SOCIAL LEARNING, SOCIAL INFLUENCE AND FERTILITY CONTROL

社会学习、社会影响和生育控制

• 批准号: 6181850
• 负责人: MARK RANDOLPH MONTGOMERY
• 金额: $ 8.5万
• 依托单位: STATE UNIVERSITY NEW YORK STONY BROOK
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 1997
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1997-09-01 至 2002-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/6181850
• 关键词: Africa; African; behavioral /social science research tag; clinical research; contraceptives; experience; family planning; family structure /dynamics; fertility; human subject; interpersonal relations; learning; longitudinal human study; mass information media; peer group; questionnaires; religion; social behavior; social change; social group process; socioeconomics

The social dynamics of diffusion can be a powerful force in determining the timing and pace of fertility change, yet their role is not recognized in most conventional theories of fertility transition. This project will expand the conventional approach to fertility by examining systematically the causal contribution of social interaction. The research will be guided by new theoretical and empirical models of diffusion, and specifically by the organizing concepts of social learning and social influence, which together comprise what the investigators term social effects. The hypotheses derived from these organizing concepts will be tested using micro-level longitudinal data to be collected in two settings in southern and northern Ghana. Ghana provides an excellent setting for this research because its fertility transition is just getting underway. Here it is possible, via prospective data collection, to observe the social dynamics underlying the process of adoption of modern contraception from the earliest stages of that process. Such research is no longer possible for most Western and Asian populations, as the necessary data were not collected at the time their transitions were getting underway. Here it is possible, via prospective data collection, to observe the social dynamics underlying the process of adoption of modern contraception from the earliest stages of that process. Such research is no longer possible for most Western and Asian populations, as the necessary data were not collected at the time their transitions were getting underway. The ability to derive lessons from Ghana's experience will be greatly enhanced by carrying out research in both southern and northern sites, because of the sharp contrast these two regions present in economic development, social and cultural systems, and stage of demographic transition. In the south, research will be fielded in the Western, Central and Greater Accra regions. In the north, the investigators will utilize the demographic surveillance system that has been established by the Navrongo Health Research Centre in rural kassena-Nankana district and will exploit the large-scale family planning experiment that went into the field in early 1996. Specific objectives include: (1) To test the impact on the adoption of modern contraception of social learning and social influence, including effects on the demand for children and contraceptive costs; (II) To examine how social structure (especially kinship systems), the nature of gender relations, political, economic, and religious organizations, and the accessibility and quality of services; (III) To explore how program efforts and the mass media complement the effects of social learning and social influences; and (IV) To refine methodologies for assessing social effects on the adoption of modern contraception.

扩散的社会动态可以成为决定的强大力量