Fertility preferences: what measuring second choices teaches us
نویسندگان
چکیده
This article aims to strengthen the research methodology for studies of fertility preferences. Knowledge of personal fertility ideals is important both for demographers and policy makers, but the measurement techniques currently employed are not very refined. We suggest that the information provided by asking people about their personal ideal number of offspring can be improved in quality when asking them to also consider alternative preferences. The results of a survey conducted in the Netherlands demonstrate how measuring second (and, if desired, further) choices improves our ability to differentiate between different population subgroups. Moreover, it brings to light individuals’ openness to their ‘second best ideals’. Including questions on alternative ideals in surveys thus enhances the qualitative potential of studies on fertility ideals and adds a new dimension to research on the how and why of fertility gaps between desired and achieved fertility.
منابع مشابه
I-28: Gamete Donation from An Islamic View
One of the distinction between an ethical proposition and a proposition in Islamic Jurisprudence (Feqh) or Islamic Law is in their predicates. All three speak of the free action of human being as their subjects. Nature of human being discussed in this article according to Islamic point of view. Status of a gamete and nature of human being correlated to each other and affect to the conclusion. H...
متن کاملMust rational intentions maximize utility ?
How is it rational for us to form, maintain, and revise our intentions, in cases where we are not certain of what the outcomes of the available acts will be? The mental events in which we form or revise our intentions are choices or decisions. So, to answer this question, it is natural to look to the approach that has been developed by classical decision theory (also known as rational choice th...
متن کاملBehavioral Ethics in Business Organizations: What the Research Teaches Us
Do individuals in organizations always act and behave consistently with what they know or believe to be the right thing to do? While Plato may contend no one ever knowingly does evil, most of us believe individuals sometimes act contrary to what they know is right.1 Indeed, whether viewed legally or ethically, we hold individuals accountable for their behaviors and choices, at least in part bec...
متن کاملDo you do what you say or do you do what you say others do?
We design a donations vs. own money choice experiment comparing three different treatments. In two of the treatments the pay-offs are hypothetical. In the first of these, a short cheap talk script was used, and subjects were required to state their own preferences in this scenario. In the second, subjects were asked to state how they believed an average student would respond to the choices. In ...
متن کاملThe Naïve Utility Calculus unifies spatial and statistical routes to preference
Humans can seamlessly infer what other people like, based on what they do. Broadly, two types of accounts have been proposed to explain different aspects of this ability. A first account focuses on inferences from spatial information: agents choose and move towards things they like. A second account focuses on inferences from statistical information: uncommon choices reveal preferences more cle...
متن کامل