Center for

Demography and Population Health

College of Social Sciences and Public Policy

Web Page: http://popcenter.fsu.edu

Director: Karin L. Brewster (Sociology); Professors: Carlson (Sociology), Eberstein (Sociology), Miles (Urban and Regional Planning), Schmertmann (Economics); Associate Professors: Brewster (Sociology), J. Taylor (Sociology), Tillman (Sociology); Assistant Professors: Burdette (Sociology), Coutts (Urban and Regional Planning), M. Taylor (Sociology); Professors Emeriti: Nam, Sly, Turner

The Center for Demography and Population Health comprises faculty and graduate students whose research concerns demographic processes and health disparities. Center members represent the disciplinary perspectives of sociologists, planners, economists, and other social scientists, as well as behavioral, public health, and medical scientists. The Center’s research and training programs are supported by grants and contracts from private and public entities concerned with the health and well-being of human populations. The Center offers a master’s degree in demography and also cooperates in the graduate programs of departments in the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, wherein candidates for degrees may elect demography as an area of concentration. Graduate students and faculty in other colleges and schools within the University are also welcome to participate in the Center’s research and training activities.

Each year, the Center awards the William Serow Prize, a scholarship providing financial support, to an outstanding student in the master’s degree in demography program. The Center maintains its own computer laboratory and library facilities, which are available to students in the master’s program and which support the Center’s research and training activities. Faculty members maintain active research programs and frequently invite students to participate in all phases of research projects. Faculty members also serve as consultants to national and international agencies and as officers or directors of professional organizations in demography and allied fields.

Requirements

The Center offers a program of study leading to the Master of Science (MS) degree in demography. This program has been designed for students who wish to specialize in population studies and to develop proficiency in the use of demographic data, methods, and theory. Emphasis is placed on the development and refinement of intellectual and technical skills useful in an applied research setting. Students entering the program should have career objectives that direct them toward midlevel research-oriented positions in the public or private sectors. The program includes a required twenty-four semester hour core in demography and research methods/ statistics, and three hours of elective courses approved by the director. In addition, each student must complete a master’s research paper (six semester hours) in order to receive the master’s degree. A minimum of thirty-three semester hours are required to earn the MS degree in demography.

A candidate for the program will be admitted by meeting the University general requirements for graduate studies and, upon review by the faculty admissions committee, by the consent of the director of the Center. Candidates wishing to pursue an academic career that normally requires a doctorate have the option of seeking admission to the graduate program of one of the departments (sociology, economics, urban and regional planning, geography, or political science) that offers a doctoral concentration in demography/population studies.

Courses

Description of individual courses can be found under the departmental listings and at http://popcenter.fsu.edu.

Required Core

Twenty-four semester hours:

1. Three semester hours of ECO 5936 (Special Topics - Population Data) or SYA 6933 (Selected Topics in Sociology - Population Data);
2. Three semester hours of ECP 5117 (Mathematical Demography) or SYD 5135 (Techniques of Population Analysis);
3. Three semester hours of GIS 5101 (Geographic Information Systems) or URP 5272 (Urban and Regional Information Systems);
4. Three semester hours of URP 5261 (Forecasting for Plan Development);
5. Six semester hours of ECP 5115 (Seminar in the Economics of Population), SYD 5045 (Introduction to Demography), SYD 5046 (International Population Dynamics), SYD 5215 (Health and Survival), SYD 5225 (Fertility), SYD 5235 (Population Mobility), SYD 5105 (Population Theory), or SYO 5177 (Changing Families);
6. Six semester hours of ECO 5420 (Basic Applied Econometrics), SYA 5305 (Introduction to Research Methods), SYA 5406 (Multivariate Analysis), or URP 5211 (Planning Statistics).

List of Graduate-Level Courses for Demographers

DEM 5930r Special Topics in Demography (3)

DEM 5972r Master’s Research Paper in Demography (3-6) (S/U grade only.)

ECO 5425 Advanced Quantitative Methods II (3)

ECO 5936r Special Topics (1-3)

ECP 5115 Seminar in the Economics of Population (3)

ECP 5117 Mathematical Demography (3)

ECP 5536 Seminar in Health Economics (3)

ECS 5015 Economic Development: Theory and Problems (3)

GEO 5472 Political Geography (3)

GEO 5545 Advanced Economic Geography (3)

GEO 5934r Seminar in Current Topics (1-3)

STA 5066 Data Management and Analysis with SAS (3)

SYA 5305 Introduction to Research Methods (3)

SYA 5406 Multivariate Analysis (3)

SYA 5407 Advanced Quantitative Methods (3)

SYA 6933r Selected Topics in Sociology (3)

SYD 5045 Introduction to Demography (3)

SYD 5105 Population Theory (3)

SYD 5135 Techniques of Population Analysis (3)

SYD 5136 Life Course Epidemiology (3)

SYD 5137 Fundamentals of Epidemiology (3)

SYD 5145 Population Policy (3)

SYD 5215 Health and Survival (3)

SYD 5225 Fertility (3)

SYD 5235 Population Mobility (3)

SYO 6407 Race, Ethnicity, and Health (3)

URP 5261 Forecasting for Plan Development (3)

URP 5272 Urban and Regional Information Systems (3)

URP 5530 Policy and Planning for the Aging (3)

URP 5544 Gender and Development (3)

URP 5614 Population and Development Planning (3)

DEMOGRAPHY AND AREA STUDIES:

see also Middle and Secondary Education; Economics

Political Science; Sociology DEVELOPING AREAS, PLANNING FOR:

see Urban and Regional Planning

DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY:

see Psychology

DIETETICS:

see Nutrition, Food, and Exercise Sciences