USES OF POPULATION STUDIES

Population studies is in great demand today. Poston et al. (2007) say that there are three specific demographic activities for which persons trained in population studies are employed:

• Demographers serve as advisors, witnesses, and technicians on matters of political apportionment and redistricting.

• They are frequently called to participate in multidisciplinary teams , being given the responsibility of developing a plan to halt the environmental damage.

• They are asked to provide the various types of forecasts in conjunction with community development.

In India, demography is taught in different university departments such as sociology, economics, geography and statistics. Preventive and social medicine departments of medical colleges too have demographers to teach demography and assist research students. Demographers, with their strong training in methodology, are recruited by non-government organizations (NGOs) and research organizations working in diverse areas: health, sexuality, gender issues and development. They are consulted by civic bodies and governments for providing projections of urban and rural populations and different types of services. Sociologists with training in demography can look for jobs in universities, NGOs and research and consultancy organizations. Of late, engineers and environmentalists have included demographic variables in studies of the impact of development projects on people. Lastly, it is notable that in plural societies, having the presence of multiple ethnic and religious groups, political parties cannot afford not to pay heed to population matters. Differences in growth rate of population have been both political and emotive issues in India where people's groups have asked whether there are religious differences in the practice of birth control methods, what the causes of this are, and what are the implications of this are.