A Model for Determining Information Diffusion in a Family Planning Program

Selected personal attitudinal and social structural characteristics of 129 white female residents of low-income areas in Nashville Tennessee in 1966-1967 were investigated to test the hypothesis that the general effectiveness of a voluntary birth control effort is linked to a diffusion of favorable comments between relatives and friends in the which would then tend to promote acceptance of contraceptive techniques. The survey examined the determinants of 1) knowledge of existence of birth control clinics 2) approval of the clinics and 3) willingness to convey contraceptive information to others. Knowledge of clinics was closely associated with proximity to clinics (r=.40) and with propensity to discuss birth control with neighbors (r=.36) but only slightly associated with friendliness of the neighborhood (r=.07). Birth control clinic approval was most strongly correlated with age (-.21) belief in efficiency of birth control (.33) education (.18) fundamentalism (-.21) belief in safety of birth control (.23) and belief in fewer children (.21); the weakest correlations were family size and fertility. Willingness to convey information showed strong positive correlation with belief in efficiency (.35) and belief in safety (.51) of birth control techniques and belief that some families would be better off with fewer children (.20). There was a strong positive correlation (.83) between birth control clinic approval and willingness to convey birth control information. Information diffusion provides a link between social structure and fertility control. A conceptual model is developed to illustrate variables contributing to the diffusion of birth control information in a public health family planning program. Further study of the function of communication in achievement of social goals is suggested

Birth control · Control (management · Economics · Family planning · Fertility · Population · Sociology · Test (biology · Demography · Family Dynamics and Relationships · Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics · Medicine · Psychology · Social Psychology · Survey Methodology and Nonresponse

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