Statement of Current and Future Research Program

S. Philip Morgan, Sociology Department, Duke University
10/28/2006

My research focuses on human fertility. More specifically I ask: what factors explain variation in fertility across populations? A sociological perspective guides my research. This perspective focuses attention on group-specific structural and cultural factors, such as differences in the nature of patriarchy, or variation in educational and economic institutions. Statistical and demographic techniques, new or unusual data, and particular research opportunities frequently provide leverage, that is, the power to answer key questions convincingly. Leverage plays a key role in my choice of particular research questions and projects. Why study human fertility?  ...more

Representative Publications   (More Publications)

• Morgan, S. Philip and Heather Rackin, The Correspondence of Fertility Intentions and Behavior in the U.S., Population and Development Review, vol. 36 (March, 2010), pp. 91-118 .
• Sautter, Jessica M., Rebecca M. Tippett, and S. Philip Morgan, The Social Demography of Internet Dating in the United States, Social Science Quarterly, vol. 91 (2010), pp. 554-75 .
• Morgan, S. Philip, Guo Zhigang and Sarah R. Hayford, China’s Below Replacement Fertility: Recent trends and Future Prospects, Population and Development Review, vol. 35 (Winter, 2009), pp. 605-630 .
• Abbasi-Shavazi, M. J., S. Philip Morgan, Meimanat Hossein-Chavoshi and Peter McDonald, Family Change and Continuity in Iran: Birth Control Use before First Pregnancy., Journal of Marriage and the Family, vol. 71 (December, 2009), pp. 1309-24 .
• Parrado, Emilio A. and S. Philip Morgan, Intergenerational Fertility among Hispanic Women: New Evidence of Immigrant Assimilation, Demography, vol. 45 (2008), pp. 651-671 .
• Morgan, S. Philip and Miles Taylor, Low Fertility in the 21st Century, Annual Review of Sociology, vol. 32 (2006), pp. 375-400 .
• Morgan, S. Philip, "Is low fertility a 21st century demographic crisis? (PAA Presidential Address).", Demography, vol. 40 no. 4 (2003), pp. 589-603 .
• Pollard, Michael S. and S. Philip Morgan, Emerging parental gender indifference: Sex composition of children and the third birth, American Sociological Review, vol. 67 no. 4 (August, 2002), pp. 600-613 .
• Morgan, S. Philip and Rosalind Berkowitz King, Why Have Children in the 21st Century?, European Journal of Population, vol. 17 (July, 2001), pp. 3-20 [pdf] .