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

ses - 0961128 -布莱恩PowellIndiana universityses - 0961189 -南CarolinaThis拉拉SteelmanUniversity合作项目将进行一个全国性电话调查估计有800成年人从美国大陆将采访他们的家庭和周围的线条画的定义他们所认为的家庭。本次调查是2003年和2006年完成的第三轮调查。这些数据是第一次在这个范围内的社会学调查，挖掘美国人对家庭的定义以及这些定义背后的理由。这些数据的独特之处在于它们包含了关于这些主题的封闭式和开放式问题。前两次调查的对比表明，在2003年至2006年间，美国人发生了惊人的变化。关于家庭意义的看法？一个朝着更包容的家庭定义迈进的人。2010年的数据收集将提供一个机会来检验美国人观点的这种变化是继续、加速、停滞还是逆转。这些数据还将使主要调查人员能够探索同性婚姻合法化对美国人的潜在影响。对同性伴侣的看法。封闭式问题将用多元统计分析进行分析，开放式问题将用最先进的定性分析技术进行探讨。包括开放式问题（例如，为什么他们认为某些生活安排可以或不可以算作家庭）也为人们如何解释他们对家庭的看法提供了一个独特的视角。更广泛的影响其他人如何定义？家庭？具有许多公共政策影响。虽然公众意见不是推动社会政策的唯一因素，但公共政策的变化在一定程度上是对公众意见作出反应的。最近关于同性收养、寄养和婚姻的投票倡议进一步强调了公众定义的潜在影响。美国人的转变还是延续？关于家庭的观点可能牵涉到扩大（或限制）家庭权利和利益？例如，保险权利、获得健康保险的机会、医院探视、儿童监护和临终决定。此外，该项目的一个有价值的特点是在研究过程的多个方面培训了两所大学的一大批年轻科学家（估计有20多名研究生和15名本科生）。在完成数据收集后，学生也将被鼓励自己或与主要研究者合作分析这些数据。最后，这个项目将产生一个关于家庭的数据集，也应该对其他学者有很大的用处。

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.