DEPARTMENT OF DEMOGRAPHY AND ORGANIZATION STUDIES
Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Applied Demography
Students accepted for admission into the Ph.D. program in Applied Demography have the opportunity to engage in advanced study and research in the field of Applied Demography as it applies to questions in such areas as public policy and administration, urban and regional planning, life sciences, medicine, business, and the social sciences. Depending on their area of focus, students may work with faculty from a variety of areas of study offered at UTSA. Students may also choose to take related courses at, or work with contributing faculty members from, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and the San Antonio regional campus of The University of Texas School of Public Health.
The Applied Demography program prepares students to address the expanding education and research problems that are at the intersection of demography, public policy and administration, education, public health, and health care. Students may pursue careers in university-based medical centers, public health related organizations and agencies, health science centers, national and corporate settings, and local, state and federal government. Students are trained to examine the effects of demographic factors on policy—both private and public.
The regulations for this degree comply with the general University regulations (refer to Chapter 2, General Academic Regulations, and Chapter 5, Doctoral Degree Regulations).
Admission Requirements. In addition to satisfying the University-wide requirements for admission to graduate programs, all prospective students must have a bachelor’s degree and a Master of Science or Master of Arts degree from an accredited university in demography/sociology, geography, economics, biology, political science, statistics, mathematics, business, or a similar field. Students who have not earned a qualifying master’s degree may be required to complete the equivalent courses in the appropriate discipline area before admission to the Ph.D. program in Applied Demography.
In addition, applicants must submit:
- official transcripts of all undergraduate and graduate coursework completed,
- Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores from a GRE-administered examination completed no more than five years prior to the Ph.D. student’s date of application. All applicants are required to submit scores from the GRE math, verbal, and analytical portions of the examination and scores for a related specialty area,
- three letters of recommendation from academic or professional sources familiar with the applicant’s background, and
- a letter of application describing the applicant’s academic and work backgrounds and goals and objectives related to the applicant’s Ph.D. program.
International students from non-English-speaking countries must also submit a score of at least 550 on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL paper version) as required by the University. These test scores may not be more than two years old at the date of application to the Ph.D. program.
A complete application includes the application form, official transcripts, GRE scores, three letters of recommendation, a letter of application stating academic and work experience, interests and goals, and if required, a TOEFL score. Admission is competitive and satisfying these requirements does not guarantee admission.
Degree Requirements. The Applied Demography Ph.D. requires students to complete a minimum of 48 hours of organized coursework and a minimum of 12 hours of dissertation credits for a total of at least 60 hours beyond the master’s degree. The doctoral program has a base of core courses that will result in all students having a firm grounding in demography and related areas of statistics with students then choosing from one of two tracks for their specialization. The tracks in Applied Demography are Applied Demography and Health and Applied Demography and Policy. All students will be required to complete the core courses listed below and a set of courses in their chosen track.
All students are expected to enter the program with some proficiency and aptitude for utilizing statistical software (i.e., SAS, SPSS, Stata). Basic ability to use the DEM-Research server to import and transform data sets and conduct basic statistical analyses is a requirement to be successful with a number of courses, and skills demonstrated by this ability are important to being an applied demographer. Recognizing that some students start the program with computer and software skills and knowledge, an examination has been developed that will assess this competency. Students who pass the competency exam within the first semester of being admitted to the program may have DEM 7203 (Software Applications for Demographic Analysis) waived and may substitute another course for this requirement with the approval of the Graduate Program Committee.
Program of Study
- Core Research and Statistics Courses (18 semester credit hours):
- 9 semester credit hours of the following required courses:
Software
DEM 7203 Software Applications for Demographic Analysis
Research Methods
DEM 7243 General Research Methods for Demographers
DEM 7253 Survey Methods for Demographers
- 9 semester credit hours selected from the following:
Mathematical Statistics
DEM 7223 Advanced Methods for Life Table Analysis
DEM 7263 Spatial Demography
DEM 7273 Statistics for Demographic Data I
DEM 7283 Statistics for Demographic Data II
Applied Statistical Methodology
DEM 7143 Applied Mathematical Demography
DEM 7233 Applied Forecasting Methods in Demography
STA 5313 Theory of Sample Surveys with Applications
STA 7013 Advanced Applied Business Statistical Methods
STA 7023 Applied Linear Statistical Models
STA 7033 Multivariate Statistical Analysis
- 9 semester credit hours of the following required courses:
- Core Demography Courses (15 semester credit hours):
- 12 semester credit hours of required courses:
DEM 7013 Demographic Methods of Analysis I
DEM 7023 Demographic Methods of Analysis II
DEM 7093 GIS for Population Science
DEM 7113 Social Demography and Community Trends - 3 semester credit hours selected from the following:
DEM 7033 Mortality
DEM 7043 Migration
DEM 7143 International Migration
DEM 7083 Fertility
- 12 semester credit hours of required courses:
- Advanced Courses (a minimum of 15 semester credit hours is required):
- 9–15 semester credit hours selected from the following:
DEM 7063 Applied Demography in Policy Settings
DEM 7073 Disparities in Health and Health Care
DEM 7123 Applied Demography in Education
DEM 7153 Applied Demography in Public Health
DEM 7163 Organizational and Industrial Demography
DEM 7173 Applied Demography in Urban and Regional Planning
DEM 7183 Social and Economic Impact Assessment
DEM 7193 Demography of Complex Organizations
DEM 7403 Health Care Organizations, Professions, and the Government
DEM 7783 Internship in Applied Demography
- 0–6 semester credit hours selected from the following:
MKT 5003 Introduction to Marketing
PAD 5323 Public Policy Process
PH 1110* Social and Behavioral Aspects of Community Health
PH 1120* Introduction to Program Evaluation
PH 2610* Introduction to Epidemiology
PH 3740* Community-Based Health Assessment
PH 3915* Methods for the Economic Evaluation of Health Programs
SOC 5103 Complex Organizations
- 9–15 semester credit hours selected from the following:
- Doctoral Dissertation (minimum 12 semester credit hours):
DEM 7911-6 Doctoral Dissertation
Note: * denotes courses that are to be completed at The University of Texas School of Public Health San Antonio Regional Campus. Course descriptions may be found in The University of Texas School of Public Health course catalog at www.sph.uth.tmc.edu/academics/course-information/catalogs/ or on the Web site for the UTSA Ph.D. program in Applied Demography at http://copp.utsa.edu.
Note: ** denotes courses that are to be completed at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. Course descriptions may be found in The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio course catalog at http://studentservices.uthscsa.edu/GI_catalog.aspx or on the Web site for the UTSA Ph.D. program in Applied Demography at http://copp.utsa.edu.
The entire program of study must be approved by the student’s dissertation advisor and graduate committee, and must be submitted to the Dean of the Graduate School through the Dean of the College of Public Policy for final approval.
Admission to Candidacy. Advancement to candidacy requires that a student complete University and Applied Demography requirements. The student must choose a graduate committee and designate one faculty member as chair of that committee. This faculty member must be a member of the graduate faculty of UTSA. A degree plan must be submitted by each student to his or her specific graduate committee and must be approved by the committee before the end of the second semester of enrollment. The student may seek candidacy by taking and passing written and oral qualifying examinations. The written examination is administered by the graduate faculty. The oral qualifying examination will assess issues not adequately addressed in the student’s written examination. The student will also submit and undergo an oral examination in defense of the student’s dissertation proposal. Written qualifying examinations will be scheduled twice a year. Oral examinations are administered at the discretion of the student’s committee and must meet the time line and requirements of the University. All students must schedule a defense of their dissertation at which all members of their committee are present to examine the student and issue a pass/fail evaluation of the student’s work. The Chair of the student’s committee is responsible for approval of the final corrections of the student’s dissertation.
Dissertation. Candidates must demonstrate the ability to conduct independent research by completing and defending an original dissertation. The research topic is determined by the student in consultation with his or her supervising professor. A dissertation committee, selected by the student in consultation with his or her supervising professor, guides and critiques the candidate’s research. The completed dissertation must be formally presented and defended to, and approved by, the student’s Dissertation Committee. Awarding of the degree is based on the approval of the Dissertation Committee. The UTSA Dean of the Graduate School certifies the completion of all University-wide requirements.
