METHODS FOR CONSTRUCTING AND ANALYZING POPULATION PYRAMIDS IN TEACHING AND STUDYING POPULATION GEOGRAPHY AT UNIVERSITY

Abstract

The population pyramid is a type of chart that is very widely used in teaching population geography. However, how to construct a population pyramid in Excel and to knowledgeably analyze the population pyramid is quite a big challenge to both teachers and students in learning population geography. This paper focuses on guidelines for a method of constructing population pyramids in Excel 2007 - 2013 in two different ways: the simplest one is to draw a population pyramid with a vertical axis shared by both men and women; the second one is more complex in that two horizontal bar charts representing both genders respectively are drawn and turned their backs to one another. Besides, the paper also proposes steps to be taken and specific notice for analyzing population pyramids.