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SOST30012 Theory and Method in Demography

Coursework Assignment 2022/23

This  Coursework  Assignment  is  compulsory  and  contributes  30%  of  the  overall  course  mark. Completed assignments should be submitted via TurnitIn on Blackboard using your student ID as document title. Please do not add your name anywhere on the document. The submission deadline for Coursework is April 18th, 2pm (GMT).

There  are  four  questions  that  have  to  be  answered,  each  contributing  25%  towards  the  final coursework mark. There is a strict requirement as to formatting of the answers: each of the four answers has a maximum word count of 400 written with Times New Roman font, size 12, 1.5 spacing and  all  margins  being  2.5cm.  Up  to  10  marks  will  be  deducted  for  not  following  formatting requirement.

You are also required to produce plots, tables and descriptions of your calculations, which should be numbered, given meaningful titles, be fully labelled and included in an appendix at the end of the document. The appendix  and  bibliography do not contribute to  the  word  limit.  Do  not  include additional written answers in the appendix, only your graphs, tables and workings such as derived measurements.

Step 1: Select two populations

Using the US Bureau International Population database select TWO countries for a comparative analysis. One of your chosen countries should be a population currently with a low population growth rate (less than 1% per year) and one should be a population experiencing a high population growth rate (above 2%). You can check that in “Demographic Overview” on the US Census Bureau’s website provided above.

Note: Please check if all required data for the tasks below are available for your chosen countries on the US Census Bureau’s website, before you start working.

Step 2: Complete the following 4 sections

1.    Using the  method from workshop  1,  produce a  population  pyramid for each of your chosen countries with data from 2022. Present your two population pyramids and ONE additional graph that helps you to compare the structure of the populations. Referring to your charts and the underlying data used to create them, write a short comparative analysis of the differences in the size and structure of the two populations.

2.    Use the same website to source Age Specific Fertility Rates (ASFRs) for your chosen countries in 2022. Use that data to compare the fertility behaviour in the two countries. You may use the ASFRs to generate any additional period measure of fertility (please show the working of any derived measures in the appendix which can be excluded from the word count). Your answer should include a maximum of TWO graphs. The task is not to explain the background reasons for the differences but provide a clear description of the differences in period fertility as revealed in your measures.

3.    Use the same website to source Infant Mortality Rate and Life Expectancy at birth (for men and women separately) for ONE of your chosen countries between the years 1990-2022. Use the data to describe the mortality change between 1990 and 2022 in your chosen country. Please explain how life expectancy is dependent on different ASMRs. Your answer should include a maximum of TWO graphs. As with the fertility task, the aim is not to explain the historical background for the mortality development but provide a clear description of the mortality change over time.

4.    For the country you chose in section 3, please describe its future demographic development. Take the  population  structure from  section  1  as  starting  point  and  assume the ASFRs  and  Infant Mortality Rate and Life expectancy from 2022 will remain constant over the next 20 years. Discuss how the population structure and growth rate will develop in the next 20 years under those conditions. Comment on how the trends of different demographic events affect the future growth rate and structure of the population. Please note your answer should discuss this based on the information presented in answers 1-3. Please note you are not expected and should not attempt to carry out an actual population projection using the data, rather the task is to reason how the population will change based on the evidence previously presented.

Support for Coursework: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and Assessment Discussion Forum

While this document provides clear guidelines on what you are required to do, please note that a key part of the challenge of this coursework requires you to make your own decisions and judgements e.g. on exactly which outputs to present as graphs, and how to answer the specific questions. For this reason, members of the teaching team cannot answer direct questions of this nature.

However, we will provide a set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on Blackboard. If you have other questions that you feel  relate to  reasonable clarification of the tasks  please submit them to the Assessment Discussion Forum on Blackboard.  Here you can post a question (anonymously if you prefer) and one of the team will reply . There are a number of reasons we use this for assessment queries rather than emails

a)    in the interests of fairness, it ensures all students get to see the replies and clarifications we give relating to the coursework.

b)   it avoids the duplication of mass emails covering the same questions and minimises risk for any inconsistency that can occur with multiple individual replies from more than one member of staff.

c)    with such a large class it provides us with the most efficient way to ensure you get replies to queries in a timely way (as we all monitor the forum).