Demographics

Question 1

Which approach to studying human behavior primarily defines the human experience as a sequence of socially defined events and roles that the individual experiences over time?

Answer 1

The life course approach in sociology examines an individual’s life history and investigates how early events influenced future decisions and events (e.g. marriage, divorce, criminal record, etc.).

For example, understanding why Meryl engaged in political protest in the 1960s would examine the connection between Meryl and the historical and socioeconomic context in which she lived at the time.

Question 2

What statistic weighs the number of people in a population whose age is likely to make them dependent on others against the number of people who are likely to be supporting themselves?

Answer 2

The age dependency ratio

Specifically, children (those approximately 0-15 years old) and older people (those 65+ years old) are considered dependent here (although, of course, some individuals in both groups do earn income).

Question 3

Define:

a generational cohort

Answer 3

Commonly simply called a generation, this is all of the people born and living at approximately the same time, treated collectively.

Question 4

Identify at least four U.S. generational cohorts.

Answer 4

1. Lost Generation – those born from 1883-1900
2. G.I. Generation – those born from 1901-1924
3. Silent Generation – those born from 1925-1945
4. Baby Boomers – those born from 1946-1964
5. Generation X – those born from 1965-1980
6. Millennials/Generation Y - those born from 1981-1996
7. Generation Z - those born from 1997-2010 (as of yet, there is little consensus about official end birth year)

Note that these exact terms and ranges don’t need to be memorized, but it is helpful to understand what a generational cohort is and approximately how many years one typically spans.

Question 5

What is a prime example of the increasing strain on Social Security, Medicare, and medical institutions caused by the 10,000 Baby Boomers turning 65 years of age each day?

Answer 5

social significance of aging

Aging has a significant impact on society. Transitions such as reaching puberty or retirement are often socially significant. The effects of aging may be both social and physical.

Question 6

Fill in the blank.

_______ is primarily determined by a person’s genotype, while _______ is a result of one’s self-concept, attitudes, and role in society.

Choose from “gender” and “sex.”

Answer 6

Sex, gender

Sex is biological; it refers to the biological and physiological characteristics that define males and females. Gender refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviors, activities, and attributes that a society considers appropriate in relation to sex.

Question 7

Fill in the blank.

Societies often form a ______ ________ for gender. For example, wearing a shirt and tie is an expected male characteristic.

Answer 7

social construct

Gender is a concept that describes how societies determine sex categories. Gender constructs include expected social norms, attitudes, and activities that society deems more appropriate for one sex over another.

Question 8

What is a prime example of the preference children aged 6-11 have for interactions with same-sex peers over those of the opposite gender, which diminishes by adolescence?

Answer 8

gender segregation

This is the separation by an institution, society, or individual of people according to their biological or perceived gender. Another example is gendered bathrooms in schools.

Question 9

What term refers to the outward appearance of an individual, most strongly associated with skin color?

Answer 9

race

Race can be considered a social construct because society currently places distinctions on people based on differences in outward appearance.

Question 10

While race may be near-uniform in small geographical regions, this demographic concept varies more widely, as it is closely tied to culture, which can evolve, be exchanged, or change over a short period of time.

Answer 10

ethnicity

Ethnicity is essentially the culture of where one or one’s family originated (e.g. Italian-American, African-American).

Question 11

What is an example of the tendency to primarily identify and categorize individuals based on a single, socially dominant aspect of their identity, as demonstrated by the way President Barack Obama was primarily identified as “black” despite being biracial?

Answer 11

racialization

This is the process of ascribing ethnic or racial identities to an individual, relationship, social practice, or group that might not identify itself as that exact race/ethnicity.

Question 12

What is the term for the fluid connection between race and social structure, where societal outcomes, such as income differentials based on race, shape what we believe to be true about racial categories—for instance, how in 2017 the phrase “minority” or “poor” when referring to medical students might evoke thoughts of “black,” while a few decades earlier, it might have referred to “Irish” or “Polish”?

Answer 12

racial formation

This is the relationship between social structure and everyday life, through which the meaning of race and racial categories are agreed upon and argued over in society.

Question 13

Which component of social identity includes a person’s sexual and/or emotional attraction to others?

Answer 13

sexual orientation

Sexual orientation is an individual’s enduring sexual attraction to male partners, female partners, or both/other. Sexual orientation may include (as some examples) heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual.

Question 14

Fill in the blank.

The _________ of race and class is reflected in evidence that shows that the low performance of African-American students in school is best understood by taking the socioeconomic status of this group into account.

Answer 14

intersection

Intersection/intersectionality is a term used to describe the ways in which institutions (racism, sexism, xenophobia, classism, etc.) or characteristics (race, ethnicity, age, gender, etc.) are interconnected and should not be examined separately from one another.

Question 15

Data from the population in a region of China showed that food production by farms increased from 10 million tons (1900) to 20 million tons (1925) to 30 million (1950) to 40 million (1975) to 50 million (2000). At the same time, population in the region increased from 1 million to 16 million. These changes most strongly support which population theory?

Answer 15

Malthusian theory

This theory, named for Thomas Malthus, proposes that human populations grow exponentially while food production grows at an arithmetic rate.

Question 16

What is the term for the movement of individuals between societies?

Answer 16

migration

Migration is one factor that contributes to demographic changes in a society.

Question 17

What name is given for migration into a given society?

Answer 17

Immigration

You can remember this by noting the similarity between the beginning of the word (“im-“) and the word “in.”

Question 18

What is the term for migration out of one society?

Answer 18

emigration

For instance, if Michael and his family move from Canada into the U.S., they emigrated from Canada.

Question 19

Name at least two factors that promote migration between societies.

Answer 19

1. Persecution (such as religious or ethnic persecution)
2. War, violence, or unrest
3. Job opportunities
4. Educational opportunities

Question 20

Define:

push factors

(in the context of migration)

Answer 20

Factors that cause individuals to migrate out of their home society.

Push factors are typically negative aspects, such as famine, war, or the lack of available jobs or education.

Question 21

Define:

pull factors

(in the context of migration)

Answer 21

Factors that cause individuals to want to migrate into a given society.

Pull factors are generally positive, such as the abundance of job opportunities or the chance to raise a family in safety.

Question 22

Fill in the blank.

______ factors in migration tend to be negative.

e.g. war, famine

Answer 22

Push

Again, push factors are those that cause people to want to leave their current location.

Question 23

Fill in the blank.

______ factors in migration tend to be positive.

e.g. job growth, religious freedom

Answer 23

Pull

Pull factors are those that entice them to migrate to a specific country.

Question 24

Fill in the blank.

Ricky fears that, if he stays in his native country, his young son will be pressured to join a gang. The abundance of violent gangs in Ricky’s country is a _______ [push/pull] factor that may cause him to _______ [immigrate/emigrate].

Choose one option from each box above to accurately complete the sentence.

Answer 24

push, emigrate

Negative factors, such as gang violence, are push factors, which cause individuals to attempt to leave (or emigrate from) their home country.

Question 25

What kind of migration factors drive individuals and families to immigrate?

Answer 25

Pull factors

Immigration refers to migration into a new country. This migration is driven by appealing aspects of the new country, which are termed pull factors.

Question 26

A change in a population’s composition is known as what kind of shift?

Answer 26

demographic shift

Demographic shifts include changes in a society’s racial or ethnic composition (due to migration, for example) or in its age composition (due to factors such as population aging).

Question 27

Fill in the blank.

Countries with high ________ _____, meaning that many babies are born each year, are relatively likely to grow rapidly.

Answer 27

fertility rates

Specifically, fertility rate (or birth rate) refers to the average number of babies born per woman throughout her lifetime. However, in the context of the demographic transition model, it is generally presented as births per thousand members of the population per year.

Question 28

Fertility rate can be described as either total fertility rate or crude birth rate. What is total fertility rate?

Answer 28

The total number of children who would be born per woman in a population if she were to pass through the childbearing years an average woman has in her lifetime.

The worldwide total fertility rate is currently around 2.5 children per woman.

Question 29

Fertility rate can be described as either total fertility rate or crude birth rate. What is crude birth rate?

Answer 29

The number of live births in a population during a specific year per 1,000 people in the population.

Crude birth rate is generally what is being referred to in the context of the demographic transition model because it provides an easy, direct comparison with mortality rate.

Question 30

Define:

mortality rate

Answer 30

The death rate over a particular time period (relative to population).

Mortality rate is often presented as the number of deaths per 1,000 people per year.

Question 31

Describe the difference between mortality rate and morbidity rate.

Answer 31

• Mortality refers to the frequency of deaths in a population over time.
• Morbidity refers to the frequency of a particular disease in a population.

Question 32

What must be the relative values of the birth and death rates in a society in order to sustain population growth?

Assume that no migration is occurring.

Answer 32

The birth (fertility) rate must be greater than the death (mortality) rate.

It’s that simple! More people must be born than the number of people who die.

Question 33

What must be the relative values of the birth and death rates in a society in order to sustain population decline?

Assume that no migration is occurring.

Answer 33

The birth rate must be lower than the death rate.

That is, more people are dying than are being born.

Question 34

When accounting for migration, which** two rates** combined must exceed the mortality rate and emigration rate for a society’s population to grow?

Answer 34

fertility and immigration rate

If these two rates combined are larger than the mortality and emigration rates combined, then the population will become larger over time.

Question 35

Fill in the blank.

If (mortality rate) + (________) is greater than (________) + (immigration rate), then the size of the population will decrease.

Answer 35

emigration rate, fertility rate

This is a mathematical way of saying that more people are dying or leaving the society than are being born or entering it.

Question 36

Demographic transition is often described as having five stages.

Describe the characteristics of the first stage of demographic transition.

Answer 36

Describes pre-industrial societies, where death and birth rates are high and roughly in balance.

Question 37

Demographic transition is often described as having five stages.

Describe the characteristics of the second stage of demographic transition.

Answer 37

Generally refers to developing countries.

Here, death rates drop quickly due to improvements in food supply and sanitation, which increase life expectancy and reduce disease. Fertility rates remain high in this stage.

Question 38

Demographic transition is often described as having five stages.

Describe the characteristics of the third stage of demographic transition.

Answer 38

Birth rates fall due to fertility factors such as access to contraception, increases in wages, urbanization, or a reduction in subsistence agriculture.

Population growth begins to level off.

Question 39

Demographic transition is often described as having five stages.

Describe the characteristics of the fourth stage of demographic transition.

Answer 39

Once it has been reached, both birth and death rates are low.

Often, the large group born during stage two ages, creating an economic burden on the remaining shrinking working population. Death rates may increase slightly due to increases in lifestyle diseases (e.g. U.S. obesity).

Question 40

Demographic transition is often described as having five stages.

Describe the characteristics of the fifth stage of demographic transition.

Answer 40

1. a period of population decline
2. characterized by differences in fertility as compared to stage four.

The original demographic transition model contained only four stages, so the fifth stage is a recent (and still somewhat disputed) addition.

Question 41

In which stage of the demographic transition model (DTM) is a society likely to be if it recently began to utilize crop rotation and a public sewage system?

Answer 41

stage two

Stage two of the DTM is marked by improvements in food supply (such as the agricultural technique of crop rotation) and sanitation (such as public sewage systems).

Question 42

True or false.

During stage one of the demographic transition model (DTM), the population does not fluctuate at all.

Answer 42

False

While the population stays generally stable in stage one of the DTM due to similarly high birth and death rates, it is incorrect to say that it never fluctuates.

Fluctuations due to factors such as disease (plagues) and famines do occur.

Question 43

In which stage of the demographic transition model (DTM) is a society likely to be if it banned child labor approximately ten years ago?

Answer 43

stage three

Stage three of the DTM is marked by decreasing fertility rates. Interestingly, while factors like contraception are commonly cited as contributing to this decrease, another key factor is the discouragement of child labor. Once children become an added expense that cannot be offset by their income, birth rates tend to drop.

Question 44

500 years ago, most societies existed in which stage of the demographic transition model (DTM)?

Answer 44

stage one

500 years ago (in the 1500s), most if not all societies had high death rates and high fertility rates. It was only at the time of the Industrial Revolution that many societies began progressing through the stages of the DTM.

Question 45

Does a population pyramid provide information about age, sex, both, or neither?

Answer 45

both

As shown in the simple population pyramid above, age is represented along the y-axis. One side of the pyramid (here, the left side) then corresponds to males and the other to females.

Question 46

How can the pyramid below best be described?

Answer 46

It is a top-heavy population pyramid.

This suggests that many people are outside of the optimal procreation age range, indicating that there will likely be a population decline due to a low birth rate and a high death rate.

Question 47

How can the pyramid below best be described?

Answer 47

It is a bottom-heavy population pyramid.

This suggests that many people are within the optimal procreation age range, indicating that there will likely be population growth due to a high birth rate and a low death rate.

Question 48

What term describes either mortality or fertility rates for individuals specified by age?

Answer 48

Age-specific rates are the respective rates of mortality or fertility for individuals within a specific age range.

Question 49

Define:

replacement-level fertility rate

Answer 49

The total fertility rate required for a population to exactly replace itself from one generation to the next, without migration.

This value varies with mortality rate.

Question 50

Which term refers to the discontent people feel when they compare their position to others and realize that they have less of what they believe themselves to be entitled to?

For example, Ben’s neighbor wins the lottery and does extensive renovations to his house. Ben begins to resent his current house. He plays the lottery too, Ben thinks, and has more kids to take care of than his neighbor. Why doesn’t he win?

Answer 50

relative deprivation

This term refers to the experience of being deprived of something (a job, an opportunity, a reward) to which one believes oneself to be entitled.

Question 51

Fill in the blank.

Black Lives Matter and the Tea Party are examples of _______ ___________, which seek social change by bringing together and coordinating the actions of people with similar motivations or ideologies.

Answer 51

social organizations

Social organizations are groups that facilitate relationships between and among individuals and social groups, which sometimes have the goal of social change. Shared characteristics may be gender, sexual orientation, political affiliation, race, ethnicity, etc.

Question 52

Identify common strategies used by social movements (e.g. PETA) to facilitate social change.

Answer 52

• Protests
• Fundraising
• Advertising
• Social media/grassroots organization
• Political candidacy
• Voting
• Voter registration
• Social disruption
• Media appearances
• Public debate

Question 53

What is the term for the process by which societies, often in the form of countries, around the world have become more interconnected?

Answer 53

globalization

This involves increased communication, interaction, and integration between the citizens, industries, and governments of different nations.

Question 54

Name at least two factors that have led to increased globalization.

Answer 54

1. communications
2. technology
3. international trade/supply chains
4. financial systems (to facilitate international investment)

Question 55

True or false.

Globalization is an entirely beneficial (or positive) process.

Answer 55

False

The extreme nature of this statement should give you a heads-up that it is likely false! In fact, while globalization has had many positive effects, it has also had negative ones. For instance, the outsourcing of jobs previously domestic to a certain country can be considered a downside of globalization.

Question 56

Fill in the blank.

A major criticism of globalization is that the demand for resources in less-developed countries may lead to __________.

One example of this phenomenon is the subjugation and exploitation of South Africa by the Dutch to support the burgeoning diamond industry in the 18^th and 19^th centuries.

Answer 56

colonialism

It is the practice of one country acquiring full or partial political control over another country, occupying it with its own citizens, and exploiting it economically.

Question 57

Fill in the blank.

The response by the United States to the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 was one of extensive _____________, where entire methods of mass production were built from scratch or adapted to wartime products and machinery.

Answer 57

industrialization

This is the process by which an society’s economy is transformed from primarily agricultural to manufacturing or where the manufacturing of goods is significantly increased.

Question 58

What is the term for the transformation of a neighborhood, marked by the replacement of empty lots and low-income housing with luxury apartments, upscale restaurants, and high-end grocery stores, as observed by a man returning to his childhood area?

Answer 58

gentrification

It is the financial and population-changing process of renovating and developing a housing or commercial area through an influx of wealthier residents. Gentrification has both pros and serious cons.

Question 59

Name one benefit and one drawback of gentrification.

Answer 59

Benefits:

• increased property value (and property taxes)
• increased development, which typically results in more restaurants, shops, and other facilities

Drawbacks:

• increased rent and other prices that drive long-term
• lower-income residents out of their homes and (usually) farther into the outskirts of the city

Question 60

What is the term for the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of social or political aims?

Answer 60

terrorism

While still a burgeoning field of study, the sociology of terrorism is beginning to be analyzed academically, and the AAMC outline indicates that you should be familiar with the concept of terrorism.

Question 61

What is the term for demonstrations or actions, often illegal and hostile to law enforcement, that groups of people engage in?

Answer 61

civil unrest

Unlike peaceful demonstrations (such as protest marches), civil unrest is usually illegal and/or disorderly. (That is not to say that civil unrest is always negative! Instances certainly exist of civil unrest leading to meaningful change.)

Question 62

Riots best exemplify which of the following?

• peaceful demonstration
• civil unrest
• terrorism

Answer 62

civil unrest

Riots are a classic example of civil unrest, a term which refers to often-disorderly actions taken by a group of people and targeted against law enforcement.

Riots are typically not peaceful (and are therefore not an example of peaceful demonstration) and are generally not directly intended to harm or terrify civilians (as is true of terrorism).

Question 63

What is the term for the process during the Industrial Revolution in Europe in which a majority of citizens moved from agrarian regions to factory- and industry-dense cities?

Answer 63

urbanization

It refers to a population shift from rural to urban areas, or a large shift of development or population growth from rural to more urban areas. This term can also refer to the ways in which a society adapts to the change.

Question 64

What is the term for the phenomenon exemplified by the “White Flight” of later 20th-century America, in which large numbers of white people left cities to establish new, more exclusive residential neighborhoods in surrounding areas?

Answer 64

suburbanization

It is a population shift from central urban areas (such as cities and towns) into suburbs, the regions immediately surrounding cities. This leads to a large dispersion of the population around cities, called “suburban sprawl.”