1. Objectifs

Intentions :
Les auteurs proposent une étude sur la relation entre la longévité et la fertilité.

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
Les auteurs utilisent les bases de données suivantes : « [...] The Registre de la population du Québec ancien at the Université de Montréal, the BALSAC database at the Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, and the Utah Population Database at the University of Utah. » (p. 534)

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

« Empirical research on the relationship between fertility and longevity has furnished a series of results that are at best inconsistent. One is left with the impression that the relationship is largely context-dependent, and that no unifying framework can account for the variations across populations. Yet, it is hard to believe that reproduction can have such a variable effect on survival, especially in natural fertility populations. Unchecked, fertility should lead to similar mortality outcomes or reveal similar clues about variations in women’s robustness, whatever the context. Provided that researchers use similar sampling procedures and methods, the results should be replicable. If the issue has remained unresolved so far, it is perhaps because of the extreme variation in research protocols. The inconsistencies may also partly stem from the fact that fertility influences on longevity are not very large, and can thus be masked by variations in other important environmental influences (e.g., urban versus rural residence). This work shows that using the same research protocols and yet specifying appropriate measures of environmental influences, leads to results that are, after all, reassuringly consistent. Is there a trade-off between fertility and longevity? Given the results of this comparative study, the answer appears to be ‘‘yes.’’ » (p. 538-539)