Demographic analysis is a powerful tool that can explain a number of social, economic and business phenomena. Demography includes the study of the size, structure and distribution of populations, and how populations change over time due to births, deaths, migration, and ageing.
Demography is the study of human populations, its structure and the causes and consequences of change.
Since demography seeks relationships that can be expressed precisely and quantitatively, demographers use quantitative analytical methods. However, in order to understand demographic change, demographers also use the analytic methods of social sciences such as anthropology, sociology, economics, and geography.
Useful intelligence for business and government
The size and composition of markets, electorates, public service clienteles and the labour force all are related to demography. Demographic analysis can assist planning marketing campaigns, site location decisions, electoral campaign strategies and public sector resource allocation decisions, such as where to build schools and hospitals.
Macquarie University — firsts
Macquarie University offers a greater range of undergraduate demography units than any other university in Australia. Demography units ban be studied in a range of our degrees, most commonly in the Bachelor of Commerce.
Demography units are overseen by the Department of Marketing and Management, Faculty of Business and Economics, at Macquarie University.
The standard length of our Bachelor degrees is three years of full-time study or six years of part-time study. Students have the flexibility to combine their study of demography within a Degree of their choice, encorporating a wide variety of other areas such as social sciences, economics, marketing, human resource management, statistics, geography, and health.
Popular degree combinations include:
- Bachelor of Commerce
Students may choose to study demography subjects within the Bachelor of Commerce degree. Popular combinations include Marketing or Economics.
- Bachelor of Business Administration
Students may choose elective subjects in demography as a part of their program of study. This degree is suitable for students who wish to have a background in strategic management.
- Bachelor of Planning
One of the demography units must be studied as a part of the core of this interdisciplinary degree, and others may be taken as electives.
- Bachelor of Health
One of the demography units must be studied as a part of the core of this interdisciplinary degree, and the others may be taken as electives.
- Analytical ability: thinking clearly and logically
- Complex problem-solving
- Computing skills
- Developing an awareness of the community
- Engaged and ethical local and global citizens
- Methodical management
- Numerical sense
- Quantitative skills
What you study
- Demographic fundamentals
- Demographic techniques
- Business demographics and forecasting
- Consumer behaviour
- Cross-cultural management
- Introductory statistics
- Marketing fundamentals and research
- Population, health and environment
- Social and applied demography
- Social marketing and sustainability
- Demographic trends in Australia and overseas
Where can you go?
Demographers are in demand in the public and private sector, here and overseas. Demographic skills can be applied widely including in business and finance by investment companies, insurance companies, banks and marketing consulting and market research firms in areas such as tracking trends, market analysis and site location. In the public sector they are used in the collection and analysis of data, in planning and in assisting policy formulation. Examples of workplaces that utilise demographics include the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Department of Education, and research organisations.
Career options can include:
- Business and finance
- Market research
- State and Federal Departments and Local Governments
- Policy analysis
- Strategic planning
How much can you earn?
Starting salaries for demographers vary depending upon which industry they enter. According to mycareer.com on 09/07/12, you could expect to earn the below on average:
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