Definition of Population Growth Rate

Significance in Population Studies

• Understanding population growth among people is important for social scientists and demographers. It helps them know how many of a particular group of people may live in a certain area. Qualities used to classify people may include profession, age, gender or education level, among a myriad of other designations.

Use By Marketing Professionals

• Marketing experts may use population growth information to to help tailor products to their target audience. For instance, if studies and surveys reveal that there is a more culturally diverse group of children who are watching cartoons than has been in the past, commercials shown in between the cartoons may seek to cater to the interest and needs of this more diverse audience in an attempt to market their products more effectively. One example of such marketing may be selling a dolls that have Caucasian, Asian and African-American models, so that a variety of cultures are represented.

Use by Biologists

• Biologists and microbiologists often use the term population growth to discuss the amount of bacteria that has grown in a petri dish or petri film. Growth can often be generally determined by counting the number of colonies present on a plate, provided the colonies have grown relatively separate from each other.

Use by Ecologists

• Ecologists may use the term population growth rate to determine how much of a certain species of animal exists in a certain area at a given time. For instance, environmental biologists may determine how many salmon spawn in a certain river for a specified year. For the following several years , he number of salmon may then be counted allowing the scientists to determine what the population growth rate is among those fish.

Companies

• There are various entities that are interested in studying population growth rates, which is important in a time when food and water resources on the earth are said to be relatively scarce in some areas. Allianz Knowledge is one such company that looks at population growth to gather information on demographics, migration and aging, among other factors. This information is then disseminated for business and educational purposes.