Article S7.5 Gender Disparity Research: Answering Why and How Much Questions Seminar Leader: T. V. Sekher Associate Professor, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai, India sekher[at]iips.net Gender inequality has a long history going back to the ancient times (Jayapalan, 2000). In the modern times, national governments have sought to achieve gender equality through research-based strategies. In India, the decennial census reports provide some vital demographic data. The 2001 Indian census report provided an indication of gender disparity in India, in terms of the sex ratio. The sex ratio has marginally improved from 927 women per 1000 men (in 1991) to 933 per 1000 (in 2001). The census report listed sex-selective female abortions, female infanticide, and female neglect (i.e., giving girls less food and medical care than boys) as primary reasons behind the imbalance in the sex ratio. The census report also mentioned the use of new technologies for predetermining the gender composition of the household, a process that did not go in favour of the girl child. This seminar reflected on a research project dealing with gender bias, preference for sons, and female foeticide. The research project addressed the following questions: Q1. Why do not millions of girls survive in contemporary India despite an overall improvement in development and much governmental measure to enhance the status of women? Q2. Why is discrimination against daughters on the increase despite progress in female literacy and participation of women in economic and political activities? Q3. How much has been the shift from preference for sons to discrimination against daughters at the household level? It can be observed that the research used two different types of question: (a) two Why questions and (b) one How much question. Why questions seek explanatory answers; such questions require the researcher to trace causal linkages over time. How much questions seek enumeration of the incidence of some phenomenon (Yin, 2009). In this case, a combination of field observation, focus group discussion, and household survey was used in order to address the above research questions. Observations and focus group discussions allowed the research team to probe into root causes, thereby addressing the Why questions. Field observations were carried out in four Indian states, namely Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttaranchal (since renamed as Uttarakhand), and Himachal Pradesh. Focus group discussions were carried out at the household level to understand the reasons behind gender discrimination in families. Analysis of field observations and focus group discussions indicated a general preference for small families and the widespread view of the girl child as a burden on the family. In order to assess the extent of shift from preference for sons to discrimination against daughters, a paper-based survey was designed and administered at the household level. The survey results confirmed a significant shift from preference for sons to discrimination against daughters. The research team encountered several challenges in carrying out the work. During field work, questions relating to female infanticide evoked different kinds of response from families belonging to different communities. Some communities practised this openly and shared their viewpoints. Some others viewed it as a crime and were hesitant to discuss the topic. Despite the research team’s assurance about confidentiality of responses, there was some dropout. It also resulted in incomplete or unanswered questions. During household surveys, the research team noticed some unwillingness among family members as they were uncomfortable providing written responses on sensitive issues such as female infanticide. This was particularly noticed among families in Tamil Nadu. As a result, the answer to the third question could not be obtained in such circumstances. References Jayapalan, N. (2000). Women studies. New Delhi, India: Atlantic. Yin, R. K. (2009). Case study research: Design and methods (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Reported by Upendra Kumar Maurya; with inputs from Rahul Thakurta; edited by D. P. Dash. [August 14, 2010] Copyleft Xavier Institute of Management, Xavier Square, Bhubaneswar 751013, India Research World (ISSN 0974-2379) http://www1.ximb.ac.in/RW.nsf/pages/Home |
