What is the Difference Between Demography and Population Studies

The main difference between demography and population studies is that demography studies the whole population, whereas population studies focus only on a specific group in the general population.

Both demography and population studies consider the human population. Demography is the statistical study of the human population with respect to size, structure, and development. Population studies, on the other hand, is the scientific study of a group of people who share similar characteristics.

Key Areas Covered

1. What is Demography 
     – Definition, Features
2. What is Population Studies
     – Definition, Features
3. Similarities – Demography and Population Studies
     – Outline of Common Features
4. Difference Between Demography and Population Studies
     – Comparison of Key Differences

Key Terms

Demography, Population Studies

What is Demography

Demography can be defined as the study of population, especially with reference to size, density, and distribution. We generally consider the statistics of births, deaths, and income when counting the structure of the human population. Basically, demography analyses a society using criterions such as education, nationality, religion, and ethnicity. By considering demography, demographers are able to make decisions related to individuals within the population. This is because the data used in demography, such as life expectancy and mortality rate, can be directly used for demographic developments to make statements about the whole population.

There are two different main demographic types: formal demography and social demography. Formal demography focuses on the measurement of population processes, while social demography focuses on relations between economic, social, cultural, and biological processes, which have an effect on the population. There is another special demographic category known as patient demography. The basic function of patient demography is to form data for medical institutions. Patient demographics contain details like date of birth, gender, date of death, postal code, ethnicity, blood type, and emergency contact information. There are two major types of data collection methods in demography. One is the direct data collection, and the other is the indirect data collection method. Direct data come from statistics registries. Census is also a direct method of collecting demographic data. In indirect methods of data collecting, data is requested from countries and periods when complete data are not available.

What is Population Studies

Population studies refer to the scientific study of a group of people who share common characteristics like age, sex, or health conditions. This group is taken from the general population and studied for different purposes, such as response to a specific drug or reasons for contracting a particular disease.

Population studies do not only focus on population variables but also focus on the relationship between population changes and other social, economic, and political-related variables. Population studies use different data collection methods such as registration method, population census, and sampling. At the same time, it uses various statistical methods to analyze and predict the challenges faced by the selected population. Birth rate and death rate are very important factors that influence the size and shape of the population. Moreover, population studies involve both quantitative and qualitative problems of populations.  

Similarities Between Demography and Population Studies

• Birth rates and death rates are considered in both demography and population studies.
• Both demography and population studies use different data collection methods like registration method, population census, and sampling in data collection.

Difference Between Demography and Population Studies

Definition

Demography refers to the study of population, especially with reference to size, density, and distribution, while population study refers to the study of people who share similar common features like age, sex, or health condition.

Scope

Although demography studies the whole population, population studies focus only on a specific group taken from the general population.

Nature

Demography, especially formal demography, focuses on the measurement of population processes, while population studies also focus on the relationships between social, economic, cultural, and biological processes influencing a population.

Making Decisions

Although demographers make decisions related to individuals in the population, in population studies, the decisions can be only made for the individuals who belong to the specific group taken from the general population. 

Conclusion

The main difference between demography and population studies is that demography is the statistical study of the human population, while population studies is the study of a group of people (from the general population) who share similar characteristics.

Reference:

1. “What Is Demography?” International Union for the Scientific Study of Population.
2. “Population Study ~ NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms.” National Cancer Institute.
3. “Demography.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Life Expectancy At Birth By Region” By ODogerall – Own work (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Customer-family-magnifying-glass” (CC0) via Pixabay