A Longitudinal Study of the Impact of Social Networks and the Internet on Relationship Formation

SES-0751876迈克尔·罗森伯格斯坦福大学关于美国择偶的社会学文献可以追溯到大萧条和二战后的时代，当时大多数美国人在20岁出头的时候就结婚了，他们在高中或原籍社区认识了配偶。在过去的50年里，有几个因素从根本上改变了择偶市场，需要对人们如何结识伴侣进行新的深入研究。首先，美国人现在结婚比以往任何时候都晚。第二，年轻人的人生历程现在是一条更加复杂和曲折的道路，包括离家旅行和大学教育。第三，年轻人组成的家庭类型似乎正在发生变化--见证了异族婚姻和同性结合的兴起。第四，互联网等新技术提供了结识浪漫伴侣的新方式。第五，来自欧洲的研究表明，最近的婚姻群体与他们的父母和祖父母相遇的方式不同。 该项目收集了关于夫妇如何相遇的新的全国代表性数据。对夫妇形成的调查包括关于夫妇何时，何地和如何相遇的详细问题，以及什么社会关系或机构（如家庭，学校或工作）使他们走到一起。在研究夫妇如何相遇之后，将对最初研究中确定的所有夫妇进行为期一年和两年的随访。第一项研究将提供关于不同类型的夫妇以及他们如何相遇的数据（例如：通过互联网、通过家庭关系、通过教堂或通过工作）。后续研究将确定夫妇的溶解率（即，分手率）。 研究人员将利用这些数据来确定同性伴侣的法律的地位（例如，民事结合）是如何影响伴侣稳定的。这项研究不仅将收集关于伴侣如何相遇的新信息，还将收集关于伴侣如何相遇是否会导致伴侣关系破裂的问题的新信息。 这些数据将通过ICPSR（校际政治和社会研究联盟）和斯坦福大学网站公开。

SES-0751876Michael RosenfeldStanford UniversityThe sociological literature on mate selection in the US dates back to the Great Depression and the post World War II era, when most Americans married in their early 20s to spouses they met in high school or in their neighborhoods of origin. Several factors have fundamentally changed the mating market in the past 50 years in ways that require a new, in-depth study of how people meet their mates. First, Americans are now marrying later than ever before. Second, the life course of young adulthood is now a more complex and winding road including travel away from home and college education. Third, the types of families young adults form seem to be changing- witness the rise of interracial marriage and same-sex unions. Fourth, new technologies such as the Internet provide new ways of meeting romantic partners. Fifth, research from Europe suggests that recent marriage cohorts have met in different ways from their parents and grandparents. This project gathers new nationally representative data on how couples meet. The survey of couple formation includes detailed questions about when, where, and how couples met, and what social connections or institutions (such as family, school, or work) brought them together. The study of how couples meet will be followed by one and two year follow-ups with all couples identified in the initial study. The first study will provide data on different types of couples and how they met (for example: through the Internet, through family connections, through church, or through work). The follow-up studies will determine couple dissolution rates (i.e., breakup rates). The data on couple dissolution will enable scholars to determine how legal status (civil unions, for example) affects couple stability for same-sex couples.The study will collect new information not only on how couples meet, but also on the question of whether couple dissolution rates vary by how couples meet. These data will be publicly available through ICPSR (Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research) and Stanford University website..