Assignment #3 [Vincent Cheng]

MAIN TABLE:

Country	% Catholic	Birth Rate/1000	Infant Mortality Rate/1000	Literacy (15 up can read / write)	Unemployment Rate
Brazil	73.6	14.97	19.83	90.4%	5.5%
Mexico	82.7	18.61	16.26	93.5%	5%
Italy	80.0	8.94	3.33	99%	10.6%
Columbia	90.0	16.98	15.46	93.6%	10.4%
Poland	89.8	9.88	6.3	99.7%	12.8%
Spain	94	10.14	3.35	97.7%	25.1%
Indonesia	3	17.38	26.06	92.8%	6.1%
Japan	2	8.23	2.17	99%	4.4%
India	2.3	20.24	44.6	62.8%	8.5%

% of Catholic in Population vs. Birth Rate:

Country	India	Mexico	Indonesia	Columbia	Brazil	Spain	Poland	Italy	Japan
Birth Rate	20.24	18.61	17.38	16.98	14.97	10.14	9.88	8.94	8.23
% of catholic	2.3	82.7	3	90.0	73.6	94.0	89.8	80.0	2

When we look at the relationship between the population of catholic within the country and their corresponding birth rate, there are two main evidences suggest that there is no relations between these two variables. The first evidence is that Mexico, a country that have 82.7% of population have catholic as their religion, have similar birth rate with Indonesia, which only have 3% of catholic in their population. Their corresponding birth rate are 18.61 birth per 1000 population versus 17.38 birth per 1000 population, which is really similar, but their catholic population have a huge distance. Another evidence is that, when we look the birth rate at the top 6 catholic countries (Brazil, Mexico, Italy, Columbia, Poland, and Spain), we see a huge difference in birth rate, ranging from 8.94 birth per 1000 population to 18.61 birth per 1000 population.

Unemployment Rate vs. Birth Rate

Country	India	Mexico	Indonesia	Columbia	Brazil	Spain	Poland	Italy	Japan
Birth Rate	20.24	18.61	17.38	16.98	14.97	10.14	9.88	8.94	8.23
Unemployment Rate (%)	8.5	5.0	6.1	10.4	5.5	25.1	12.8	10.6	4.4

When we compare unemployment rate and birth rate, we can see no relations because Japan, which have 4.4% of unemployment rate, have similar birth rate to Spain, which have 25.1% of unemployment rate, as they both have around 9 birth per 1000 population.

Literacy vs. Birth Rate

Country	India	Mexico	Indonesia	Columbia	Brazil	Spain	Poland	Italy	Japan
Birth Rate	20.24	18.61	17.38	16.98	14.97	10.14	9.88	8.94	8.23
Literacy (%)	62.8	93.5	92.8	93.6	90.4	97.7	99.7	99	99

When we look at the correlation between birth rate and literacy, we can definitely see a relationship between the two valuables. When we look at the countries who have at least 97% of their population know how to read and write (Italy, Poland, Spain, Japan), they seems to have lower birth rate, range from 8-10 birth per 1000 population, than the other countries who have literacy lower than 94%, range from 15-20 birth per 1000 population.

Infant Mortality vs. Birth Rate

Country	India	Mexico	Indonesia	Columbia	Brazil	Spain	Poland	Italy	Japan
Birth Rate	20.24	18.61	17.38	16.98	14.97	10.14	9.88	8.94	8.23
Infant Mortality Rate	44.6	16.26	26.06	15.46	19.83	3.35	6.3	3.33	2.17

When we compare infant mortality with birth rate, we can also discover a relationship between these two variables. For countries who have low infant mortality rate (under 7 death per 1000 birth), they have birth rate around and under 10 births per 1000 population, and countries who have high infant mortality rate (above 15 babies death per 1000 birth), have the birth rate at least 15 births per 1000 population.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, we found out that religion is not a main factor that affecting the birth rate of a country, there is other variables, such as literacy and infant mortality rate that have more effect on the birth rate of a country. We can also see that the unemployment rate of a country will not affect its birth rate. As we can see here, even there is a technologically conservative prohibition against birth control among Catholic populations, but the effects is minimal since there is catholic countries who have very high birth rate, such as Mexico, and there is catholic countries who have relative lower birth rate, such as Italy.

Assignment #3 [MICHAEL LEE]

Michael Lee

ASSIGNMENT #3

TABLE 1

Country	Catholic Population Percentage	Birth Rate per 1,000	Infant Mortality per 1,000	Total Fertility Rate	Contraceptive Prevalence Rate	GDP per capita	Population Below Poverty Line
Argentina	92%	17.12	10.4	2.27	78.9% (2004)	$18,400 (2011)	30%
France	83-88%	12.6	3.34	2.08	*76.4% (2008)	$36,300 (2011)	7.8% (2010)
Poland	89.8%	9.88	6.3	1.32	**72.7% (1991)	$20,900 (2012)	10.6% (2008)
Venezuela	96%	19.66	19.75	2.37	70.3% (1993)	$13,300 (2011)	31.6% (2011)
Slovakia	68.9%	10.27	6.35	1.39	***79.8% (1997)	$24,200 (2011)	21% (2002)
Philippines	82.9%	24.64	18.19	3.1	48.9% (2011)	$4,500 (2011)	26.5% (2009)

*percentage of women aged 20-49

**percentage of woman aged 20-49

***percentage of woman aged 15-44 (1997)

DATA COLLECTED:

o   Catholic Population Percentage: This data set was collected to show exactly what percentage of the population was Catholic.  This data set provided the basis of qualifying for the assignment requirement of the country being at least 65% Catholic Population percentage

o   Birth Rate per 1,000: This is the main data set needed to complete the assignment.

o   Infant Mortality Rate: This data set can be correlated directly to GDP per capita, showing that access to more resources is a huge factor in determining infant mortality

o   Total Fertility: This data set helped me see the geography of each country, seeing how many children each family typically had.  To no surprise, the countries with lower GDP per capita had the highest total fertility

o   GDP per capita: This data set was the main data set used for my argument against the belief that Catholicism correlates with birth control and low birth rates

o   Population below Poverty Line: This data set was used to show that higher rates of poverty correlates with higher birth rates

CONCLUSION:

A high percentage of Catholicism does not have correlation with high birth rates; factors such as poverty, contraceptive prevalence rate, and average income have greater correlation.  As seen in Table 1, the highest birth rate belongs to the Philippines where there are 24.64 births per 1,000 people.  The Philippines' GDP per capita for 2011 was $4,500.  Their contraceptive prevalence rate was also the lowest in table 1, at 48.9%.  Also, the population under the poverty line was at 26.5%.  On the other hand, France has the lowest population under the poverty line, statistics showing that only 7.8%.  Also, France was the country with the highest GDP per capita with $36,300.  France had a much higher contraceptive prevalence rate compared to the Philippines, at 76.4%.  France's birth rate is 12.6 per 1,000 people.  Both France and Philippines had a Catholic population percentage around 83%, but the Philippines have double the birth rate than France.  These statistics clearly show that the presence of Catholicism does not directly correlate to birth control and lower birth rates.  Another great example is Venezuela.  Venezuela has the highest percentage of Catholicism at 96%.  But, Venezuela has the second lowest GDP per capita with $13,300.  As a direct correlation, Venezuela also has the second highest birth rate at 19.66 births per 1,000 people; right behind the Philippines.

Table 2 and Figure 2 show the correlation between GDP per capita and birth rate:

TABLE 2

Country	GDP per capita	Birth Rate per 1,000
Philippines	$4,500	24.64

Venezuela

$13,300

19.66

Argentina	$18,400	17.12
France	$36,300	12.6

Slovakia

$24,200

10.27

Poland

$20,900

9.88

FIGURE 2

The above graph illustrates the correlation of GDP per capita being a dependent factor for birth rates.

OUTGROUP

TABLE 3

Country	Catholic Population Percentage	Birth Rate	Infant Mortality	Total Fertility Rate	Contraceptive Prevalence Rate	GDP per capita	Population Below Poverty Line
Russia	<2%	12.11	7.19	1.61	*79.5% (2007)	$18,000 (2012)	12.7% (2011)
Greece	<0.7%	8.94	4.85	1.4	**76.2% (2001)	$26,400 (2011)	20%  (2009)
Indonesia	3%	17.38	26.06	2.2	61.9%  (2011)	$5,100 (2012)	11.7% (2012)

*percentage of women under age 50

**percentage of women aged 16-45

CONCLUSION:

Table 3 demonstrates that Catholic Population Percentage does not correlate with birth rates; rather factors such as Population Below Poverty Line and GDP per capita are.  I tried to choose three countries with random geographies so that I would get a mixed result.  The data from Table 3 reiterates my conclusion from Table 1, Table 2, and Figure 2: that GDP per capita has a high correlation with birth rates.  Table 3 shows Indonesia with a GDP per capita of $5,100 and a Population Below the Poverty Line of 11.7%.  These two factors make Indonesia the country with the highest birth rates with 17.38 births per 1,000 people.  Table 3 also shows Greece has the highest GDP per capita with $26,400 and highest Population Below Poverty Line with 20%.  These two factors result in Greece having the lowest birth rate in Table 3 with 8.94 births per 1,000 people; almost doubling the birth rate of Indonesia. 

            The data I collected and analyzed from The World Factbook clearly shows that the presence of Catholicism does not correlate with birth control and birth rates.  The correlation I concluded from my data shows that GDP per capita and Population Below Poverty Line has a high correlation with birth rates.  Though there is a technologically conservative prohibition against birth control among Catholic populations, the prohibition does not exist in behavior.