Research Items

Abstract

EDUCATIONAL STATUS AND FECUNDITY.—There is a widespread belief that a correlation exists between education and sterility, and this belief has had some support from statistics gathered in America and dealing largely with college alumni. It is important, therefore, that due weight should be given to analyses which give another aspect to the relationship between education and fecundity. In the Journal of Heredity (vol. 19, No. 7, 1928) N. J. Butt and Lowry Nelson discuss in this connexion data obtained by the survey method from the homes in two Utah communities, one with a population slightly more than 2000, the other slightly more than 3000. In both, agriculture is the basic occupation, although all the chief occupational divisions as used by the United States Census are represented. Comparison was made of the families of parents with no education, with various grades of elementary and high school education, and with college education. The authors realise that the data are not comprehensive enough to warrant dogmatic statements, but they consider that their method should bear at least as much weight as statistics gathered from highly selected groups. Their results indicate that the families in Utah, men and women, who have had higher education, are not committing race suicide. The correlation secured (- 0.09) shows that education has very little influence on the size of the families, which average about 5 children born, of which more than 4.5 survive until after the parents are past the child-bearing age.