Book review. Reproductive and genetic responsibility: whose burden? : Ivett Szalma: Attitudes, norms, and beliefs related to assisted reproduction technologies among childless women in a pronatalist society

Abstract

Ivett Szalma (Centre for Social Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences Centre of Excellence and Corvinus University of Budapest) has in the last decade established herself as one of the key researchers in the Hungarian and international sociological community who is taking on the task of understanding public attitudes towards childlessness, infertility, and assisted reproduction technologies (ART). The present book fits seamlessly into her area of expertise on the statistical analysis of public attitudes towards ART, but also expands on her former quantitative focus and takes on an investigation of the topic through in-depth qualitative inquiry. Thus, the research built upon in the publication draws on the findings of other relevant work of Szalma’s, yet introduces the topic from a new methodological standpoint. To achieve a new level of understanding of social attitudes to medically assisted reproduction, Szalma adapts not merely one qualitative approach, but ventures into the topic with a multi-method qualitative research design. The combination of in-depth interviews and focus groups has been gaining ground in the qualitative research community recently. The choice to sample childless women allows for a unique, more focused investigation of ART that generates an understanding of the attitudes of its potential users.