Question

Suppose that the birth rates in two hospitals (one rural and one urban) in one week were compared. Would you expect there to be a difference between the percentage of boys and girls born in the two hospitals? Why or why not? In which hospital would it be more likely for the birth rate of boys to be 70%? explain

Answer 1

Yes, there would be a difference between the percentage of boys and girls born in the two hospitals. There are many factors which can show this:

1. Medical advancement- The equipments, doctors and their knowledge in the urban areas would be far greater than those in the rural areas which would lead to less premature deaths in the urban areas and thus lower infant mortality rates.

2. Mindset of people- In the rural areas the thinking of people is still not completely evolved and we still find instances of the girl child being killed before being born. This is more prominent in the rural areas due to their lower education, income levels and the societal thinking.

3. Hygiene in the hospitals- The hygiene maintenance in the hospital is better in the urban areas than in the rural areas leading to higher mortality rates in the rural areas.

4. There are restrictions imposed nowadays in urban areas to limit the population however in rural areas there are lesser checks and the birth rates there are significantly higher.

Even though medical advancements and hygenie conditions are there the other points are more prominent when determine the birth rate of males in rural areas and it should be 70%.