Sociology

Sociology Study Guide

Life span generally stays the same for each species, while life expectancy can vary dramatically, increasing as medical intervention improves. • Migration: The movement of people from one place to another, into or out of a society. There are two types of migration: o International migration: Movement from one country to another. o Internal migration: Movement within a country. o Migration rate: The difference in the number of people moving in and out of a country per 1,000 members of population. Immigrants are people who move into a country. Emigrants are those who move out of a country. Migration rates do not affect global population, but can play a significant role on affected societies. Migration is influenced by two types of factors:  Push factors: Reasons that push people out of a country or region, like overpopulation, horrid climate, and inadequate housing and/or employment opportunities.  Pull factors: Reasons that attract people to a country or region, like political or religious freedoms, pleasant weather, employment opportunities, etc. Population composition refers to the characteristics of a population, the number and typeof people. Characteristics include sex, age, race, ethnicity, household size, occupation, income, and marital status. Sociologists are primarily concerned with age and sex because those numbers impact fertility, death rates, employment, and dependents. Sex ratios are commonly plotted on simple line graphs to showthe distribution of males and females at each age range in a society. In the U.S., there are more male births than female, but males have a higher mortality rate than females. Therefore, women outnumber men as they age. Of course, these ratios vary greatly by region. The population growth rate is the difference between the number of people added to a population and the number of people subtracted from a population and expressed as an annualpercentage (the difference between the number of births and the number of deaths). In general, it is the poorest countries in the world that have the largest problemwith rapid population growth. In these countries, overpopulation is a real concern as food, living space, and natural resources are incapable of supporting a large population, leading to malnutrition and disease. Demographically, there are two main categories of countries, and one intermediate category: • Developed: Low birth rates, relatively • Less developed: High birth and growth rates, relatively • Intermediate: Intermediate birth and growth rates; smaller & more industrialized countries. Theories • Malthusian Theory: Thomas Malthus was the first to develop a theory concerning the consequences of population growth. In his theory, he posited that population tends to increase exponentially. The most critical concern in population growth is food supply. He cautioned that

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