Anthropologist Dr. Vanessa L. Fong, of Harvard University, will continue her unique longitudinal study of the childbearing and childrearing practices of the first generation of young adults born as singletons under China's one-child policy. Fong's research addresses three focal questions:1) What factors cause childbearing preferences and outcomes associated with low fertility? 2) What factors cause son or daughter preference and skewed sex ratios at birth? And 3) What effects do discrepancies between childbearing preferences and outcomes have on childrearing goals and practices?
Fong will administer surveys to the approximately 1,600 Dalian young adults who previously responded to a survey conducted in 1999, when they were adolescents. She also will interview and conduct participant observation among 100 of them. Unlike single-wave and single-method studies that have difficulty addressing issues of causality, this mixed-method, longitudinal approach will permit understanding cause and effect in the lives of the same individuals and families over time.
This research is important because it will help social scientists to understand the social dynamics of childbearing and childrearing at a time when issues of population pressure and population ageing are increasingly pressing worldwide. The research also will help to bridge the divide between qualitative humanistic and quantitative scientific approaches to social research, using their complementary strengths to shed light on these pressing social problems. Because the researcher will engage students in her research and develop new educational programs, this award also supports expanded opportunities for interdisciplinary training for a new generation of social science researchers.
