Question

a. Define demography including size, compositions, and distribution.

b. Describe world population patterns.

c. Examine historical and contemporary patterns of community.

d. Discuss issues facing contemporary communities.

e. Examine the issues of health and illness within the major sociological perspectives.

Answer 1

1. Demography can be defined as the study/research of changes (such as the number of births, deaths, marriages and illnesses) that tend to occur over a period of time in human populations.
2. Population patterns are the manner in which people are distributed in an area (local, regional, national and global level). Population patterns are also impacted by the resources available within that region. Sparsely populated for instance, would be where less amount of people are habituating, whereas densely populated is a region where people are in abundance. A dispurse population is wherein the population is scattered in a random fashion and concentrated population is where groups are habituating together and are held tight.
3. Contemporary and historical factors tend to have a crucial impact on the way communities are habituating today. They have an impact such that they shape species distribution and determine how they would exist within an ecological system. The relationship with other species, the dynamics operating within that system, the historical issues that govern how the species would exist are all factors that have an influence of communities. An important aspect of this, which is also a groundbreaking evidence of impact of history is the cultural significance that still perpetuates within communities. In culture, the old myths and folklores as well the historical themes tend to determine the current cultural customs, rituals and practices.
4. One of the major issues that concerns the contemporary communities is the urban lifestyle and the ever increasing problem of migration. More and more migration into urban centres has a direct influence on the manner in which the locals/communities have their resources incoming. It leads to a lack of facilities due to shift in resources. Therefore, this issue needs to be catered to by the different governments in order to ensure the well-being of the entire society at large.
5. The historical background and current trends within different nations are something that determine the nature of illnesses and overall health, mortality rate, life expectancy, etc. For instance, the problem of obesity in the States and the issue of body image, body shaming etc in parts of the UK or Europe is something that impacts the nature of health issues. Hypertension and cardiac issues are common to obesity, whereas psychological/eating disorders are common in people having body image concerns. An example of eating disorders could be Anorexia or Bulimia. Therefore from a sociological perspective, the current trends and occurrences within the state make a lot of difference in the way health and well-being is perceived. The shift or focus is something that governs this. For instance, where career growth is emphasised more than personal well-being, health may have been side-lines, whereas a place where growth is the highlight of one’s existence, it has its primary focus on health and well-being.