CSI’s Inequality Discussion Groups bring together Cornell faculty and graduate students from around campus to discuss and improve their in-progress research. 

Vida Maralani (Sociology, Cornell)

Title: Preferences for sons versus daughters in a comparative context: methodological puzzles and substantive lessons

Abstract: In many countries around the world, men and women disagree about their reproductive preferences including how many children to have and their preferences for having sons versus daughters. Yet much of what we know about preferences for sons relies only on women’s reports, or averages preferences across spouses. In this project, we examine different conceptualizations of preferences for boys over girls and how these shape substantive outcomes. By focusing on the methodological puzzles inherent in measuring the extent of son preference in a family, we demonstrate how much our substantive understanding of gender ideology in low- and middle-income countries depends on the methodological choices we make as analysts.