ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on Village Council characteristics derived from the Community Characteristics Inventory. Community variables can represent conditions that are common to all members of the community, or they can indicate the average of conditions. The Community Characteristics Inventory is a compilation of data for each of the 240 communities that fell into any of the three national rural samples; the 1979 Rural Fertility Survey (RFS1), the 1980 Contraceptive Prevalence Survey, and the 1981 Rural Fertility Survey (RFS2). The responses of couples in a village may vary because of the couples' characteristics rather than those of the village. The level of community development has a substantial impact on the use and knowledge of contraception and on attitudes toward family planning and fertility. The impact appears to be most closely related to PDP program efforts as Raeda personnel and incentives.
