The Consistency and Validity of Reproductive Attitudes

Evidence From Morocco

Dados Bibliográficos

ID23342239
AutoresAkinrinola Bankole (0000-0003-3220-9477, Guttmacher Institute), Charles F Westoff (Princeton University)
Ano1998
Volume30
Fascículo4
Páginas439-455
Data de publicação1998-10-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoJournal of Biosocial Science (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0021-9320 • E-ISSN: 1469-7599
EditoraCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0021932098004398
PMID9818553
OpenAlexW2005651472
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas109

Information on reproductive attitudes is now routinely collected in fertility surveys in developing countries, and has become very important for understanding fertility behaviour. The quality of this information, however, is rarely assessed, partly due to lack of necessary data. In this paper, the recently completed panel survey in Morocco by the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) was used to investigate the consistency of reporting of ideal number of children, reproductive intentions and the planning status of the last birth. The validity of reproductive intentions for subsequent fertility behaviour was also examined. The findings indicate that the three measures of reproductive attitudes are subject to different degrees of measurement error. The measure of reproductive intentions is the most consistent of the three, followed by ideal number of children. The latter is much more consistent at the aggregate level than at the individual level. The reliability of the planning status of the last birth is marred, mainly by an unwanted child being reclassified as 'wanted' with time since the birth of the child. The reproductive intentions of women were also found to be positively related to their subsequent fertility.

Birth rate · Consistency (knowledge bases) · Developed country · Developing country · Developmental psychology · Economic growth · Economics · Family planning · Fertility · Population · Reproductive health · Research methodology · Sociology · Total fertility rate · Demographic Trends and Gender Preferences · Demography · Family Dynamics and Relationships · Global Maternal and Child Health · Mathematics · Medicine · Psychology · Social Psychology