| CODE | SOR1250 | ||||||||||||
| TITLE | Official Statistics and Demography | ||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 01 - Year 1 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Statistics and Operations Research | ||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | Official Statistics This study-unit offers a practical introduction to Official and Applied Statistics, focusing on the entire statistical process - from data collection to analysis and interpretation. It also explores the role of the National Statistics Office (NSO) of Malta and its contribution to informing policy and understanding social and economic trends. The unit is ideal for those looking to gain deeper insight into how data is used to represent various aspects of Maltese society. Key themes include: • Overview of Official Statistics; • Description of the National Statistics Office: Data Sources, Organisational Structure, and Outputs; • The Malta Statistics Authority, Other National Authorities, and Eurostat; • Statistical Methods: Questionnaire Design, Data Collection, Sampling, Data Anonymisation and Analysis, Metadata, and Quality Management; • Social Statistics: Including the Census of Population and Housing, Demography and Migration, Labour Market and Digital Society, Education, Living Conditions, and Tourism; • Business Statistics: Covering Environment, Agriculture, and Fisheries; • Economic Statistics: Including Price Indicators, International Trade, and the Balance of Payments. Demography This unit also introduces the field of demography, focusing on the scientific study of human populations - their size, structure, spatial distribution, and the processes influencing change over time. Students will engage with both theoretical concepts and applied methods used in demographic analysis, with a particular emphasis on interpreting real-world data from sources such as censuses, vital statistics, and administrative records. Key themes include: • Population size, composition, and distribution – age and sex structures, dependency ratios, and the spatial dispersion of populations; • Mortality analysis – covering crude death rates, age-specific death rates, infant mortality, life expectancy, and standardisation methods; • Fertility and natality – including crude birth rates, general and age-specific fertility rates, total and net reproduction rates; • Nuptiality – examining patterns and measures of marriage and divorce; • Migration – definitions, measures, international migration trends, and the impact of migration on demographic structure; • Life table construction – calculation of survival rates and use of the Lexis diagram to track demographic events over time; • Population and household projections – methods such as Trend extrapolation and the Cohort-Component Model; • Multiregional demography – accounting for internal population movements and regional variation; • Sources of demographic data – including censuses, surveys, civil registration systems, and international datasets; • Introduction to demographic software tools and their applications in demographic analysis. Study-unit Aims: The study-unit aims to provide an overview of Official Statistics, detailing the National Statistics Office's operations, key statistical methods such as questionnaire design, data collection, and analysis, and various fields of statistics including social, business, and economic data. The unit also extensively covers the various sources of information for Official Statistics including the NSO’s main dissemination tools and metadata website. This study-unit also aims to introduce students to the fundamental concepts, methods, and applications of demography. It focuses on the scientific study of human populations — including their size, structure, distribution, and changes — and explores key demographic processes such as fertility, mortality, migration, and population projections. The unit equips students with practical tools and measures used in demographic analysis, with special attention to demographic data sources, life table construction, and implications for social planning and policymaking. Examples from the Maltese Islands and international contexts will be used to ground theoretical knowledge in real-world applications. Learning Outcomes: Knowledge and Understanding By the end of the study-unit the student will: • Explain the concept of Official Statistics and the National Statistical System, including its core principles such as metadata, statistical terminology and the use of key statistical outputs; • Familiarise with the NSO’s structure, data sources, methodologies, outputs, metadata, and other domain-specific information; • Apply various statistical theories in practical and analytical contexts; • Outline the methodologies, dissemination tools, and key concepts used in the production of Social, Economic, and Business Statistics; • Define and explain key demographic terms and concepts such as population size, composition, density, and distribution; • Describe the major sources of demographic data (e.g., censuses, vital statistics, surveys) and assess their quality and limitations; • Interpret and apply demographic measures including fertility rates, mortality rates, and migration indicators; • Explain the construction and use of life tables and Lexis diagrams; • Describe and apply population projection techniques, including Cohort-Component methods and extrapolation models. Skills By the end of the study-unit, students will be able to: • Distinguish between the concepts of ‘Statistics’ and ‘Official Statistics’; • Select and integrate the most appropriate information sources to meet specific statistical requirements; • Recognise and analyse interdependencies among different statistical domains; • Design survey questionnaires and conduct data analyses that are appropriate and relevant to their intended purpose; • Calculate and interpret core demographic indicators (e.g., crude birth and death rates, age-specific rates, dependency ratios); • Construct and analyse life tables using mortality data; • Use demographic methods to evaluate population change and project future population trends; • Apply standardisation techniques to allow meaningful comparisons of demographic rates across populations; • Interpret demographic trends and assess their implications for social policy and planning. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: - The NSO main website and metadata website - Shroyk and Siegel (1978 ) The Methods and Materials of Demography, Academic, condensed version - Newell, C. (1988) Methods and Models in Demography, Belhaven Press, London - Palmore and Gardner (1989) Measuring Mortality, Fertility and Natural Increase, East-West Population Institute, East-West Center - Bogue, A. and Anderton eds. (1993) Readings in Population Research Methodology, Vol 1-6 (only) UN Population Fund - Arriaga, E. (1994) Population Analysis with Microcomputers, Vol 1, Bureau of the Census, USAID, UNFPA - Hinde, A. (1999) Demographic Methods, Arnold, London - Preston, S., Heuveline, P. and Guillot, M. (2000) Demography, Blackwell Publishers. |
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| ADDITIONAL NOTES | Pre-requisite Qualification: Ordinary Level Mathematics | ||||||||||||
| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Lara Emma Montebello Silvan Zammit |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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