Population Changes and the Resources Base in the British West IndiesAuthor(s): Roy ChungSource: Social and Economic Studies, Vol. 5, No. 3 (SEPTEMBER, 1956), pp. 313-314Published by: Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies, University of the WestIndiesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27851074 .

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RESEARCH NOTE

Population Changes and the Resource Base in the British West Indies

The object of this note is (a) to outline the nature and scope of the pro

posed research project and ( b ) to describe some of the techniques that will be employed in presenting and evaluating the data.

The study is comparative in nature and focuses on the patterns of spatial

change in the demographic characteristics of the British West Indies. Tw? main questions are asked: (i) What is the nature, trend and consequence of the changing patterns? (ii) In what specific way is this changing pattern

motivated by the interaction of a changing resource base and changes in the population?

Population change is emphasized, but not just the overall numerical changes. The viewpoint is that the demographic characteristics have a spatial pattern of distribution and that the quantitative patterns of occurrence and patterns of change differ significantly from area to area. There may be specific socio economic problems functionally associated with this relative intra-spatiai change quite distinct from those determined by total changes in the whole.

Essentially then, the where' of population changes and the 'determinants and consequences' of this where', form the pivotal topic of this study.

The Resource Base and its Relationship to the Problem

The why and the consequence of the where-aspect' of the demographic characteristics are related to the concept of a resource base and the whole

question of population pressure. We need not underscore that a phenomenon becomes an actual or potential economic resource only when it is evaluated or capable of being evaluated as such by a population. However, it may be relevant to emphasize that the population itself forms part of the resource base of a nation. The numbers of people and the demographic quality of the

people as reflected in such concepts as dependency ratio, labour force, literacy, life expectancy, etc., in so far as they affect the economic development and/oi progress of the country, are pertinent to an analysis of the population problem of a region. In fact, population pressure is often not one of 'numbers of people but rather of 'quality of people' (the phrase does not imply any inherent or intrinsic racial qualities but is used here purely in a descriptive demographic sense. )

We are also concerned with the resource base as understood in the popular sense. There is such a concept as the optimum distribution of population rela tive to economic activity. The evaluation of optimal conditions is partly de

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314 SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC STUDIES

pendent on the criteria chosen, and is by no means an absolute concept. For

our purposes, the reciprocal effects of the nature of economic development and its location relative to the distribution of characteristics of the population will be emphasized, though not to the exclusion of other relevant aspects cA

the problem.

The Methodology and Techniques The general topic outlined above is a broad one. The plan is to focus on

the island of Jamaica, but to bring in analogies from the demographic pattern in the other islands to support any apparently significant array of relationships that may arise out of this research. A series of special-purpose maps will be

constructed to show distribution patterns and patterns of change of both

economic and population factors. Where available aerial photographs will be

used to increase the accuracy of the maps.

Cartographic presentation and analysis will supplement the usual statistical

techniques in finding answers to one of the basic questions involved in com

parative spatial analysis, namely: How is the pattern similar, and in what

way does it differ from the patterns in other areas? It is perhaps relevant to observe that the data will not be analysed in a

statistical or cartographic vacuum. To arrive at some meaningful causal ex

planation of the patterns disclosed the population changes and the specific economic and social problems of the area under investigation will be ex

plored from the historical and contemporary viewpoint, and also from the

perspective of wider demographic and socio-economic theories and problems as applied to other areas of the world.

As this work is being carried out by one whose core background is geo

graphy, it may be worthwhile to mention that the methodological justification can be summed up by the statement that not only the observable results of the works of man, but also man himself is a geographic phenomenon. The numbers and characteristics of people differ from place to place, and thus the fact of this areal differentiation ? its causes, patterns and consequences

?

becomes the focus of attention of the population geographer.

Roy Chung.

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