Florida State University Graduate Bulletin 2007-2009

Center for Demography and Population Health

College of Social Sciences

Director: Elwood D. Carlson (Sociology); Professors: Eberstein (Sociology), Keith (Sociology), Schmertmann (Economics), Turner (Sociology); Associate Professors: Brewster (Sociology), Miles (Urban and Regional Planning), Simon (Sociology); Assistant Professors: Coutts (Urban and Regional Planning), Hock (Economics), Jordan (Geography), Lloyd (Sociology), Taylor (Sociology), Tillman (Sociology); Professor Emeritus: Nam

The Center for Demography and Population Health is concerned with developing a sound basis for theoretical and applied research on human populations. It combines disciplinary perspectives of sociologists, planners, geographers, political scientists, and other social scientists, as well as behavioral 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, 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.

The center also awards the William Serow Prize, a scholarship providing supplemental financial support, to outstanding students 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 are very active in research activities and frequently invite students to participate in all phases of research projects. The faculty is often invited to 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 a research setting. Students entering the program should have career objectives that direct them toward midlevel research-oriented positions in the public or private sectors. Basic knowledge and skills are obtained through the completion of a fifteen (15) semester hour demographic core, while substantive specialization is obtained by completing an additional twelve (12) semester hours of elective courses approved by the director; at least six (6) of these hours must be from the list of demographic electives listed below. In addition, each student must complete a master's research paper (six [6] semester hours) in order to receive the master's degree. A minimum of thirty-three (33) 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 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, 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://www.popcenter.fsu.edu.

Required Demographic Core

Fifteen (15) semester hours, chosen from the following:

Note: The above courses are normally offered in the Fall semester; the courses listed below are generally offered during the Spring semester.

List of Graduate-Level Courses for Demographers

DEM 5930 Special Topics in Demography

DEM 5972 Masters Research Paper in Demography

ECO 5425 Advanced Quantitative Methods II

ECP 5115 Economics of Population

ECP 5117 Mathematical Demography

ECP 5205 Labor Markets

ECP 5536 Health Economics

ECS 5015 Economic Development: Theory and Problems

ECS 5028 Economies in Transition

GEO 5157 Advanced Geographic Information Systems

GEO 5159 Geographic Information Systems

GEO 5472 Political Geography

GEO 5545 Advanced Economic Geography

GEO 5605 Urban Geography

SYA 5345 Introduction to Research Methods

SYA 5406 Multivariate Analysis

SYA 5407 Advanced Quantitative Methods

SYA 5455 Social Statistics and Data Analysis

SYD 5045 Introduction to Demography

SYD 5105 Population Theory

SYD 5135 Techniques of Population Analysis

SYD 5137 Fundamentals of Epidemiology

SYD 5145 Population Policy

SYD 5215 Mortality

SYD 5225 Fertility

SYD 5235 Mobility

SYD 5425 Urbanization and Population Distribution

URP 5261 Methods of Planning Analysis III: Plan Development

URP 5272 Urban and Regional Information Systems

URP 5530 Policy and Planning for the Aging

URP 5614 Population and Development Planning