Using Contraceptive Methods and Its Impact on Fertility Differential of Kurd and Turk Women Resident in Orumieh District

This paper aims to study fertility differentials of Kurd and Turk women by considering the effects of using contraceptive methods and contextual determinants of fertility. This is based on a survey. The study population comprised ever-married women aged 15-49 resided in Orumieh district. The total sample size was 768 households. A combination of sampling techniques including multi-stage clustering and systematic random sampling were employed. Results showed a significant statistical difference in fertility between Kurd and Turk women. By controlling the contraceptive method use and socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, fertility differentials between ethnic groups remained significant. The results of this study showed inefficiency of the characteristics hypothesis to explain the differences in fertility of Kurd and Turk women. Based on these results, further studies with mix methods are suggested in order to understand the role and mechanism of the effects of ethnic and cultural characteristics on fertility in ethnically heterogeneous areas.