Statistical Methods and Applications

ELISABETTA BARBI

General Aim
The primary educational goal of the course is students' learning of the main concepts and basic methods of
Demography.

Knowledge and understanding
After attending the course, the students know and understand the main international demographic sources and the
measures to describe the population processes.

Applying knowledge and understanding
At the end of the course, the students are able to apply the learned methods to the real data, and to understand the
results of these applications.

Making judgements
Students develop critical skills through the application of different indicators and measures to a wide range of case
studies from different countries, and learn to critically interpret the results.

Communication skills
Students, through the study and the carrying out of practical exercises, acquire the technical-scientific language of
the discipline, which must be opportunely used in the final oral examination. Communication skills are also
developed through group activities.

Learning skills
Students who pass the exam have learned the skills necessary to address the study of more complex methods and
models in subsequent teachings of demographic area.

To address the teaching content it is important to have acquired the basic concepts of Mathematics and Statistics.

The course focuses on the analysis of emergent demographic trends in a comparative and international perspective.

Module 1 (24 hours)
Analytical tools for the study of population dynamics. Basic methods and demographic indicators.

Module 2 (24 hours)
Long-term dynamics of the world population. The Demographic Transition. Contemporary population in developed countries: population ageing and low fertility. Case studies of contemporary population in developing countries. International migration. Population forecasts and projections.

M. LIVI BACCI, A Concise History of World Population, Wiley & Sons Ltd., 2017.

J.H. LUNDQUIST, D.L. ANDERTON, D. YAUKEY, Demography. The Study of Human Population, Waveland Press, 2015.

Lecture notes

CASELLI G., VALLIN J. & WUNSCH G. (2006), Demography – Analysis and Synthesis. A Treatise in Population. Elsevier.
De SANTIS G. (2010) Demografia, Il Mulino, Bologna.
M. LIVI BACCI (1999), Introduzione alla demografia, Loescher Ed., Torino.
M. Livi Bacci (2016) Storia minima della popolazione del mondo, Il Mulino, Bologna. (5^ ed; 1^ ed. 1998)
M. LIVI BACCI (2017), A Concise History of World Population, Wiley & Sons Ltd.
M. LIVI BACCI (2017) Our Shrinking Planet, Wiley and Sons Ltd.
J.H. LUNDQUIST, D.L. ANDERTON, D. YAUKEY (2015), Demography. The Study of Human Population, Waveland Press.
PRESTON, HEUVELINE, GUILLOT, Demography. Modelling Population Processes (2001), Blackwell.

Lectures include presentations of theoretical aspects, applications to concrete examples, and analysis of specific cases.
lectures are offered onsite and, if necessary, online.

Course attendance is not mandatory but strongly recommended. In case of impossibility to attend the lessons, it is advisable to contact the teacher.

Oral examination at the end of the course aimed at ascertaining both the acquisition of the theoretical aspects and the ability to apply the basic demographic tools.