Preference scales for number and sex of Children

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
A measurement—theoretical approach to the scaling of preferences for number of children and sex composition is developed to provide a feasible field procedure for studying factors affecting size bias and sex bias and for studying the effects of such biases on realized family size. The measures, reflecting the individual's utility for number and sex of children, go beyond global stated preferences and are sensitive to deviations from a first choice. The procedures derive from a model based on developments in psychological measurement in unfolding theory and additive conjoint measurement. This model disentangles size and sex bias, giving independent measures of each. A methodological sample of University of Michigan students is used to test and illustrate various aspects of the model in some detail. Field pre-tests in Taiwan provide data from another culture for further testing of the model and method. In addition, simplified and abbreviated interview procedures were field-tested there. Two other sets of data obtained from published literature are also analysed and the results compared briefly. This method makes possible a common basis of comparison across cultures, facilitating such studies as the character and size of cross-cultural differences, the relation of cultural norms for number and sex of children to other demographic characteristics, and the relation of size and sex biases to eventual family size and composition.