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A conference paper about the difficulties in reaching Latin American consumers through advertising is presented. The author believes that advertisers in the United States must be careful not to group Latin American countries together. He believes that in terms of advertising, countries should be dealt with on an individual basis due to differences in the availability of marketing information.

Although various studies of human fertility were conducted on special populations in the U.S. earlier in the century, the Puerto Rican survey in 1948 was the first major effort outside continental U.S., and probably the first representative sample of a total political unit with respect to fertility, as of September 1, 1964. The study, utilizing traditional public opinion methodology, asked untraditional questions, such as the frequency of sexual relations and details of each pregnancy. Throughout the decade of 1950 the number of such studies increased even faster than the population, and began to include questions on knowledge and use of birth control. Within a decade such studies became so common that they have recently achieved the distinction of initial nomenclature. In the trade they are now referred to as, Attitude, Use, and Knowledge (AUK) studies. Even demographers, an austere clan traditionally hostile toward soft data, have begun to admit the possible utility of the AUK type of data. Recent population projections for the U.S. represent a landmark in demography, since for the first time in history they include couples' intentions about family size.

This article focuses on areal differences in Latin American fertility. In Latin America, the rate of population growth is currently one of the highest in the world. Whereas the world as a whole is increasing in population at the approximate rate of 1.7 per cent annually, the rate of growth in Latin America is currently somewhere near 3 per cent per year. With the recent tabulation of many of the censuses conducted in Latin America in the early years of this decade, the authors are now in possession of definite data concerning population growth for 12 of the 20 Latin American nations. Two nations, Venezuela and Costa Rica, have had the phenomenally high annual growth rate of 3.9 per cent. Data on differences in fertility cross-classified by other characteristics of the individual appear in the censuses of only a few Latin American nations. Additional data on correlates of fertility among individuals have been gathered by survey researchers in a few scattered places. The relative paucity of data for Latin America concerning the fertility of individuals cross-classified by their characteristics enhances the value of data concerning the fertility of women in given areas classified by characteristics of the total population in these areas.

Migration is both a spatial and a temporal phenomenon. The definition of spatial areas and the comparative use of periodic census data are important elements in the coverage of internal migratory movements. The residual method has been widely applied in Latin America, but unreliable vital statistics limit its accuracy and corrective factors must be introduced. The author discusses techniques for ascertaining place of birth, procedures applied to obtain information on out-migrants at specific periods, the distribution of migrants in time and by age (using cohorts and promotions) and other results shown up by migration statistics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]