MCAT: Demographics

ethnicity

identity with a group of people that share distinct physical and mental traits as a product of common heredity and cultural traditions.

demographic transition

movement from a high birth rate, high death rate to a low birth rate, low death rate as a result of a movement to industrial economic systems

immigration

movement of individuals into a population

emigration

movement of individuals out of an area

youth ratio

the number of people under the age of 15 divided by the number of people aged 15-65

relative deprivation

the perception that one is worse off relative to those with whom one compares oneself

globalization

the process of merging of the separate nations of the world into a single sociocultural entity

gender segregation

the separation of individuals on the basis of gender

Kinsey scale

a 7-point scale of sexual orientation devised by Alfred Kinsey

pull factors

a factor that draws or attracts people to another location (i.e. religious freedom)

demographic transition theory

a four stage theory that explains the link between economic development and demographic shift

race

a group of human beings distinguished by physical traits, blood types, genetic code patterns or genetically inherited characteristics

social movements

a large group of people who are organized to promote or resist some social change

life course perspective

a perspective that sees age-related transitions as socially produced, socially recognized, and shared- a product of social structure, historical forces, culture, and personality

crude rate

a population adjusted metric for measuring fertility and mortality rates in different nations

stable population

a species whose population size fluctuates slightly above and below its carrying capacity and fertility rates and death rates are pretty close

malthusian theory

a theory asserting that population is controlled through positive checks (war, famine, disease) and preventive checks (measures to reduce fertility)

symbolic ethnicity

an ethnic identity that is only relevant on specific occasions and does not significantly impact everyday life

urbanization

an increase in the percentage and in the number of people living in urban settlements

gender stratification

any inequality in access to social resources that is based on gender

demographic shifts

changes in the makeup of a population over time

push factors

factors that induce people to leave old residences, negative attributions (i.e. the war in Ukraine)

migration

form of relocation diffusion involving permanent move to a new location

age cohorts

people who were born at roughly the same time and who pass through the life course together; i.e, baby boomers

ageism

prejudice or discrimination on the basis of a person's age

fertility rate

refers to the average number of children born to a woman during her lifetime in a population; in the US, this is trending downwards

generational status

refers to the place of birth of a specific person or that person's parents; for example, first generation

demographics

refers to the statistics of populations and are mathematical applications of sociology

mortality rate

refers to the total number of deaths in a population per unit time

gender roles

sets of behavioral norms assumed to accompany one's status as male or female

proactive

social movements that promote social change

reactive

social movements that resist social change

gender identity

the individual's sense and identification of being male or female

gender inequality

the intentional or unitnetional empowerment of one gender at the expense of the other

intersectionality

the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage

population density

the number of individuals in an area of a specific size

dependency ratio

the number of people under age 15 and over age 64 compared to the number of people active in the labor force

age dependency ratio

the number of people under the age of 15 and over the age of 65 as a proportion of the working-age population