Chapter 5 : Demography

Abstract

Demography was not always considered a science. It earned this status only after its transformation from an accounting technique into an academic discipline with its own methods. Demography became a science once it had established its own theories. Demography rests on three main pillars- fertility, mortality and migration, which will be described in more detail below. If I were to choose a demographic 'theory companion' to a prospective sociologist, it would definitely be Demographic Transition Theory (OTT) and its offshoots. The OTT was first developed by Warren S. Thompson in 1929 and Frank W. Notestain in 1945 (Poston & Bouvier, 2013), and it implies that each modern society has passed through stages of mortality and fertility decline, starting from pre-transitional stage with high birth rates and high and unstable death rates, to the post-transitional stage we live today, with both rates very low and stable. The OTT has been crucial in explaining the decline in fertility and the underpinning societal changes (Poston & Bouvier, 2013).