Primary Research Areas
The CSDE community studies a vast array of population-related topics. Nearly all of this work falls within one or more of five broad Primary Research Areas, or PRAs. Many affiliates and trainees find that their scholarship falls into multiple PRAs, helping to weave our community network together. A faculty affiliate serves as chair for each PRA, organizing or sponsoring seminars, panels and other events, and disseminating information to and from the affiliates within that PRA.
Demographic Measurements and Methods
How many we are, how fast is our society growing, and why are we moving? These are just a few questions that are fundamental to social science knowledge and particularly important for growing our understanding of population health. CSDE scholars conduct scientific investigations that advance statistical demography, population projections, spatial demography, demographic measurement, big data generation and analyses, and demographic models for population research.
PRA Chair: Zack Almquist. Click here for a list of faculty affiliates in this PRA
Environments and Populations
How are humans shaped by their surrounding environments? Social and ecological contexts shape, and are shaped by, population health and population dynamics. Embracing this complexity and methodological challenge, CSDE scholars apply and advance research tools such as quasi-experimental designs, sentinel studies, and multi-level and longitudinal assessments to study how neighborhoods condition human behavior and welfare, human resilience and adaptation to climate change, and the impact of policy and program interventions on population outcomes.
PRA Chair: Ann Bostrom. Click here for a list of faculty affiliates in this PRA
Health of People and Populations
From investigations of birth outcomes and reproductive health to aging and morbidity, CSDE researchers are at the forefront of investigating population health across the lifespan. Other areas of focus include disease, mental well-being, and biosocial determinants of health. To better understand population health, CSDE researchers employ the latest methodologies and develop and test methodological tools, including biomarkers, social media analyses, verbal autopsies, and mixed methods (to name just a few).
PRA Chair: Anjum Hajat. Click here for a list of faculty affiliates in this PRA
Migrations and Settlements
Mobility, migration, and the subsequent geographic distribution of humans are central features of demography and population studies. CSDE affiliates investigate the causes and consequences of migration, including out-migration; immigrant adaptation, health, and well-being; domestic and local mobility; residential segregation; and housing instability, both historically and in the present day. Our affiliates are at the forefront of methodological development and contribute towards new measures, study designs and models to capture the dynamics inherent in studying migration and mobility
PRA Chair: Nathalie Williams. Click here for a list of faculty affiliates in this PRA
Wellbeing of Families and Households
CSDE affiliates’ scientific contributions further our understanding about the transition to adulthood, family dynamics and relationship quality, and poverty and inequality. Families and households are crucial conceptual and measurement units for understanding population dynamics and demography. The wellbeing of families and households animates much of CSDE scholarship, resulting in science-advancing and policy-relevant evidence on poverty and inequality, safety net programs, marriage and divorce, and child and elder care.
PRA Chair: Heather Hill. Click here for a list of faculty affiliates in this PRA