Collaborative Research: Social and Biogenetic Factors of New Forms of Families

合作研究：新家庭形式的社会和生物遗传因素

• 批准号: 1355726
• 负责人: Margaret Nelson
• 金额: $ 8.66万
• 依托单位: Middlebury College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-09-01 至 2017-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1355726&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Social; Biogenetic; Factors

This research explores the relationship between the social and technological developments associated with infertility treatment and social media. First, it investigates the new kinds of relationships that emerge among children who share the same egg or sperm donor, and among the parents (and other relatives) of these "donor siblings." Second, it explores how important people think their genes are to understanding their relationships to other people. This exploration focuses on people's beliefs about how much genes shape and limit our characteristics and life outcomes. The proposed research will add to Sociology's theories of, and practical knowledge about, two related sets of issues: 1) how and why new forms of kinship are created and sustained in today's world; and 2) how individuals understand what social and biogenetic influences contribute to individual behavior and family dynamics. These issues will be explored among people who are part of various family types, people in different geographic regions, and people who represent different social, economic, and racial/ethnic groups.The research is based on online surveys distributed to parents who have children conceived through gametes and to teens and adults who were conceived through gametes. The information from these surveys will be used to identify people who are appropriate for in-depth interviews and to provide background for what the researchers learn from those interviews. These interviews will involve parents and children from a range of family types, regions, and social positions. This research has many broader impacts related to family and household development. It will also provide insight into new notions of considering and acting upon familial health histories. In additional to academic publishing, the investigators will enhance their own teaching about the sociology of the family and plan to design special materials about this topic that others who teach in relevant fields can adapt for their own use. Undergraduates at both Middlebury College and Wellesley College also will be involved in the research.

这项研究探讨了与不孕不育治疗和社交媒体相关的社会和技术发展之间的关系。首先，它调查了共享同一个卵子或精子捐献者的儿童之间以及这些“捐献者兄弟姐妹”的父母（和其他亲戚）之间出现的新型关系。其次，它探讨了人们认为他们的基因对于理解他们与他人的关系有多重要。这项探索的重点是人们对基因在多大程度上塑造和限制我们的特征和生活结果的信念。拟议的研究将增加社会学关于两组相关问题的理论和实践知识：1）如何以及为何在当今世界创造和维持新形式的亲属关系； 2）个人如何理解社会和生物遗传影响对个人行为和家庭动态的影响。 这些问题将在不同家庭类型的人、不同地理区域的人以及代表不同社会、经济和种族/民族群体的人中进行探讨。这项研究基于对通过配子受孕的孩子的父母以及通过配子受孕的青少年和成年人进行的在线调查。这些调查的信息将用于确定适合进行深度访谈的人员，并为研究人员从这些访谈中了解到的信息提供背景。这些访谈将涉及来自不同家庭类型、地区和社会地位的父母和孩子。这项研究对家庭和家庭发展具有许多更广泛的影响。它还将提供对考虑家族健康史并采取行动的新概念的见解。除了学术出版之外，研究人员还将加强自己关于家庭社会学的教学，并计划设计有关该主题的特殊材料，供相关领域的其他教学人员可以改编以供自己使用。米德尔伯里学院和韦尔斯利学院的本科生也将参与这项研究。