Child Spacing Analysis Via Record Linkage: New Data Plus a Summing Up from Earlier Reports.

This article describes two studies, out of total five, which were done on analyzing child spacing patterns and orientation. Some new data are added with these previous researches of this family phenomena. Those five studies were made in Utah County, Utah, during the late 1930's; in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, during the early 1950's; in Defiance County, Ohio, during the middle 1950's; in Copenhagen, Denmark, during the late 1950's; and in Salt Lake and Utah Counties, Utah, during the early 1960's. The research method, now known as "record linkage," was pioneered and partially developed by this series of investigatiofis. It consists of matching certain sets of records so that identifiable couples can be studied longitudinally according to the listed data as well as new data revealed via the matching process. In this research, marriage, birth, and divorce records have been used. A total of eighteen summary points have been made based on these studies. Some of these points suggest: that overall spacing intervals vary directly with order of birth and inversely with number of children in the family; that most married couples commence their families relatively soon after the wedding; that some first births come very soon after the wedding, giving evidence of premarital conception; and that early marriage and early trend to go together.