1. Learning Objectives – General learning outcomes

Concerning the general competencies, the student will be acquired in this course, they are as follows:

• Ability to search, analyze and synthesize data
• Ability to make decisions based on the results of population analyzes
• Ability to develop autonomous and collective work in a future interdisciplinary environment
• Ability to promote free, creative and inductive thinking, through the development of critical competencies, as well as the potential for developing mathematical thinking and understanding the relationships that link the various phenomena within the field.

1.1. Knowledge

Upon successful completion of the course, the student has acquired basic knowledge of methods and techniques of demographic analysis and is able to use them in order to study a population on the basis of the available data.

1.2. Skills

Upon successful completion of the course, the student has acquired the basic skills for analyzing demographic structures and demographic components.

1.3. Abilities

Upon successful completion of the course, the student simultaneously has the ability to utilize the acquired knowledge and skills in the context of conducting studies and research where the variable ‘population’ is involved.

The general skills that the student should have acquired during the course are:

• Decision making
• Independent work
• Collective work
• Working in an international environment
• Exercising criticism and self-criticism
• Promote free, creative and inductive thinking.

The aim of the course is to familiarize the student with the sources of information in Demography and the basic methods and techniques of demographic analysis for the organization, control and utilization of available demographic data. The syllabus summarizes the following:

• Introductions (the subject of Demography, its emergence – its presence as an autonomous scientific field, Demography in Greece).
• The sources of information on Demography (censuses, natural population movements, registries, surveys, etc.) and institutions in charge of demographic data production. Critical presentation, type and availability of data at national and regional level, advantages and disadvantages.
• Rough indicators in the study of the main demographic components and their limits in the interpretation and understanding of structures and phenomena. Demographic aging and its consequences.
• The study of demographic data over time: the importance of the variable time, the LEXIS chart and its usefulness for demographic analysis, the key indicators for the study of demographic phenomena (percentages, probabilities). Application of the above to mortality (survival charts).
• Elements of demographic analysis: the objectives of demographic analysis and the two basic types (cross-sectional and intergenerational analysis), the study of population structures (population pyramids) and the structural characteristics of the population (indicators), the study of mortality, fertility and migration movements.
• Demographic theories and demographic policy (short presentation)
• The current demographic situation of Greece and its position in the wider European area.

In particular, the lecture schedule is as follows:

• Lecture 1: Course Presentation, Demographic Definition, Utility / Applications.
• Lecture 2: Historical Background, Sources and Data (Greece) Censuses, Registers, etc.
• Lecture 3: Variable time (types of observation), LEXIS chart, age definition, percentages and probabilities.
• Lecture 4: The LEXIS chart (continued), the definition of ages, percentages and probabilities, cross-sectional and intergenerational analysis.
• Lecture 5: Population, Pyramids in Absolute and Relative Values ​​(Presentation / Interpretation), Structural Indicators, Population Change Indicators (% change / mean annual rate of change), Physical Balance and Apparent Migration – Rough indicators (Mortality, Fertility, Migration) and their solvency, Demographic Transition.
• Lecture 6: Standardization (direct and indirect) / Mortality and its measurement indicators (introduction)
• Lecture 7: Tables, Rates and Probabilities, developed and expanded Survival Table
• Lecture 8: Fertility indicators – Fertility Tables, Cross-sectional and Intergenerational Analysis, Gross & Net Reproduction Rate, Intensity, and Calendar – Economic Theories of Fertility.
• Lecture 9: Geographical Mobility / Migration, Migration Tables
• Lecture 10: Relationships between demographic phenomena
• Lecture 11: Demographic Policies and Demographics projections
• Lecture 12: The spatial dimensions of demographic phenomena (introduction), relationships between absolute data and proportions in policy implementation
• Lecture 13: The Evolution of the World Population. The demographic evolutions in Greece during the Post-War period.

1. Test with multiple choice questions
2. Problems solving
3. Written Homework (individual)
4. Final written exam

Student evaluation is based on:

2 small exams: 15%

1 written assignment: 35%

Final exam: 50%

The course outline mentions how to evaluate students and is available on the website of the department as well as on the open e-class of the university of Thessaly.

The evaluation is based on 2 small progress tests during the semester that include multiple-choice questions, on the final exam and a small individual work to be accomplished before the final exam.

Transparency is fully guaranteed. If there is a divergence of opinion regarding their final assessment, the students have the right to request upgrading from the General Department of the Department.

• • Κοτζαμάνης Β. (2009). Στοιχεία Δημογραφίας. Πανεπιστημιακές Εκδόσεις Θεσσαλίας, Βόλος.
• • Παπαδάκης Μ., Τσίμπος Κ. (2004). Δημογραφική Ανάλυση, Αρχές - Μέθοδοι – Υποδείγματα. Εκδόσεις Σταμούλη A.E.
• • Ταπεινός Γ.Φ. (2002). Δημογραφία. Πανεπιστημιακές Εκδόσεις Θεσσαλίας, Βόλος.
• • Σιάμπος Γ.Σ. (1993). Δημογραφία. Εκδόσεις Σμπίλιας.
• • Τσαούσης Δ. (1997). Κοινωνική δημογραφία Εκδόσεις Γ. Δαρδανός - Κ. Δαρδανός Ο.Ε.
• • Βερροπούλου Γ., Μπάγκαβος Χ., Τραγάκη Α.,Τσίμπος Κ.,Ψημμένος Ι. (2009).Εισαγωγή στην πληθυσμιακή γεωγραφία Εκδόσεις Σταμούλη ΑΕ
• • Τραγάκη Α., Μπάγκαβος Χ., Ντούνας Δ. (2015). Περί Δημογραφίας & Πληθυσμιακών Εξελίξεων Ελληνικά Ακαδημαϊκά Ηλεκτρονικά Συγγράμματα και Βοηθήματα http://e-book.ddounas.com/joomla
• Συνίσταται επίσης η επίσκεψη στον δικτυακό τόπου του Εργαστηρίου (http://www.demography-lab.prd.uth.gr/Education-gr.asp).όπου έχει καταχωρηθεί πλούσιο εκπαιδευτικό υλικό, και ειδικότερα λεξικό όρων, διαλέξεις, ασκήσεις, θέματα εξετάσεων, άρθρα, βιβλιογραφία.