HDF Notes - Family Relationships Important ideas\/terms to remember Fact a statement that can be verified and is established w overwhelming

Family Relationships 1/17/17 Important ideas/terms to remember:  Fact: a statement that can be verified and is established w/ overwhelming evidence (Opposite could be thought of as a myth)  Value / Opinion / Belief: a statement that is not possible to prove or disprove through scientific evidence Sample Selection  Population o All individuals in a group that share a particular characteristic o Often impossible to find and survey all individuals in the group  Sample o A group of individuals who represent the entire population Methods: Surveys  Used to systematically collect information  Predetermined questions  Questionnaires  Interviews  Focus groups Methods: Field Research  Systematic observation of people in their natural surroundings  Participant observers o Researchers interact naturally, but do not reveal their identities as researchers Methods: Secondary Analysis  Use of data that was collected by someone else o Historical documents o Public records o Official statistics o Surveys obtained by other researchers Methods: Experiments  Examination of cause and effect relationships under controlled conditions  Individuals assigned by experimenter into one of two or more groups The Ethics and Politics of Family Research  Codes of Ethics o Helps protect human research subjects

 Data is confidential  Protect participant’s identity o Helps keep research “honest”  Prevents biased researched  Political issues can affect both research agendas and reporting procedures o Grant funding targeted toward specific diseases 1/24/17 The Ethics and Politics of Family Research  Political issues can affect both research agendas and reporting procedures o Grant funding targeted toward specific diseases o Criticism from Congress on use of funds (The Wastebook) o Having healthy relationships lead to a more healthy, developed society Liberals  More concerned with social problems  More likely to be left-winged than right What is Family?  A family is o A group of related people living together: share genetic material, are married, adopted  A household is o The person(s) who live in a housing unit Sociological Perspective  “The family deals with reproduction and care and support for children and adults” (Skolnick & Skolnick, 2009) Historical Perspectives  Love as a requirement for marriage is a more recent development o Still not necessary in arranged marriages o Pre-industrial families – love and commitment not related  Role of children has changed o Pre-industrial children were producers o Transformation to economic dependents  Children now play more than work o Rates of childbirth have decreased with this change  Function of family has changed o Shift from public to private o No longer the same contract for production as part of society  Gender Roles