ABSTRACT
Most of the population data that can serve as a comparative framework for looking at !Kung fertility are from large populations of industrialized or agricultural peoples. The literature from demography, which uses the conceptual framework adopted in the !Kung study, provides a convenient comparative framework to identify the features of !Kung fertility performance. In comparing the !Kung with other groups it is essential to distinguish among the kinds of populations formed by groups that use various methods for restricting fertility below their biological maximum. The computation of Coale's fertility indices requires knowing the number of women and the number married in each 5-year age group from 15–49 and the number of births occurring. Parity progression ratios are a useful tool for isolating the sources of differences in reproductive performance between populations. If the Hutterites had not only the marriage and sterility distributions of the !Kung, but the !Kung birth intervals as well, presumably they would have the age-specific fertility rates of the !Kung.
