The Malawi Diffusion and Ideational Change Project (MDICP) was originally developed as a sister project of the Kenya Diffusion and Ideational Change Project (KDICP), but with a larger sample and greater geographical dispersion. Both the KDICP and the MDICP aimed to examine the role of social interactions in changing demographic attitudes and behavior. The first two waves of the MDICP (carried out in 1998 and 2001) focused on two key empirical questions: the roles of social interactions in (1) the acceptance (or rejection) of modern contraceptive methods and of smaller ideal family size and (2) the diffusion of knowledge of AIDS symptoms and transmission mechanisms and the evaluation of acceptable strategies of protection against AIDS. Beginning with the third wave in 2004, the MDICP expand