Development and Validation of a Gender Ideology Scale for Family Planning Services in Rural China

Xueyan Yang,Shuzhuo Li,Marcus W Feldman,Patricia Kissinger

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0059919

Xueyan Yang, Shuzhuo Li + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0059919

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Journal: PloS one	Publication Date: Apr 1, 2013
Citations: 3	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Xi'an Jiaotong University, Stanford University

Abstract

The objectives of this study are to develop a scale of gender role ideology appropriate for assessing Quality of Care in family planning services for rural China. Literature review, focus-group discussions and in-depth interviews with service providers and clients from two counties in eastern and western China, as well as experts’ assessments, were used to develop a scale for family planning services. Psychometric methodologies were applied to samples of 601 service clients and 541 service providers from a survey in a district in central China to validate its internal consistency, reliability, and construct validity with realistic and strategic dimensions. This scale is found to be reliable and valid, and has prospects for application both academically and practically in the field.

Highlights

IntroductionQuality of Care in Family Planning and Gender Issues in Rural ChinaFamily planning (family planning) is a core component of China’s policies for economic and social development
Quality of Care in Family Planning and Gender Issues in Rural ChinaFamily planning is a core component of China’s policies for economic and social development
The objective of this study is to develop a gender ideology scale for family planning (GIS-family planning) that is applicable to the Quality of Care in family planning and reproductive health services in rural areas of China, and which can provide a reliable and valid measurement tool for the study of gender role ideology of service clients and providers, and to help develop strategies and measures that incorporate a gender perspective into family planning services in rural China

Summary

Introduction

Quality of Care in Family Planning and Gender Issues in Rural ChinaFamily planning (family planning) is a core component of China’s policies for economic and social development. Achievements in Quality of Care over the past ten years were documented both in the field visit evaluation reports by the national Quality of Care office and articles and reports by scholars and experts These articles and reports addressed two issues: first, whether the reproductive rights of service clients could be protected without generating a higher birth rate, which had been a source of concern for some; second, whether the quality of family planning work has improved and reproductive health of service clients enhanced [8,9]. There was discussion of deficiencies in Quality of Care, especially concerning gender issues and it was pointed out that not enough attention had been paid to gender issues in Quality of Care in family planning services This has obstructed further improvements of the Quality of Care in family planning services [8,9,10,11]. It was claimed that this occurred mostly because people working in family planning services failed to understand gender issues, i.e., that they were ‘‘lacking gender ideology’’. ‘‘Gender ideology’’ is the common abbreviation for ‘‘equitable gender role ideology’’ or ‘‘equitable gender role attitude,’’ which includes a positive attitude towards equity of men’s and women’s gender roles [8,9,10,11,12]

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