Population Research and Interest Group Demographic change, social dynamics, and rural communities
What We’re About
The Population Research Interest Group brings together scholars whose research focuses on population dynamics and their social, economic, and environmental consequences in rural and urban contexts. This includes the study of migration, fertility, mortality, aging, racial and ethnic composition, and spatial population distribution.
The group emphasizes interdisciplinary collaboration and methodological diversity in demographic research, with the goal of understanding how population processes shape and are shaped by social structures, institutions, and public policy. Our work contributes to informed decision-making at local, regional, national, and global levels.
Annual Dues:
Regular Members – $10
Student Members – $0
Get Involved:
Attend our sessions and networking events at the RSS Annual Meeting
Participate in planning discussions or propose new activities
Contact our leadership team to get connected
What We Do and How to Get Involved
The Population RIG supports research and engagement that address population trends and their impacts on communities. We:
Organize sessions at the RSS Annual Meeting related to key demographic topics, such as rural depopulation, immigration, family change, health disparities, and population-environment interactions.
Encourage networking, mentorship, and collaboration across disciplines and career stages.
Promote the use of demographic data and analysis to inform rural policy and planning.
Welcome new members with interests in population studies, demography, and social change.
To get involved, join the RIG through your RSS membership, participate in our annual sessions, propose new research ideas or panel topics, and contribute to discussions that advance our collective understanding of population issues.
Leadership:
📰 News and Announcements
📚 Selected Publications and Resources
Explore work from our members and resources on rural sociology:
- Amenity Migration and Community Wellbeing in Washington’s Kittitas County Post‐COVID‐19 Pandemic
- Searching for Higher Ground: Watershed Migration and Cultural Curation in the Fallout of Disaster
- Depopulation, Deaths, Diversity, and Deprivation: The 4Ds of Rural Population Change
- Pathways to Prosperity: Moving Beyond Growth to Evaluate Change in Community Well-Being
- Understanding Rural Legal Deserts to Inform Public Policy: Identifying and Describing Lawyer Gaps in Non-Metropolitan Counties
- The Local Welfare State and Differences in Racialized Poverty
- Confronting Colonial Narratives: How Destination Museum Exhibits Can Sustainably Engage with Social Justices Issues
- US rural population health and aging in the 2020s
- Early family formation, selective migration, and childhood conditions in Rural America
- Charting new courses to adulthood in the Global South
- International Handbook of the Demography of Poverty and Inequality
- Population Redistribution Trends in Nonmetropolitan America, 2010 to 2021
- Urbanization and the Paradox of Rural Population Decline: Racial and Regional Variation
- Opportunity and Place: Latino Children and America’s Future