Fertility Norms Scale (FNS) is a 10-item scale which captures expectations around pronatalism, childbearing early in marriage and community pressure. This measure may be useful for social norms-focused evaluations in family planning.
Geographies Tested: India
Populations Included: Female, Male
Age Range: Adults
1. In my community, it is expected for newly married couples to have a child soon after marriage.
2. In my community, it is expected for all married couples to have children.
3. In my community, people feel a lot of pity for married couples who are unable to have children.
4. In my community, people speak badly of married women who have not had a child after two or more years of marriage.
5. In my community, people speak badly of married men who have not had a child after two or more years of marriage.
6. In my community, people will think there are marital or health problems if a couple has not had a child after two or more years of marriage.
7. In my community, it is unacceptable for couples to choose not to have children.
8. In my community, it is common to ask married couples without a child when they will have children.
9. In my community, it is common for parents of the bride to pressure couples to have children soon after marriage.
10. In my community, it is common for parents of the groom to pressure couples to have children soon after marriage.
Response Options
Strongly Agree - 1
Agree - 2
Neither Agree nor Disagree - 3
Disagree - 4
Strongly Disagree - 5
Scores of individual items are summed to create the total scale score. Those with a higher aggregate score represent more traditional fertility norms, that is, greater normative pressure for childbearing.
Bhan, N., Johns, N. E., Chatterji, S., Thomas, E. E., Rao, N., Ghule, M., Lundgren, R., & Raj, A. (2023). Validation of the Fertility Norms Scale and association with fertility intention and contraceptive use in India. Studies in Family Planning. https://doi.org/10.1111/sifp.12227
Psychometric Score
Ease of Use Score
Qualitative Research
Existing Literature/Theoretical Framework
Field Expert Input
Cognitive Interviews / Pilot Testing
Internal
Test-retest
Interrater
Content
Face
Criterion (gold-standard)
Construct
Readability
Scoring Clarity
Length
to get the latest updates on new measures and guidance for survey researchers