A large part of the science of demography deals with two key "factors of production." First, analytical methods and models are of central importance to all demographic work. Indeed, demographic modeling has been a major force in fostering substantive analyses of the life course and inequality. The second factor has to do with construction and/or preservation of demographic data. Initially the concern of government agencies, data production now engages the entire scholarly community. (Although data production is often viewed as service to the research community, we include it here to emphasize its status as research product, informed by theoretical understanding and methodological skills.) In the past two decades, tremendous advances have been made in both factors of production, enabling demographers to solve long-standing puzzles and generate even more puzzling questions. CDE contributed significantly to these advances.

A key methodological advance has been the increase in international research. Cross-national comparative research is essential to understand the theoretical processes underlying, for example, the production of health and health inequality, changes in family and household behavior, or particular forms and degrees of economic inequality. The need to increase comparative research between the U.S. and other countries also requires collaboration to move towards more comparable data and analyses.

Working Group Organizers:

Erik Nordheim
James Walker

Meetings

CDE Researchers in Data and Methodology

Bumpass, Larry
Cancian, Maria
Carter, Michael
Curtis, Katherine J.
DeLamater, John D.
Durlauf, Steven N.
Elwert, Felix
Gangl, Markus
Gerber, Ted
Guillot, Michel
Hauser, Robert
Heinrich, Carolyn J.
Logan, John Allen
Loveman, Mara
Marks, Nadine F.
Merli, M. Giovanna
Meyer, Daniel R.
Mullahy, John
Navarro, Salvador
Nordheim, Erik
Palloni, Alberto
Remington, Patrick L.
Schaeffer, Nora Cate
Schechter, Laura
Smeeding, Timothy M.
Taber, Christopher
Thomson, Elizabeth
Walker, James
Winsborough, Halliman

For CDE Working Group members only: Log in to the group course via Learn@UW