Study of age misstatement among young children in Ghana

In the 1960 Population Census of Ghana, the first attempt to enumerate the population by single years of age was made. The use of these data to estimate fertility levels was rendered somewhat difficult by the pattern assumed by the age statement of children. This pattern was similar to others found widely in developing countries. There appeared to be unexpectedly few children under two years of age and more children aged three years than any other single age. In order to investigate such age reporting, and in the hope of being able to provide some kind of correction to the census data, an attempt was made to trace one thousand children 0-99 months of age in ten different centers, with knoum dates of registered birth. If found, they were approached, as if by census enumerators, to obtain statements of age from the families. The investigation had to be confined to the compulsory registration areas where an eighth of the population of the country lives.It was found that age misstatement occurs partly because of digital preference but even more commonly because of a tendency to approximate age to the nearest birthday. Thus, when age misstatement occurs through the latter cause, it always takes the form of age advancement. Errors in age statement of more than one year fell evenly and randomly above and below the correct age. The age data in years were not appreciably affected by seeking further information on age in years and months. However, it was shown that the standard deviation of stated from real age was approximately proportional to real age and was equal to about one-eighth of it.The findings were then applied to the 1960 enumeration, where some problems such as the small number of one-year-olds, were solved. More work is needed to explain satisfactorily the peaking at three years of age. It was shown that age advancement may have reduced the size of the 0-4 age group by about 5 percent relative to adult female age groups, and this would result in an understatement of fertility as measured by the child/woman age ratio of the same amount.The research described in this paper was program of that post. With the exception of a carried out when the writer held the Population part of the analysis which has been carried out at Council demography post attached to the University of Ghana and formed part of the research program of that post. With the exception of a carried out when the writer held the Population part of the analysis which has been carried out at the Australian National University, the project was financed entirely by the Population Council.     

Fathers in child welfare: caseworkers' perspectives

Five focus groups substantially agreed about the lack of paternal participation in child welfare services and the reasons for low paternal involvement. The groups had considerable disagreement about whether child welfare professionals should address this issue. Some caseworkers believed that all fathers and mothers should be treated identically with respect to services to be offered and time frames for services; other caseworkers thought that the special circumstances of some fathers, such as lack of child care experience, called for service approaches that differ from those for mothers. Another disagreement was whether more fathers would be more involved if services were gender sensitive, that is, if agencies provided male caseworkers for fathers and had father-only services. Much of the debate focused on pragmatic considerations (would gender-sensitive services improve paternal participation and outcomes?), although some participants were concerned about equity (would such services give fathers an advantage in disputed custody cases?).     

Age at first birth, health, and mortality

The biodevelopmental view sees the readiness and soundness of the organism at the time of first birth as its prime link to health and survival years and decades later. It suggests an optimum age at first birth shortly after puberty. The biosocial view emphasizes social correlates and consequences of age at first birth that may influence health and survival many years later. It suggests that better health and survival come from delaying motherhood as long as possible, perhaps indefinitely. Analyses consistently find patterns more in keeping with the biosocial view in a U.S. national sample of women ages 25 through 95. The fitted curves show high levels of current health problems among women who first gave birth in or shortly after puberty. Problems drop steadily the longer that first birth was delayed, up to about age 34, then rise increasingly steeply, particularly after about age 40. For women currently of the same age, the ratio of health problems expected given first birth under age 18 versus around age 34 equals that from currently being 14 years older. Health problems rise steeply with length of having delayed beyond age 40. Mortality hazard also declines with having delayed first birth well beyond the end of puberty. The ratio of mortality hazard between mothers with teenage versus late first births equals that from a 10-year difference in current age. Comparison to nonmothers of similar age and race/ethnicity shows that the correlation of motherhood with health problems and mortality hazard switches from detrimental to beneficial with delay beyond about age 22.     

Your picture is your bait: use and meaning of cyberspace among gay men

The Internet is seen by many as a form of cyberspace or environment in which to interact and socialise. This research project drew from the data of a quantitative and qualitative study of gay men in Perth, Western Australia. We examined gay men's usage patterns of chat rooms and other social aspects of the Internet to meet sexual partners. We then reviewed in detail the meanings gay men have for the various Internet environments, and the range of friendship, relationship, casual, or esoteric sex-seeking goals. We argue that gay men view and engage with the Internet differently from how they view and engage with other more traditional gay spaces. This different approach influences how interaction between the men, either online or face-to-face, progresses and how assumptions and expectations are built. This has implications for how sexual health promotion interventions determine the appropriate role and relationship they have with these online social spaces.     

Substance use and social identity in the lesbian community

Although the study results report discrepancies in the rates of substance abuse in the lesbian community, the general consensus in the field of gay and lesbian studies is that these individuals, as a whole, have a higher rate of substance use. For this study, data were collected via the Internet on the use of drugs and alcohol, level of self-esteem, and degree of social identity in the lesbian community. A correlation analysis was used to determine if negative social identity within the lesbian community leads to low self-esteem that is reflected in higher rates of substance abuse. Though a positive relationship between social identity and self-esteem was determined, no significant correlation between negative social identity, low self-esteem, and substance use was determined. However, it is important to consider that respondents with higher levels of self-esteem reported more frequent use of specific drugs. That outcome in itself is an implication for further investigation.