Social Statistics and Population Dynamics

Aims
The course is structured around two integrated modules: social statistics and population trends.
The goal of the first module is to illustrate the basic concepts and data analysis techniques used in social research: the first part concentrates on the descriptive part of statistics (description of a data set using summary tables and graphs, use of measurements of position and dispersion), while the second concentrates on probability and statistical inference (use of basic probability calculation tools, statistical inferences on continuous and discrete variables and study of the relationships between several variables). The module has a "practical" slant focused on aspects of applying statistics to social research.
The goal of the second module is to analyse the medium- and long-term demographic processes which give an understanding of current situations and the main issues/challenges that they raise in developed and developing countries. With the support of the statistical tools acquired in the first module and the introduction of the theoretical and analytical tools needed to understand and interpret population trends, the module will illustrate the causes and consequences of the demographical transformations underway as well as the relations between population and socio-economic trends from a national and international point of view.
At the end of the lessons, the students should possess:
General skills (first module).
- Knowledge and understanding of basic statistics for the comprehension and appropriate use of the main statistical methods needed to acquire, organize and process data from different sources and interpret the summary information obtained.
- Ability to apply knowledge and understanding of the main basic statistical methods to: 1) interpret the results of univariate and bivariate statistical analyses on social and demographic phenomena; 2) independently perform quantitative analysis of secondary data using specific software (SPSS).
General skills (second module).
- Knowledge and understanding of the timescales and characteristics of demographic trends.
- Ability to apply knowledge and understanding and interpret the main demographic transformations and interdependence with the socio-economic system within a wider historical, geographical and theoretical scenario.
Specific skills (first module).
These skills concern theoretical and applicational aspects of statistics in social research: ability to deal with data from statistical sources by making suitable transformations; ability to represent and describe the variable frequency distributions; ability to describe the form, strength and direction of the relationship between two variables; ability to use sample data to estimate population parameters.
Specific skills (second module).
These skills are: ability to read, interpret and sum up statistical information with demographic contents; knowledge of the sources of demographical data and ability to build the main population trend and structure indicators.

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