Is development really the best contraceptive?: A 20-year trial in Comilla District, Bangladesh
This article examines which public programmes and which socio-economic development indicators have had an impact on contraceptive practices and fertility in a selected group of villages in Comilla district of Bangladesh. It finds that equitable even-handed development may be a good contraceptive but is not a realistic alternative to family planning effort....This research undertaken in 1985 replicates a similar knowledge attitudes and practice (KAP) type study undertaken in these same villages some 20 years earlier in 1967/68....Thus the two studies provide a unique look at demographic behavioural characteristics when these agricultural development programmes were in an early stage and then 20 years later. (EXCERPT)
EDITOR—I agree with Treasure and MacRae that the greatest determinant of the power of a study is its design.1 Minimisation improves power by comparing similar groups but there is a similar technique—randomised block design—which has even more power.2 ::: ::: In …