The five-year project of training and research outlined in this application will enable a junior scholar already accomplished in the social demography of fertility to master the topic of reproductive epidemiologist. With such additional directed study, the candidate will be poised to make significant contributions to the interdisciplinary study of fertility decline. This Mentored Research Scientist Development award is designed to meet the near-term career development goal of using epidemiological methods and measures to improve social and demographic explanations of reproductive trajectories, and the long-term career goal of developing more coherent models of fertility change, especially in Africa. As a whole, the aim of this project is a rigorous integration of social, demographic and epidemiological approaches to fertility over the life course, focusing on the interacting roles of reproductive intentions and reproductive health. The career development plan sets three training goals: (1) To develop a knowledge base in reproductive epidemiology, (2) To develop expertise in social scientific applications of public health methods and measures regarding reproduction, and (3) To develop advanced skills in statistical analysis. These three goals will be met with five development activities: course work, mentoring from sponsors, directed study and consultation with expert advisors, conferences, and a research plan that builds cumulatively on the knowledge and skills gained through career development activities. The research plan has five aims: (1) Develop hypotheses regarding the forms of reproductive intentions that individuals and couples hold, and the sources of variation in those intentions. (2) Develop hypothesis regarding the factors that intervene between intention and outcome. (3) Test and compare interview methods for identifying and understanding different kinds of reproductive intentions and contextual factors. (4) Create, translate and pretest a survey instrument to evaluate the hypotheses, and (5) Pilot an integrated life course research technique.
