FAMILY PLANNING IN THE THIRD WORLD: CONCEPTUAL CONSIDERATIONS AND AN APPLICATION TO RURAL THAILAND

                         DAY, FREDERICK ALBERT; PHD
 
                         THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY, 1982

                         GEOGRAPHY (0366)
 

                         This study of family planning utilization delineates two conceptual models. The first, a macro-model called
                         the General Model of Diffusion of Family Planning, places the large and fragmented family planning
                         literature in a framework that reflects the most recent perspective on innovation diffusion. The second
                         conceptual model elaborates a portion of the first, looking more closely at the transaction between the
                         family planning propagator and the acceptor emphasizing the role of four major components: (1)
                         characteristics of the potential user (the demand side), (2) characteristics of the provider (the supply
                         side), (3) the 'gap' between the potential user and provider, for example, social and physical distance,
                         and (4) the socioeconomic setting in which the family planning transaction takes place. After a review of
                         the philosophical roots and literature of family planning, the population characteristics and family planning
                         efforts of Thailand and the rural Central Plains province of Suphanburi, the survey site are discussed.
                         Using a data base drawn from a random sample survey of 2,110 respondents and a survey of 108 public
                         health/family planning workers, variables and indices were constructed to account for important aspects
                         of the four components of the Family Planning Transaction Model. These variables are used to address
                         two principal questions: (1) the decision to use or not use family planning, and (2) among the users, the
                         decision to choose a government or private provider, a less frequently approached problem in the
                         literature and the emphasis of this study. These questions were analyzed through discriminant analysis.
                         The analysis indicates that all four components of the Family Planning Transaction are relevant to the
                         decision to use (or not use) family planning and to choose a government or private provider. However,
                         the characteristics of the potential user are more important in the initial decision, whereas the presence of
                         alternative providers in the private sector, the rural/urban composition of the setting, and the
                         characteristics of the potential users are more important in the choice of a provider. In the context of
                         these findings, policy implications for the ongoing national family planning programs in Thailand and
                         other Third World countries are suggested.

 


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