Nuptiality and Fertility Questions and Answers

Answer: C

Davis and Blake's framework for fertility analysis has three sets of intermediate variables: factors that affect exposure to intercourse, factors that affect exposure to conception, and factors that affect gestation and successful parturition. So 1, 3 and 4 are correct.

Exposure to menopause (2) is not one of the sets, so the options which include 2 are wrong.

In the framework the first set concerns intercourse, including age at entry into unions and abstinence, the second concerns conception, such as fecundity and contraception, and the third concerns gestation and parturition, including foetal mortality.

Answer: D

The denominator for the general marital fertility rate is the currently married female population in the reproductive age group. The numerator is the number of births, and the rate shows the fertility of women who are exposed to the risk of childbirth through marriage.

All currently married females would include those outside the age group, ever married females include widowed and divorced women, and all women in the age group is the denominator of the general fertility rate.

Answer: B

The factors that determine the level of fertility of a country include the age at marriage, the level of fecundability and the use of contraceptives, so 1, 3 and 4 are correct.

Ageing refers to the age structure of the population and is a result of the long run decline of fertility and mortality, not a direct factor in determining the level of fertility, so the options with 2 are wrong.

Age at marriage fixes the length of exposure of women to the risk of childbirth, fecundability is the monthly chance of conceiving, and contraception reduces the chance, so the three act directly on the level of fertility.

Answer: B

Both statements are correct, but the reason does not explain the assertion. Rural fertility is higher than urban fertility, while population density in urban areas is higher than in rural areas.

The higher density of towns is not the cause of lower fertility there: the lower fertility is caused by later marriage, more education of women, wider use of contraception and the higher cost of children. So the reason is true but is not the explanation.

Answer: B

The interval between menarche and the attainment of full biological maturity is called adolescent sterility, during which a girl has menstrual cycles but is not yet able to conceive regularly, because ovulation is infrequent.

Primary sterility is the inability to conceive at all, secondary sterility is failure to conceive after an earlier pregnancy, and menopause is the end of the reproductive period.

Answer: B

Caldwell proposed the Wealth Flow Theory of fertility, so the second option is correct. He argued that fertility is high where wealth flows from children to parents, and falls when the flow reverses to parents to children as the family becomes nuclear. Malthus, Ravenstein and Chandrasekharan are known for other contributions. The theory is part of the study of the demographic transition and the role of the family in fertility decisions. Malthus wrote on population and food, and Ravenstein on laws of migration, so they are not linked with the wealth flows idea.

Answer: D

Child immunisation is not related to the study of fertility, so the last option is correct. Fecundity, birth spacing and reproductive health are all concerned with childbearing, whereas immunisation concerns child health and survival. The first three terms are all used in the demographic study of fertility, which is why they are rejected. The question asks which does not relate to fertility, so the immunisation item is the odd one out.

Answer: B

Open birth interval is not an element of the intermediate variables, so the second option is correct. Davis and Blake's intermediate variables include factors such as age at marriage, breastfeeding and contraception, whereas the open birth interval is a measure of fertility behaviour. The intermediate variables are factors through which social conditions act on fertility, such as marriage and contraception. Hence the other three are intermediate variables and the open birth interval is the answer.

Answer: C

The average number of live-born children produced by women of childbearing age is the fertility rate.

It measures actual births, and in its summary form, the total fertility rate, gives the average number of children per woman in a society.

Morbidity and mortality rates concern illness and death. Fecundity is the biological ability to reproduce, which is different from actual births.

A fertility rate counts births, and the total fertility rate gives the average number of children a woman would bear over her lifetime, so it fits the description. Morbidity and mortality concern disease and death, and fecundity is only the capacity to have children.

Answer: A

Open birth intervals are likely to be longer than closed birth intervals.

A closed interval lies between two births. An open interval runs from the last birth to the survey date, and it includes women who have stopped childbearing and will have no further birth, as well as women whose next birth is still to come. The interval therefore keeps growing and tends to exceed the closed interval.

Shorter or equal length is not expected, and the statement that nothing can be said is wrong because the censoring effect pushes in one clear direction.