Prologue

Abstract

The field of demography has evolved significantly since the 1950s. The first compendium of the discipline of demography was the landmark volume, The Study of Population: An Inventory and Appraisal, by Philip M. Hauser and Otis Dudley Duncan, first published in 1959. The Study of Population is a useful benchmark for gauging the nature and extent of change in the field of demography in the six decades since its publication. The chapters contained in that volume were grouped into four sections. Part I, Demography as a Science, contained four chapters laying out the substantive, methodological, epistemological, and organizational foundations of the discipline (Hauser and Duncan 1959a, b, c, d). Part II, Development and Current Status of Demography, offered eight chapters portraying the origins and practice of demography in selected nations, along with an insightful overview of disciplinary history (Lorimer 1959). Part III, Elements of Demography, included a dozen chapters covering the demographic equation, the structure and components of change, as well as assessments of demographic data. Finally, Part IV, Population Studies in Various Disciplines, contained seven chapters discussing common interests of demography and selected disciplines, including sociology (Moore 1959), economics (Spengler 1959), and human ecology (Duncan 1959).