Millennium Development Goal 4: - A Missed

Target
(A study of Infant Mortality Rate and its Variation
with respect to Literacy Rate of Females and
Disaster events in Maharashtra )

Designing a Research Study Using Quantitative

Approach and Methods

Submitted by: -
Russi Singh
M2016DM023

Submitted to: -
Professor Jacquleen Joseph
 Conceptual Phase

Statement of Research Problem.

Literacy is the key to development, but attaining low Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) also leads to
development. The Female Literacy has a huge impact on IMR and this relationship could be
affected by an extraneous variable which is Disaster events.

The main focus area of the study is to analyse the relationship between the Female Literacy
and the Infant Mortality rate with the impact of Disasters in a region. The effect of Female
Literacy rates along with various other factors like Urban Infrastructure, Capacities, Frequency
of Disasters, Rural Infrastructure and Economic and Social status of the people of that region
affects the dependent variable which is IMR. To analyse the relationship, I have taken reference
from various articles and data from the Census of India and National Disaster Management
Authority (NDMA).From the literature review it was understood that there is an impact of the
Independent variable, Female Literacy Rate along with various extraneous variables,
moderating and intervening variables on the IMR. This study is done to understand these effects
and find new relationships or effects which are yet to be found in this field.

Background and Significance of the Study.

The traditional understanding of literacy is the ability to read, write and use arithmetic.
According to the Census released on 31st March, 2011 the literacy rate in India is 74%. The
literacy rate of males is 82.10% while that of the females is 65.46%.( Census of India, 2011)
India has missed Millennium Development Goal-4 (MDG-4) target of reducing the IMR to 28
per 1000 live births by the end of 2015, due to uneven progress among the states of India in
reducing infant mortality. The Infant Mortality Rate and Child Mortality Rate reflects on the
socio-economic development of a country and these indicators are used for monitoring and
evaluation of the population, health programmes and policies.
We know that both IMR and the Female literacy level play a key-role in the socio-economic
growth of a nation. In India, the IMR and female literacy rate are inversely related to each
other. If there is an increase in the female literacy rate, then there is a decrease in the IMR and
vice-versa.
In this study I am trying to connect this scenario with the disasters events. I want to analyse
and find out if there is a relationship between these variables and whether the result show any
significance findings or not. Literacy is also affected by Poverty and disaster events could lead
to huge economic losses and thus poverty. There were no such significant studies found by me
related to this topic, and so I wanted to develop a study in this field and find significant results
to help the officials, public and policy makers to lead new strategies for the attainment of
development.
Literature Review

Infant Mortality is the death of young children, mainly of those who are less than one year of
age. It is measured by the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR). IMR is the number of deaths of children
under one year of age per 1000 live births. The main causes of IMR are: birth asphyxia,
pneumonia, neonatal infection, diarrhoea etc. There are a few other factors which also
contribute to infant mortality, such as the mother's educational level, environmental conditions,
political and medical infrastructure. Low Birth Weight (LBW) is also one of the major causes
of infant mortality, not only in India but also in the other developing nations. Infant mortality
is also affected by factors related to the socio-economic status of an individual such as poor
standard of living/ surviving with limited means. The poor people who reside in slums or
villages have poor living conditions and this affects their nutritional levels as well. Poor people
living in slums are more prone to diseases and epidemics. Thus, the chances of Infant Mortality
increases. The Infant Mortality Rate and Child Mortality Rate reflects on the socio-economic
development of a country and these indicators are used for monitoring and evaluation of the
population, health programmes and policies. “It is an outcome rather than a cause and hence,
it directly measures the results of distribution and use of resources” (Haines, 1995).
One of the most powerful factors that influences infant mortality is the Basic Education Level
of a woman. The educational level of a woman is a deciding factor for a country's IMR. The
literacy rate of women in India plays a significant role by showing an inverse relationship
between IMR and the Literacy Rate of females in India i.e. Higher the Literacy rate, lesser is
the IMR.

Female literacy is promoted as a policy to increase Household productivity by reducing

fertility and improving child health and as a strategy to build the labour force. (Summers,
1994).The effect of female schooling are particularly important for policy makers because
promoting girls’ education is a central development strategy. (Schultz, 2002). The
development of a nation is based on or indicated by the level of education attained by both
men and women. But, there is a huge difference in the literacy rates of females and males.
This affects the socio-economic growth of a country. There is a huge difference in female
literacy rates across different regions and states in India. Females in urban areas are having
higher literacy rates than those in rural areas of the country. Kerala has the highest female
literacy rate (92%) while Rajasthan (52.7) has the lowest female literacy rate in India.

One of the major structural variables of demography is mortality. In developing countries, it

has been regularly affecting the population structure. To bring down the IMR, the food habits
and nutritional status of girls must be properly taken care of and this process can be effectively
carried out if the women in the houses are literate. Increase in literacy will contribute to increase
in knowledge of women regarding the maintenance of food habits, hygiene and nutritional
requirements at home. This will have a positive impact on the health status of a family. If a girl
is educated, then she would be aware of the medicines or vaccines she should take during
pregnancy, hence decreasing the chances of mortality. If a girl is educated, then she would not
marry at an early age. Instead, she would marry after an age of 24-25 years which leads to
reduction of chances of mortality and fertility level is also kept in check through contraceptives;
hence keeping a control on population growth.
In this way, we can say that educated women are known to take informed reproductive and
healthcare decisions. This results in population stabilization or control and better infant care is
reflected by lower mortality rates.
In this study the region chosen is the State of Maharashtra where the female Literacy is 75.48%
which is relatively higher than the overall female literacy rate of India and so the IMR is 28
per 1000 live births which is also very less than the overall IMR of India. These stats prove the
relationship between the Female Literacy and IMR, but the impact of disasters are not measured
or analysed. My study includes the impact of the extraneous variable Disaster events and I want
to see the changes in the results if there is a region hit by the disaster and the due to the events
there are any future changes in the Female literacy rate and the IMR as there may be huge loss
of infrastructure and economic growth. The people may loose on their capacity and they may
be a poverty scenario which in turn increases the chances in decrease in the rate of literacy and
the IMR. The State of Maharashtra has dealt with a numerous numbers of Disaster events such
as the Latur / Marathwada Earthquake in 1993 where 7928 people died which had huge wave
of poverty and the Female Literacy at that point of time was 52.3% . I would like to find out if
there is anything that affects the independent and dependent variables after a disaster event.

Objective / Hypothesis / Research Question

Objectives
The objective of the study is to examine the condition of Maharashtra on the basis of the
following:
1. To examine the slow growth in the Female Literacy rates.
2. To examine the impacts of disaster events on the capacity and infrastructure of a region.
3. To examine the impacts of disaster events on the IMR and Female literacy rates.
4. To examine the impact of disaster events on the socio-economic status of the region.

Hypothesis
There is a significant impact of the Disaster events on the IMR and on Female literacy of a
region.

Research Questions
1. Is there a positive or negative impact of disaster events on the IMR?
2. Is there a positive or negative impact of disaster events on the Female literacy of a
region?
3. If there are any other factors affecting the Disaster events to occur?
Concepts / Variables: Operational Definitions.

IMR- The infant mortality rate is the number of deaths under one year of age occurring among
the live births in a given geographical area during a given year, per 1,000 live births occurring
among the population of the given geographical area during the same year. ( Handbook of Vital
Statistics Systems and Methods, Volume 1: Legal, Organisational and Technical Aspects,
United Nations Studies in Methods, Glossary, Series F, No. 35, United Nations, New York
1991.)

Disasters- A disaster is a sudden, calamitous event that seriously disrupts the functioning of
a community or society and causes human, material, and economic or environmental losses
that exceed the community’s or society’s ability to cope using its own resources. Though
often caused by nature, disasters can have human origins. (IFRC)

(VULNERABILITY+ HAZARD ) / CAPACITY = DISASTER

A disaster occurs when a hazard impacts on vulnerable people.

The combination of hazards, vulnerability and inability to reduce the potential negative
consequences of risk results in disaster. (IFRC)

Low Birth Weight – “The WHO defines LBW as birth weight less than 2500g irrespective of
gestational age.” (Rajashree, Prashanth & Revathy, 2015).

Earthquake- A shaking, trembling, or concussion of the earth, due to subterranean causes,

often accompanied by a rumbling noise. The wave of shock sometimes traverses half a
hemisphere, destroying cities and many thousand lives; -- called also earthdin, earthquake,
and earth shock. (GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English)
 Design Phase

Dimensions of Design Phase:

Non – experimental or Survey Research- In my study I have to go with the non-experimental

process as there is no chance of manipulation in my study. If there is manipulation then my
study won’t provide the actual results which could be generalised for the population. By using
this method the researcher can analyse the various trends and outcomes of the data obtained
from the population. This method of study is appropriate as it is flexible and also helps the
researcher in proving his findings by generalising for a larger population.

Flexible- The degree of structure which is involved in this study should be flexible. As the
structure could be derived during the process of data collection.

Longitudinal- The process of data collection should be longitudinal in nature as the data should
be collected at multiple points. To analyse this study the appropriate way to collect data is to
collect them at multiple points. Data could be first collected before a disaster event and
immediately after an event. Data then must be recorded after a few months and years to analyse
the outcome and changes of the region.

Prospective- In this study this method is appropriate as the process starts with the independent
variable and looks forward for the effects. In this study we will begin with independent variable
Female literacy then look forward to the effects with the IMR and disaster events.

Sampling Design

The study can be carried out through Simple Random Sampling where each and every
individual will have an equal chance of getting selected in the sample out of the total
population. However, alternatively one can also adopt the Stratified Random Sampling wherein
the population can be divided into different strata/groups such as High income groups, Middle
income groups, Low income groups.
 Empirical Phase

Tools for Study

For this study tools used could be use of primary as well as secondary data. Primary data
collection throws interviews from household, Survey of a region and through group discussion.
This study could also be done from analysis of secondary data from various welfare agencies
and NGO’s. This collected data could be analysed by Microsoft Excel by the analysis through
graphs and pivot tables. The analysis process can also be carried by SPSS. By the use of this
tool we can apply various tests which enable us to find significance results and gives the
opportunity to do inferential analysis. We can apply co-relation tests between the variables to
find their significance outcomes which we could generalise for the larger population. With the
help of these tools we can prove our hypothesis.

Plan for Analysis

In this study the plan for analysis begins with the correct time for collecting the data. Data
could be first collected before a disaster event in the region and immediately after a disaster.
Then the data must be collected in fixed interval period such as a gap of few months and years
to generalise the study. There are various statistical tests which could be used to analyse the
data and come out with significance findings. The test such as frequencies, Chi-square, T-tests
and co-relation in SPSS could be used to analyse the data and come up with the results which
could prove or disprove the hypothesis.
 Bibliography

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