syllsoc397

UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY

APPLIED DEMOGRAPHY IN THE COMMUNITY WORKSHOP
A small experimental service learning course


Sociology 397H- 4 credit hours

Course Organizer: Dr. Gordon F. Sutton, Professor of Sociology
Room 616, Thompson Hall, phone 545-4071
Office Hours: (January) Tuesday 10:15 -12
Wednesday 1--4
and by appointment.

STUDENTS!
IF YOU ARE NOT PUT OFF BY NUMBERS!

Some students read sociology.
BUT, SOME STUDENTS DO SOCIOLOGY!

> What the course is about:
> 1. This is a new experimental course is built around hands-on
> helping local agencies, from hospitals, to local departments of
> education, to federal and state courts, and to other community
> entities who need help in applying demographic data. Some current
> possibilities for Spring, 1997
>
> Examining lists of persons serving on juries for some areas in
> Massachusetts to check out the fair representation of Hispanic
> minorities, particularly when the defendant in a criminal
> case is Hispanic.
>
> Helping the Superintendent of Schools in a local area
> accurately determine the number of school children who may be
> expected in classrooms in the fall of 1997.
>
> Discovering the numbers and kinds of welfare recipients who
> are expected to give up welfare and get a job under the new
> national and state programs for the poor of Massachusetts.
>
> Course requirements: Preparation of a coursework journal to be
> updated weekly and completed for the project work to which the
> student has been assigned. A final essay is to be prepared based
> upon the project experiences, using both case book materials (See
> Texts, below) and the journal as a resources, incorporating reports
> or statements of advice and guidance provided to the community
> "client."
> The purposes of this course make regular attendance and active
> participation in this enterprise essential, specifically requiring
> that the student join with other members of the workshop in both
> assigned project activity and in discussion. Regular attendance
> and active participation , then, are neccsary to receive a passing
> grade, as is noted below.
>
> Textbooks:
>
> Required readings:
> 1. Hallie J. Kintner, Thomas W. Merrick, Peter A. Morrison and Paul R. Voss.
> 1994. Demographics: A Casebook for Business and Government. Westview Press,
> Boulder CO.
> 2. Photocopy text available at the textbook annex (selections to be announced)
>
> Supplemental readings: Copies of the following are available in the W. E. B. DuBois
> Library.
>
> Henry S. Shryock and Jacob S. Siegel. 1976. The Methods and Materials of
> Demography. edited by Edward G. Stockwell, Academic Press, New York.
> (This condensed version has a counterpart in the complete classic in two volumes in
> paper as a government publication, probably out of print. )
>
> . Vivian Z. Klaff. 1992. DEM-LAB: Teaching Demography Through Computers.
> Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs NJ.
>
> Colin Newell. 1988. Methods and Models in Demography. Guilford, New York.
> A Basic text with some advanced work.
>
> Richard T. Gill, Nathan Glazer and Stephan A. Thernstrom. 1992. Our Changing
> Population. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs NJ. ISBN 0-13-642661-1. An introductory
> text.
>
> Shiva S. Halli and K. Vaninadha Rao. 1992. Advanced Techniques of
> Population Analysis Plenum Press, New York. Regression, survival, and hazard
> models are presented and illustrated.
>
> P. M. Hauser. 1975. Social Statistics in Use.
>
> Krishnan Namboodiri. 1991. Demographic Analysis: A Stochastic Approach.
> Academic Press, New York. An advanced text in methods and theory.
> ISBN 0-12-513830-X
>
> Gary L. Peters and Robert P. Larkin. 1993. Population Geography: Problems,
> Concepts and Prospects. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, Dubuque Iowa. For
> geographers, an introductory text.
>
> A. H. Pollard, F.Yusuf and G.N. Pollard. 1990. Demographic Techniques (Third
> Edition) Pergamon, New York. Basic methods text
>
> Louis G. Pol. 1988. Business Demography: A Guide and Reference for Business
> Planners and Marketers. Quorum, Westport CT ISBN 0-89930-218-1 For persons
> interested in marketing.
>
> Tanur, Mosteller, et. al. 1972. Statistics: A Guide to the Unknown.
>
> David Yaukey. 1985. Demography: The Study of Human Population. St.
> Martin's Press, New York. (Call # HB871 .Y38) A good introduction to social
> demography.
>
> Staging the Workshop and the Role of the Student:
>
> Apart from the lecture/discussion scheduled for this course, a workshop is to
> be arranged based upon the schedules of the enrolled students as well as faculty and
> staff participants. Whereas the workshop may not be scheduled in some weeks in
> the semester, in others, the time requirements may be relatively heavy. On average,
> the student may expect to spend up to 4 hours per week over the semester in the
> workshop. Workshop refers to the time and place in which project assignments are
> developed and carried out. Students are expected to participate in joint efforts with
> other students and, at time, with members of client organizations in formulating
> questions, preparing materials to be used in data collection, collecting data,
> assembling reports, and carrying out other tasks central to the application of
> demographic materials to problems identified in the workshop. In some instances,
> problems under study will be drawn from casebook, whereas live agency experience
> may be the larger part of workshop endeavor.
>
> COURSE PREREQUISITES :
>
> Major subject or strong interest in the application of social science
> methods to the solution of practical problems in the society.
> A course in statistics, or some other evidence of quantitative strengths,
> drawing from among the following:
> Sociology 363/663 - Techniques in Demographic Analysis
> Sociology 212 - Social Statistics
> Economics 190M - Introduction to Mathematical Methods in Economics
> Public Health 540 - Introduction to Biostatistics
> Resource Economics 211 - Introductory Statistics for the Life Sciences
> Statistics 111,140 or 141- Elementary/introductory statistics
>
> Whereas you have the choice of undertaking work in the course using either
> a pocket calculator or a personal computer, your are strongly urged to develop a
> working relationship with a personal computer during the semester. Software choices
> include Quattro Pro, LOTUS 1-2-3, or Excel, although homework assignments could
> be carried out on Stata, SYSTAT, S+ or other packages available in the Sociology
> Undergraduate Computer Lab on the 7th floor in Thompson Hall or on PC's in
> Crampton House, the DuBois Library, and the Lederle Graduate Research Center.
> Should you choose to do some of your work with a pocket calculator, the Hewlett-
> Packard 21S or other programmable machine would be a useful choice..
>
> Grading:
>
> Successful and on-time completion of specific project assignments account for
> 65 percent of your semester grade; 25 percent of your grade is based on an
> evaluation of your course journal; whereas the remaining 10 percent of your grade
> is based on classroom participation (including attendance) and contribution, a passing
> grade in the course depends upon a satisfactory score on this point. CALENDAR
>
> WEEK TOPIC AND READING ASSIGNMENT
>
> 1 Introduction to applied demography; readings from Kintner et al and from Pol.
>
> 2 Project initiatives - Presentation of cases drawn from MISER's State Data Center and other
> sources, developed during the January term prior to the opening of the spring
> semester course offering.
>
> 3-5 Project work as central concern: Project assignments to class members. Organization of
> project work to be undertaken developed in orderly steps.
>
> 6-8 Illustrations of the use of techniques in specific cases
> Selected case presentations from the Kintner et al. volume.
> Peter A. Morrison. "Empowered or disadvantaged? Applications of Demographic Analysis
> to Political Redistricting." pp. 17-32
> Kenneth M. Johnson. " Selecting Markets for Corporate Expansion: A Case Study in Applied
> Demography." pp. 129-143.
> Jeff Tayman, Bob Parrott and Sue Carnevale. " Locating Fire Station Sites: The Response
> Time Component." pp. 203-217
> Gordon F. DeJong. "Documenting State Underemployment Patterns." pp. 343-356.
>
> 9-10 Blending projects with case inquiries: Methodological essays by guest speakers on
> topics related to project work.
>
> Prospective invitees:
> Professor Michael Lewis, Department of Sociology
> Mr. William Thompson, DuBois Library
> Mr. Roy Williams, State Data Center, MISER
> Professor Peter Brandon, Associate Director, MISER
> Dr. Alice Rarig, Population Analyst, MISER
> Professor Stephan P. Coelen, Director, MISER
> Dr. Tim Black, Director, Center for Social Research,
> University of Hartford
> Dr. J. Lynn Griesemer, Associate Director, Morris Donahue Institute,
> and University Vice-President, University of Massachusetts
>
> 11-12 Writing up results
>
> 13-14 Presentations of findings to sponsors and interested parties.
>
>
> Additional Bibliography:
>
> Batutis, Michael J. Jr. 1993. "Estimates Preparation: Methods and Procedures." in
> Readings in Population Research Methodology, D. J. Bogue, E.E. Arriaga and D. L.
> Anderton, editors. Social Development Center, Chicago IL. Chapter 20, pp. 14-19.
>
> Levine, Arthur. 1994. "Service on Campus." Change 26:4 (July-August) p. 4(2)
>
> Morrison, Peter A. 1971 Demographic Information for Cities: a Manual for Estimating
> and Projecting Local Population Characteristics. Rand Corporation, Santa Monica,
> CA.
>
> Morrison, Peter A. 1973. Small-area Population Estimates for the City of St. Louis,
> 1960- 1972, with a model for updating them Rand Corporation, Santa Monica, CA.
>
> Smith, Stanley K. and Christopher McCarty. 1996. "Demographic Effects of Natural
> Disasters: A Case Study of Hurricane Andrew." Demogrpahy 33:2 (May) pp. 265-
> 275.
>
> Weissert, William G.. 1994. "Estimating Activity Limitation in the Noninstitutitonalized
> Population: A Method for Small Areas." The American Journal of Public Health. 84:11
> (Nov) p. 1813(5)
>
> Zerwekh, Joyce V. 1993. "Commentary: Going to the People - Public Health Nursing
> Today and Tomorrow." The American Journal of Public Health 83:12 (Dec) p.
> 1676(3).
>
> Keyfitz, Nathan. 1993. "The Social and Political Context of Population Forecasting."
> in Readings in Population Research Methodology, D. J. Bogue, E.E. Arriaga and D.
> L. Anderton, editors. Social Development Center, Chicago IL. Chapter 17, pp. 1-3.