Empirical Research Questions
related to the topics of Demography 200 / Sociology 220
University of California, Berkeley, Spring 2003

The following list of potential empirical research questions is being assembled as we proceed through the semester. The questions, as worded here, are derived mostly from the instructor’s interpretation and distillation of comments made in class by various individuals. Suggested corrections or modifications are quite welcome. The list is organized by topic, following the same structure as the reading list (see syllabus). Of course, in some cases there may be complete or partial answers to these questions in the published literature already. As we discover such literature throughout the semester, it will be added to the extended reading list for the course.

I. Alternative paths to parenthood

A. Assisted reproductive technologies

1. What is the numerical significance of births that depend for their existence on assisted reproductive technologies (ART)? In the United States? Elsewhere? In particular, how important were such births in the rise of birth rates among women in their 30s and 40s that has occurred during recent decades?

2. What are the success rates of various ART procedures? Have such success rates improved over time? What is the relationship between the probability of success and the cost? Are consumers given proper or adequate information about these success rates? How should we define the notion of “success” in such cases?

3. How are births made possible by ART distributed in the population? How is this distribution affected by differential access to such services? By age patterns of fertility that differ among population subgroups? What is the role of insurance coverage in creating disparities of access? What consequences follow, potentially, from large differentials in access to, or usage of, ART?

4. How has the frequency of multiple births changed (in the United States or elsewhere) as a result of ART? What is the importance, if any, of this change, either for the families and individuals involved or for society as a whole?

5. Although the main effect of ART is to create life in situations where a live birth might not be possible otherwise, the application of such technologies also has implications for the number of children born with some sort of “defect.” This occurs either because a technician is able to cull offspring with known “defects” at some point in the process, or because the new technologies are themselves a source of “defects” (of an old or new variety). One irony is that a couple’s infertility itself could be the result of a genetic “defect” in some cases, so that “curing” it through ART helps to propagate the defect in the population (thus also ensuring a steady stream of customers to the ART industry). Alongside a medical and ethical analysis about how a “defect” should be defined (or whether such a concept has any validity whatsoever), an empirical study of how the notion of “defect” has been defined in different historical and cultural settings would be useful.

B. Surrogate parenting

1.

C. Alternative family forms

1.

D. Adoption and fosterage

1.

II. Social and demographic inequality

A. Within populations

1.

B. Between populations

1.

III. Social policies affecting demographic events

A. Pronatalism

1.

B. Health promotion

1.

IV. Future scenarios of social and demographic change

A. Population projections

1.

B. Genetic engineering

1.