Computer Simulation In Human Population Studies

Computer Simulation in Human Population Studies contains the proceedings of a conference held at Pennsylvania State University on June 12-14, 1972, under the sponsorship of the Social Science Research Council. The conference provided a forum for discussing the application of computer simulation techniques to human population studies and organized topics around four themes: anthropology and social systems; genetics and adaptive systems; demography; and simulation methodology. Comprised of 23 chapters, this volume begins with an analysis of two tests of computer microsimulation: the effect of an incest taboo on population viability, and the effect of age differences between spouses on the skewing of their consanguineal relationships. The reader is then introduced to computer simulation of incest prohibition and clan proscription rules in closed, finite population; an empirical perspective on simulation models of human population; and models applicable to geographic variation in humans. Subsequent chapters deal with the role of co-adapted sets in the process of adaptation; simulation of human reproduction; and the mathematics of population simulation models. This book will be of interest to anthropologists, geneticists, biologists, computer scientists, mathematicians, and social scientists.

Agent-Based Computational Demography (ABCD) aims at starting a new stream of research among social scientists whose interests lie in understanding demographic behaviour. The book takes a micro-demographic (agent-based) perspective and illustrates the potentialities of computer simulation as an aid in theory building. The chapters of the book, written by leading experts either in demography or in agent-based modelling, address several key questions. Why do we need agent-based computational demography? How can ABCD be applied to the study of migrations, family demography, and historical demography? What are the peculiarities of agent-based models as applied to the demography of human populations? ABCD is of interest to all scientists interested in studying demographic behaviour, as well as to computer scientists and modellers who are looking for a promising field of application.

This book examines the use of agent-based modelling (ABM) in population studies, from concepts to applications, best practices to future developments. It features papers written by leading experts in the field that will help readers to better understand the usefulness of ABM for population projections, how ABM can be injected with empirical data to achieve a better match between model and reality, how geographic information can be fruitfully used in ABM, and how ABM results can be reported effectively and correctly. Coverage ranges from detailing the relation between ABM and existing paradigms in population studies to infusing agent-based models with empirical data. The papers show the benefits that ABM offers the field, including enhanced theory formation by better linking the micro level with the macro level, the ability to represent populations more adequately as complex systems, and the possibility to study rare events and the implications of alternative mechanisms in artificial laboratories. In addition, readers will discover guidelines and best practices with detailed examples of how to apply agent-based models in different areas of population research, including human mating behaviour, migration, and socio-structural determinants of health behaviours. Earlier versions of the papers in this book have been presented at the workshop “Recent Developments and Future Directions in Agent-Based Modelling in Population Studies,” which took place at the University of Leuven (KU Leuven), Belgium, in September 2014. The book will contribute to the development of best practices in the field and will provide a solid point of reference for scholars who want to start using agent-based modelling in their own research.

This book is an amended and somewhat shorter version of my doctoral thesis which I submitted to the Australian National University in 1976, and subsequently edited at the Netherlands Interuniversity Demographic Institute in 1977. The work falls naturally into two parts. The first is concerned with the construction and validation of a model, and the second with its application as an experimental tool. In the first part, comprising Chapters One to Four, an examination of historical and contemporary models of population growth led to the decision to study changes in fertility by means of a biological micro simulation model. The reasons supporting the choice of such a model were discussed, and a search of the literature produced the data to be used as model input. The effects of varying the input were examined and then the model output was tested against Hutterite data. The main emphasis of the second part of the work, comprising Chapters Five to Seven, was the testing of the effect on the fertility of one society of variations in the duration of the post partum period of non-susceptibility to conception, and in the level of infant and child mortality. Further simulations were performed to discover the impact on fertility of the use of contraception to attain different family sizes, both with and without the additional effect of infant and child mortality.

This four-volume collection of over 140 original chapters covers virtually everything of interest to demographers, sociologists, and others. Over 100 authors present population subjects in ways that provoke thinking and lead to the creation of new perspectives, not just facts and equations to be memorized. The articles follow a theory-methods-applications approach and so offer a kind of "one-stop shop" that is well suited for students and professors who need non-technical summaries, such as political scientists, public affairs specialists, and others. Unlike shorter handbooks, Demography: Analysis and Synthesis offers a long overdue, thorough treatment of the field. Choosing the analytical method that fits the data and the situation requires insights that the authors and editors of Demography: Analysis and Synthesis have explored and developed. This extended examination of demographic tools not only seeks to explain the analytical tools themselves, but also the relationships between general population dynamics and their natural, economic, social, political, and cultural environments. Limiting themselves to human populations only, the authors and editors cover subjects that range from the core building blocks of population change--fertility, mortality, and migration--to the consequences of demographic changes in the biological and health fields, population theories and doctrines, observation systems, and the teaching of demography. The international perspectives brought to these subjects is vital for those who want an unbiased, rounded overview of these complex, multifaceted subjects. Topics to be covered: * Population Dynamics and the Relationship Between Population Growth and Structure * The Determinants of Fertility * The Determinants of Mortality * The Determinants of Migration * Historical and Geographical Determinants of Population * The Effects of Population on Health, Economics, Culture, and the Environment * Population Policies * Data Collection Methods and Teaching about Population Studies * All chapters share a common format * Each chapter features several cross-references to other chapters * Tables, charts, and other non-text features are widespread * Each chapter contains at least 30 bibliographic citations

Sources and Methods of Historical Demography covers the fundamental sources, methods, and approaches to explanatory modeling for describing, analyzing, and understanding demographic features of past societies. The book discusses the intellectual ancestry of historical demographic research, beginning in the 17th century; as well as the logic of basic techniques for reconstructing and analyzing information from fundamental source materials. The text also describes the full range of disciplines that have made major contributions to historical demography, and examples of empirical research. The book concludes by arguing the case for conducting historical demographic research with a broad, interdisciplinary ideal in mind. Historians and sociologists will find the book invaluable.