INTRODUCTION TO

DEMOGRAPHY
Dr. N.A. Baddoo
Objectives of the lecture
 Define demography
 Understand concepts and principles of
Demography
 Know the different sources of demographic
data
 List vital events and their importance to
health
Origins of demography
 Epidemics led to priests compiling weekly
lists of deaths from plague
 John Graunt (1620-1674) – founder/father
of demography
 Studied the Bills of Mortality compiled by
parish priests
 Wrote a book “Natural and Political
Observations Made upon the Bills of
Mortality” in1662
Topics covered by Graunt’s
book
 Causes of death

 Proportions surviving at different ages

 Health and the environment

 The balance of sexes

 Family size
Topics covered by Graunt’s
book
 Age structure
 Employment

 Population estimates
 Population growth

 Components of population growth

 Need for social statistics in public
administration
Effects of Graunt’s book
 Medical statistics on the causes of illness and
death
 Tables on statistical likelihood of people’s
survival – lifetables
 Establishment of national censuses and
statistical offices
 Conduct of regular national censuses
Defining demography
 Combination of two Greek words – ‘demos’ &
‘graphie’ meaning study of the people

 Demography is the study of human

populations
 Demography is the science of human
populations
 Demography is the study of population
processes and characteristics
Population processes
 Growth
 Fertility
 Mortality
 Migration
 Population ageing
Population characteristics
 Age
 Sex
 Birthplace
 Family structure
 Health
 Education
 Occupations
More definitions
 Demography is the science concerned with
the analysis of the size, distribution, structure
and processes of a population

 Demography is the study of human

populations in relation to the changes brought
by the interplay of births, deaths and
migration
Issues arising from
demographic studies
 Numbers of people and events
 Comparisons of populations across time and
space
 Need for uniform measurements
 Analysis to explain observations
Applied demography
 Effects of lifestyles on population processes
 Effect of immigration or emigration on a
society
 Predictions of future population size and its
effects
 Government funding, planning and population
change
 Effect of population change on marriage and
future fertility
Aspects of demography
 Fertility
 Mortality
 Migration
 Ageing
 Life events
 Urbanization and its effects
 Population distribution
 Population projections
Demographic data
 Data cover demographic processes and
events such as births, deaths, migration,
marriage and divorce

 Data cover characteristics such as sex, age,

marital status, birthplaces, occupations and
education
Principal sources of
demographic data
 Censuses
 Vital statistics
 Population surveys
 Population registers
Census
 A national enumeration of a population at the
same time
 Aim is to establish size, distribution and
composition of population
 Ideal is to have a simultaneous count of
population at one date
 Total process of collecting, compiling,
analysing and publishing demographic, social
and economic data pertaining to all people in a
country at a specific period in time
Use of census data
 To delineate electoral boundaries – every 7
years (1992 Constitution)
 To provide baseline data for planning and
administration
 In policy making
 Research
 Business
 Sampling frame for surveys
 To provide information on small areas and
small groups of people
 EC, NHIA, NIA use census data as a guide
Census counts
 De facto census
 Most common
 Counts people wherever they happen to be at the
time of count/reference point in time e.g. midnight
of 26th September, 2010
 Used in last census
 De jure census
 Counts people where they usually live
 More complex to obtain
Limits of census
 Accuracy
 Dependent on information provided or on interviewer
 Privacy
 Certain questions are prohibited by law
 Protection of identity of individuals
 Immediacy
 Information is not immediately available
 Coverage
 Limited questions and not everyone gets counted or every
area reached
Census in Ghana
 There have been 5 national censuses post-
independence
 Censuses held in 1960, 1970, 1984, 2000
 Very first was held by the British in 1891
 Held every 10 years thereafter except in 1941
when world war II disrupted the series
 Report available at Ghana Statistical Services
 Can download some figures on trends from
http://www.gssghana.org
Population trends
 1960 – 6.7 million
 1970 – 8.6 million
 1984 – 12.3 million
 2000 – 18.9 million
 2010 – 24.7 million
Vital statistics
 Obtained from registration systems
 Strictly speaking refers to events that add to
or subtract from the membership of a
population
 Records on vital statistics however tend to
look at all life shaping events
Events covered by vital
statistics
 Birth registration
 Death registration
 Marriage registration
 Divorce
 Adoptions
 International arrivals
 International departures
Limitations of vital statistics
 Not all events are reported
 Accuracy in reporting (especially cause of
deaths)
Population surveys
 Study of a sample of the population that is
concerned about a special topic

Population registers
 Contain the names of everyone in the
population and all vital events that pertain to
that individual
 Ghana has a Community Population Register
for use in rural areas
Ghana Demographic and
Health Survey
 Conducted every five years
 Organized by Macro International and Ghana
Statistical Services
 Covers about 5000 women
 Looks at household characteristics,
characteristics of respondents, fertility, family
planning, infant and child mortality, child
nutrition, maternal health and child health
 Last GDHS was in 2008
Other sources of data
 UN Demographic yearbook
 Epidemiological and Vital Statistics Report
from WHO
 Baptismal records, school records, parish
registers etc
 Secondary or non-traditional sources of
demographic data