Desde antes do nascimento até muito além da morte: uma análise de conteúdo das dissertações e teses defendidas nos primeiros 25 anos do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Demografia do CEDEPLAR/UFMG

The main objective of this paper is to do a content analysis of the production of master’s theses and doctoral dissertations of the graduate program in Demography at Cedeplar/UFMG between April 1989 and May 2009. More specifically, the paper aims at (i) verifying how the topics under study change over time; (ii) evaluating the dimensions advisor/co-advisor, geographical coverage, and period under study; and (iii) analyzing when and how aging has been studied. Data come from the Cedeplar webpage. Results suggest that, among the 114 master’s theses, the most frequent topics are migration and spatial mobility and mortality, followed closely by sexual and reproductive behavior and fertility. Among the 70 doctoral dissertations, the mode of the distribution is the topic demographic dynamic and public policies. Regarding time, the topics migration and spatial mobility and mortality are present during the entire period of analysis but other topics such as population, space, and environment, have appeared more recently, along with course offers by visiting faculty and faculty hiring. It is important to stress that the subtopics within migration and mortality change over time and tend to follow the demographic dynamics. Advising is quite spread among all professors. Geographic coverage range from local to national (Brasil and other countries) and the period under study varies.