Collaborative Research: Transformation or Continuity in Americans' Definitions of Family

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SES-0961128Brian PowellIndiana UniversitySES-0961189Lala SteelmanUniversity of South CarolinaThis collaborative project will conduct a nationally representative phone survey in which an estimated 800 adults from the continental United States will be interviewed about their definitions of family and the lines that they draw around what they consider to be families. This survey constitutes the third wave of a survey that was completed in 2003 and 2006. These data are the first sociological surveys of this scope that tap into Americans' definitions of family and their rationale behind these definitions. These data also are distinctive in their inclusion of both close-ended and open-ended questions on these topics. A comparison of the first two surveys suggests that between 2003 and 2006 there was a striking change in Americans? views regarding the meaning of family?one that move toward a more inclusive definition of family. The collection of data in 2010 would provide an opportunity to test whether this change in Americans views has continued, accelerated, stalled or reversed. The data also will enable the principal investigators to explore the potential influence of state legalization of same-sex marriage on Americans? views regarding same-sex couples. Closed-ended questions will be analyzed with multivariate statistical analyses, and open-ended questions will be explored with state-of-the-art qualitative analytical techniques. The inclusion of open-ended questions (e.g., why they believe that certain living arrangements do or do not count as family) also offers a unique glimpse into how people explain their views regarding family.Broader ImpactsHow others define ?family? has numerous public policy implications. Although public opinion is not the only factor that drives social policy, changes in public policy are responsive in part to public views. Recent ballot initiatives regarding same-sex adoption, foster care and marriage further accentuate the potential influence of public definitions. Transformation or continuity in Americans? views regarding family may be implicated in the extension of (or restriction of) familial rights and benefits?for example, insurance rights, access to health insurance, hospital visitation, child custody, and end-of-life decisions. In addition, a valuable feature of this project is the training of a large team of young scientists at two universities (estimated at over twenty graduate students and fifteen undergraduates) in the multiple aspects of the research process. Upon completion of the data collection, students also will be encouraged to analyze these data by themselves or in collaboration with the principal investigators. Finally, this project will result in a data set about family that also should be of great use to other scholars.