User:Samanthagonzalez/sandbox

Article Evaluation

 * "Start" or "Stub" class articles are not considered reliable/ don't provide a strong overview
 * Avoid value statements like "the best" or "most important"
 * Avoid references to unnamed sources Ex: "some might say"
 * Balance is key when writing sections
 * Cite at least once per paragraph
 * When adding information to an article make sure to cite sources
 * Good sources...
 * Not directly related to subject (independent perspective)
 * Can come from places that are neutral and fact check Ex: academic presses, peer-reviewed journals or international newspapers


 * Avoid the following: blog posts, self-published
 * Understand information then write (close paraphrasing)
 * No copyrighted material; if it has become public domain, link the license
 * Take notes on concepts not phrases
 * Write from notes not article
 * More topics = better

U.S. Census Bureau articles
Everything in the article was relevant as it sectioned off information about the U.S. Census Bureau into categories like its origin, purposes, and methodology. I would consider the article to be neutral. The article discussed the ways the Census information is utilized in the American society; census information is used by political parties to find areas they think they may successful in during elections, the U.S. government to distribute money and resources depending on population size, and by demographers to study defining characteristics of a certain population. It also discussed the issues the Census has faced in the past. The Census has becoming increasingly more expensive to conduct and there are populations that are unaccounted for (immigrants) or are over counted. Also, despite the assertion of privacy and safety, information about people who take part in the Census has been revealed in the past. There are viewpoints that are over-represented. In almost every section, one may find information about the ways that the Census is utilized. The links in the article work. The source supports the claims made in the article. In fact, the opening paragraph of a random source I clicked on began discussing the ways Census information affects our daily lives. From its political utility to its reliability, the article provides a more in-depth review of the information gathered by the Census. The information seemed sort of out of date as there was a point in the article where the writer wrote about the estimated cost of the 2010 Census. It has been eight years since that round has been completed which means that the exact cost of the 2010 Census should be known. In addition, the projected cost of the 2020 Census should be implemented in the writing to show how the cost to conduct the Census has changed. The way the 2020 Census may be conducted could be added to the section where it talked about how the ways the Census is being conducted has changed throughout time. On the talk page of the article, there are discussions about race on the Census as well as making sure editors are citing their sources. An editor advised people who wanted to talk about sections not yet on the article to create a new one. The way Wikipedia discussed the Census differs from the way we've talked about it in class because the article talks more about how data is collected in regions and its past negative effects. For example, the article talked about how information about men old enough to be soldiers were drafted because their Census information was leaked. ''' Generally good evaluation - next time, try to tie all of these answers into one cohesive paragraph for your response. - Prof Hammad '''
 * Is everything in the article relevant to the article topic? Is there anything that distracted you?
 * Is the article neutral? Are there any claims, or frames, that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
 * Are there viewpoints that are over-represented, or underrepresented?
 * Check a few citations. Do the links work? Does the source support the claims in the article?
 * Is any information out of date? Is anything missing that could be added?
 * Check out the Talk page of the article. What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?
 * How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?

Natural Fertility Article Review
The Natural Fertility article has a few sections that I would like to improve. I would like to add a section that discusses the Demographic Transition Model (DTM) and how natural fertility plays a role in a country's development as there is an existing section (Ansley J. Coale's preconditions for fertility decline) that introduces the idea that lowering fertility rates is beneficial. Perhaps I could also incorporate demographic information regarding fertility and birth rates of countries in different stages of the DTM. Exploring and including data on the effects of education and an individual/family's economic stability would also be useful. I also plan on adding to sections that discuss social factors and its relation to natural fertility; comparing fertility rates in regions where religion prohibits contraception versus in secular regions could aid in this discussion.

Proximate Determinants
Proximate determinants describe variables that affect a female's fertility. There are seven proximate determinants of natural fertility, four of which affect the inter-birth interval:


 * Age at menarche, which is the age at which a female starts her menstrual cycle
 * Age at marriage, used to mark the period of time in which a female is sexually mature
 * Inter-birth interval, the amount of time between births.
 * Waiting time to conception, or the time it takes for the woman to become pregnant, including the time for sperm to travel to the egg and form a zygote
 * Time added by fetal loss, also called postpartum infecundability, which is the amount of time necessary after a fetal loss for the womb to recover and be able to become fertile again
 * Length of gestation, the nine-month period of fetal development in the wombDuration of lactational infecundability, which refers to the interval of time in which a mother is breastfeeding and usually cannot become pregnant
 * Age at menopause, which is the age at which a female no longer has her menstrual cycle

Factors like the age at which a woman marries and the inter-birth interval are influenced by socioeconomic factors like education and wealth. Educated women tend to delay childbirth and have fewer offspring. In sub-Saharan Africa where gender disparities in education are more prevalent, fertility rates are the highest in the world. Globally, 58 million girls do not attend primary school. Half of those girls live in sub-Saharan Africa; this disparity only widens as the level of education increases. Prevalence of child marriage is an attributing factor to the fertility rates in India as women ages 20-24 reported that they had never used contraception prior to giving birth or within their first year of marriage. Child marriage in India primarily occurs in girls living in poor socioeconomic conditions. Furthermore, women married as minors in South Asia, where half of child marriages occur, reveal having high numbers of unwanted pregnancies than their counterparts that married as adults.

Preconditions for fertility decline and the Demographic Transition
Ansley J. Coale developed a theory to predict when a populations' fertility would begin to decline. His theory focused on three specific aspects. First, a couple must make conscious choice to control their fertility. This is closely related to secularization as some religions prohibit means of contraception. Second, there must be a benefit to controlling fertility that results in the desire for a smaller family. For example, as more regions move away from agriculture children are no longer needed to help with labor and fertility rates and family size tend to decrease. Third, the couple must be able to control fertility. This means that access to contraceptives or other means of limiting fertility must be available.

Coale's preconditions for fertility decline is interrelated to the Demographic Transition, a theory of the transition of societies from an agricultural to an industrial system. A more modernized society has lower mortality and fertility rates while a less modernized society tends to have higher mortality and fertility rates. Developing countries in the early stages of the demographic transition are characterized by high fertility and mortality rates which can be attributed to the lack of medical interventions like birth control and modern technology. Communicable diseases and contaminated resources like water and consequently food, plague developing countries. As a consequence, people of all ages die in masses. Coale's theory favored a fertility decline as a smaller population would allow for a more beneficial spread of resources and keep the number of ill individuals concentrated to a smaller group. In addition, Coale viewed the development of Europe's infrastructure during the Industrial Revolution as a mark in its transition in the demographic transition. Mortality and fertility rates declined with their improved standard of living. Infant mortality rates are indicative of fertility rates as couples decide to have a lot children knowing that a number of them will die so that even after those children die, they have sufficient kids to aid in agricultural work. Conversely, developed countries in the later stages of the demographic transition experience lower fertility and mortality rates due to the accessibility of contraception, the pursuit of higher education in women, and marriage at a later age.

Coale's theory can be observed in sub-Saharan Africa as countries residing within this region have fertility levels that are declining at a much slower rate than before and have one of the highest projected population growths compared to other areas of the world. Individuals inhabiting sub-Saharan Africa have slowly rejected Coale's second precondition for fertility decline which, as stated before, is willingness. They are resistant and unwilling to accept the integration of modern forms of contraception. This can be attributed to the influence of religion and the values it imposes on culture even in individuals who don't practice any religion. To add on, the society they live in encourages young marriages and values large families. Despite the discrepancy between preferred child bearing and natural fertility, women in Africa have reported they don't use any form of contraception to prevent pregnancies. All of these factors have contributed to the slowing down of fertility decline in Africa.