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applied demography

What applied demography Majors Need to Know

Programs in applied demography build a specific mix of knowledge, skills, and abilities — derived from O*NET surveys of workers in occupations that applied demography graduates commonly enter.

Knowledge Areas

Coursework in applied demography emphasizes the following knowledge areas:

• English Language — Importance 4.4 / 5; level 5.4 / 7.
• Education and Training — Importance 3.7 / 5; level 5.1 / 7.
• Law and Government — Importance 3.7 / 5; level 4.0 / 7.
• Computers and Electronics — Importance 3.5 / 5; level 4.4 / 7.
• Administration and Management — Importance 3.4 / 5; level 3.9 / 7.

^{Importance is rated 1–5; level is 1–7. Source: ONET Online — weighted across related occupations.*}

Skills

The skill set developed in a applied demography program reflects the day-to-day work of related occupations:

• Speaking — Importance 4.2 / 5; level 4.3 / 7.
• Reading Comprehension — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.4 / 7.
• Active Listening — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.1 / 7.
• Writing — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 4.3 / 7.
• Critical Thinking — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 4.1 / 7.

Abilities

The cognitive and physical abilities most relevant to applied demography careers — again drawn from O*NET surveys of related occupations:

• Oral Expression — Importance 4.2 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.
• Oral Comprehension — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.
• Written Expression — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.
• Written Comprehension — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.
• Inductive Reasoning — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.1 / 7.

Common Job Activities

Day-to-day, applied demography graduates report doing:

Activity	Frequency / Importance
Getting Information	4.4 / 7
Working with Computers	4.4 / 7
Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates	4.4 / 7
Analyzing Data or Information	4.3 / 7
Processing Information	4.3 / 7
Making Decisions and Solving Problems	4.3 / 7
Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events	4.3 / 7
Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge	4.2 / 7
Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships	4.2 / 7
Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others	4.2 / 7

Technology Skills Used on the Job

Most frequently-cited tools used by applied demography professionals:

Tool / Software	Category	In-Demand
Microsoft Excel	Spreadsheet software	✓
Microsoft Outlook	Electronic mail software	✓
Microsoft Office software	Office suite software	✓
Microsoft PowerPoint	Presentation software	✓
Microsoft Word	Word processing software	✓
Web browser software	Internet browser software	—
Microsoft Project	Project management software	—
StataCorp Stata	Analytical or scientific software	—
Email software	Electronic mail software	—
Microsoft Access	Data base user interface and query software	✓
SAP software	Enterprise resource planning ERP software	—
Microsoft Windows	Operating system software	—

^{Source: ONET Online technology skills, weighted across related occupations.*}

Sample Job Titles

Real job postings for applied demography graduates include:

• Social Organization Professor
• Assistant Professor
• Faculty Member
• Sociology Adjunct Professor
• Sociology Adjunct Instructor
• College Professor
• Marriage and Family Teacher
• Adjunct Instructor
• Adjunct Sociology Professor
• Social Science Instructor
• Social Science Professor
• Associate Professor
• Comparative Sociology Professor
• Sociology Instructor
• University Faculty Member

Education Typically Required

Across the occupations open to applied demography graduates, the typical level of education actually held by current workers is distributed as:

Education Level	Share of Workers
Bachelor’s degree	36.2%
Doctoral degree	30.7%
Master’s degree	15.7%
Associate’s degree (or other 2-year)	5.6%
High school diploma or equivalent	4.2%
Postsecondary certificate	2.7%
Some college courses	2.1%
Post-baccalaureate certificate	1.7%
Post-doctoral training	0.7%
Post-master’s certificate	0.4%

^{Source: ONET Online education / training / experience requirements.*}

Online applied demography Programs

Fully online options is tracked by IPEDS for applied demography. The table below shows how many graduates earned at least some of their coursework online (Distance-Ed Available) versus completing the entire program online (Distance-Ed Only).

Award Level	Distance-Ed Available	Distance-Ed Only
Master’s	1	0
Doctoral (Research)	1	0

^{Distance-Ed Only = degrees completed entirely online; Distance-Ed Available = degrees including at least some online coursework. Source: IPEDS Completions by Distance Education status.}

Related Programs

You may also be interested in these closely related fields of study:

Program	CIP Code
Demography	45.05
Demography and Population Studies	45.0501
Demography, Other	45.0599
Survey Research/Methodology	45.0103
Applied/Public Sociology	45.1102
Research Methodology and Quantitative Methods	45.0102
Rural Sociology	45.1103
Sociology and Anthropology	45.1301
Sociology, General	45.1101
Sociology, Other	45.1199
Criminology	45.0401

References

The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students and international students. This number is then divided by the total number of students to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS)
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard

More about our data sources and methodologies.