Aims

- In a critical manner and with illustrations, to present the various sources of data and methodology of collecting demographic and socio-health information in countries in the north and the south.
- To enable students to be able to participate in the launch, or realisation, of a census or survey, and to interpret and analyse the data collected.

Main themes

- Generalities and the role of observation in the process of scientific production.
- A history of the various sources of information in demography and statistics.
- The concepts and definitions of the most current collective and individual variables, and of demographic events.
- The civil state: Functions, uses and limitations, bulletins, and functioning.
- Censuses: Functions, importance and problems, types, content of questionnaires, organisation, and future.
- Surveys: Generalities, advantages and limitations, classifications according to the objective and method of observation, retrospective surveys, prospective and multi-round surveys, problems with events and reference periods, bias (e.g. selection and truncation), and the content of various kinds of questionnaire.
- Population registers.
- Administrative registers, medical registers, and other kinds of register.
- Matching extra sources (e.g. registers, and registers and censuses).
- Other additional sources (e.g. aerial photography and satellite images).
- General principles and classic problems faced when organising a collection operation.

Content and teaching methods

The course will review all information used or constructed by demographers (ef definitions of concepts and variables, continuing information systems, censuses, various survey types and techniques, and complementary sources).
Lectures, talks by outside speakers and students, and personal work. The course will involve substantial reading.

Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

An assessment including personal work, talks and class examinations (or a final written examination).
The course will include a large reading portfolio (a reference work, articles, and a wide-ranging series of questionnaires.

Programmes in which this activity is taught

Other credits in programs