern period (circa 1540 to circa 1700), this work examines academic debates about why urban demography appears to be radically different from that of rural areas. Much of the book's focus is on three sets of issues, the first of which concerns the relative paucity of information available about urban demography. This issue is addressed by means of a detailed case study of York, England's "second city" at that time, explaining how and why the individual components of the demographic regime changed, and how York's demography influenced and was influenced by its economy and society. The second set of issues relates to the debate about the nature of urban demography, and the results from York are therefore considered in a wider context: comparable material from other English and European cities is introduced as appropriate and, as a means of resolving some of the current debates, a generalized model describing the mechanisms of urban demography is proposed.Following the discussion of the dynamics of change within urban demographic regimes, a third set of wider issues is addressed, relating to the impact of urbanization on national demographic regimes and to longer-term demographic changes. While much of the analysis involves the calculation and interpretation of aggregate measures, the experience recounted of individual families provides witness to the social conditions endured by those who lived in the cities of early-modern Europe. In his conclusion, the author discusses the importance of urban demography to national population histories, offers a wider context for his case study, and seeks to set an agenda for future research. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

best seller
I found this book really intresting and usefull ... Read more

Product Description
Richard Soloway offers a compelling and authoritative study of the relationship of the eugenics movement to the dramatic decline in the birthrate and family size in twentieth-century Britain.Working in a tradition of hereditarian determinism which held fast to the premise that "like tends to beget like," eugenicists developed and promoted a theory of biosocial engineering through selective reproduction.Soloway shows that the appeal of eugenics to the middle and upper classes of British society was closely linked to recurring concerns about the relentless drop in fertility and the rapid spread of birth control practices from the 1870s to World War II.

Demography and Degeneration considers how differing scientific and pseudoscientific theories of biological inheritance became popularized and enmeshed in the prolonged, often contentious national debate about "race suicide" and "the dwindling family."Demographic statistics demonstrated that birthrates were declining among the better-educated, most successful classes while they remained high for the poorest, least-educated portion of the population.For many people steeped in the ideas of social Darwinism, eugenicist theories made this decline all the more alarming:they feared that falling birthrates among the "better" classes signfied a racial decline and degeneration that might prevent Britain from successfully negotiating the myriad competive challenges facing the nation in the twentieth century.

Although the organized eugenics movement remained small and elitist throughout most of its history, this study demonstrates how pervasive eugenic assumptions were in the middle and upper reaches of British society, at least until World War II.It also traces the important role of eugenics in the emergence of the modern family planning movement and the formulation of population policies in the interwar years. ... Read more

Product Description
This study examines the ways that states have attempted to pigeon-hole the people within their boundaries into racial, ethnic, and language categories. These attempts, whether through American efforts to divide the U.S. population into mutually exclusive racial categories, or through the Soviet system of inscribing nationality categories on internal passports, have important implications not only for people's own identities and life chances, but for national political and social processes as well. The book reviews the history of these categorizing efforts by the state, offers a theoretical context for examining them, and illustrates the case with studies from a range of countries. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The social construction of reality....
Many social scientists recognize self identity as a precious aspect of individuality, but most social scientists are interested in generalizing, hence the stuggle to conceptualize, define and measure the group identity. There are good legal and political reasons for categorizing people, how else for example could you measure the effects of a genocide--or commit it for that matter. The Nazis and the analysts who attempted to measure the atocities of the Nazis used administrative records with information about ethnicity and religion to do their jobs.

CENSUS AND IDENTITY is a nice compendium of essays about the attempts of governments around the world to collect and use information about race, language, and ethnicity in censuses. David Kertzer and Dominique Arel provide an overview of the book in which they state, "identity is a constructed thing and it is constructed over time and with a shifting awareness of values and meaning attached to certain categories, some of which are more meaningful than others."

Melissa Nobles' essay, "Racial categorization and the censuses" focuses on two large census efforts--Brazil and the United States. Both countries have attempted over the past two hundred years to define and measure race with mixed results.

Calvin Goldscheider compares the efforts of Israel, Canada, and the United States to categorize ethnicity in censuses. The Israeli government stresses religion, while the U.S. government eschews it.

Dominique Arel's essay, "Language categories in censuses.." covers the efforts of several countries to define and measure language fluency. Just when does one become fluent in a language. Professor Higgins told Eliza Doolittle that most English ladies could not speak English!

Alain Blum discusses the trials of the French in his essay, "Resistance to identity categorization in France." Seems the Algerian descent folks have a different idea of what it means to be French.

Peter Uvin's essay, "On counting, categorizing, and violence in Burundi and Rwanda" is a chilling example of ethnic identification gone wrong. How did the Tutsis and Hutus know who to kill? Population exchanges between the two countries seemed to be the only way to avoid additional killing. But who just who was what and how their "papers" were created became a nightmare.

My favorite essay was written by David Abramson, " Identity counts: the Soviet legacy and the census in Uzbekistan." Just what is a Tajik anyway, and when is a Tajik really an Uzbek? Some funny things happened in the censuses taken over several decades as the size of the population of Tajiks and Uzbeks changed rather dramatically. While one side pointed at the data and said it was a sure sign of genocide, social scientists aren't so sure. Sometimes people change their "official" identities when the census taker comes knocking on the door.

This is a wonderful set of essays for anyone who is interested in the difficulties associated with identifying and measuring "ethnic" groups and what happens to them. ... Read more

Product Description

The third edition of this classic text maintains its focus on applications of demographic models, while extending its scope to matrix models for stage-classified populations. The authors first introduce the life table to describe age-specific mortality, and then use it to develop theory for stable populations and the rate of population increase. This theory is then revisited in the context of matrix models, for stage-classified as well as age-classified populations. Reproductive value and the stable equivalent population are introduced in both contexts, and Markov chain methods are presented to describe the movement of individuals through the life cycle. Applications of mathematical demography to population projection and forecasting, kinship, microdemography, heterogeneity, and multi-state models are considered.

The new edition maintains and extends the book's focus on the consequences of changes in the vital rates. Methods are presented for calculating the sensitivity and elasticity of population growth rate, life expectancy, stable stage distribution, and reproductive value, and for applying those results in comparative studies.

Stage-classified models are important in both human demography and population ecology, and this edition features examples from both human and non-human populations. In short, this third edition enlarges considerably the scope and power of demography. It will be an essential resource for students and researchers in demography and in animal and plant population ecology.

Nathan Keyfitz is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Harvard University. After holding positions at Canada's Dominion Bureau of Statistics, the University of Chicago, and the University of California at Berkeley, he became Andelot Professor of Sociology and Demography at Harvard in 1972. After retiring from Harvard, he became Director of the Population Program at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Vienna from 1983 to 1993. Keyfitz is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society of Canada, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has received the Mindel Sheps Award of the Population Association of America and the Lazarsfeld Award of the American Sociological Association, and was the 1997 Laureate of the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population. He has written 12 books, including Introduction to the Mathematics of Population (1968) and, with Fr. Wilhelm Flieger, SVD, World Population Growth and Aging: Demographic Trends in the Late Twentieth Century (1990).

Hal Caswell is a Senior Scientist in the Biology Department of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, where he holds the Robert W. Morse Chair for Excellence in Oceanography. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has held a Maclaurin Fellowship from the New Zealand Institute of Mathematics and its Applications and a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship. His research focuses on mathematical population ecology with applications in conservation biology. He is the author of Matrix Population Models: Construction, Analysis, and Interpretation (2001).

Product Description
This book deals with the important subject of famine demography. Itdescribes case studies of the demography of historical and more recentfamines in locations as far apart as Ireland, Finland, India, Burundi, Russia, Greece, Madagascar, and Japan. The authors concern themselveswith significant issues such as the role of famines in controllingpopulation growth in the past, the nature of interactions betweenstarvation and epidemic diseases during times of famine, and thedetailed demographic consequences of famines. In the latter categoryissues such as the age and cause-specific profiles of excess faminemortality receive particular attention. This is the only comparative volume of its kind. It is wide-ranging intime and place, but at the same time focuses sharply on a particularsubject. Consequently its contents provide a unique understanding offamine demography. ... Read more

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A bold examination of the Irish exodus to Britain in the twentieth century. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

Used to Develop New Communication Strategy for Tanzania
Used this book to inform the development of a new HIV and AIDS Communication strategy for Tanzania. My colleagues were very impressed with the depth of cultural understanding.

I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in understanding the complexities of communicating about HIV and AIDS. ... Read more

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A comprehensive study of the cultural ecology, demography, and domestic organization of one village undergoing socioeconomic changes, the Tamang community of Timling.