Studying the Family

1. Summary

Chapter two, “Studying the Family”, begins by the author introducing the importance of having an understanding about the theory and research that is utilized in studying the family.  The author notes the trepidation that students often have when approaching a subject that makes extensive use of statistics in order to back up their claims. According to the author, such fear stems from the ability of statistics to contradict our everyday beliefs. In order to stress the value of theory and research in understanding the family, the author describes three useful reasons why theory and research are critical to the knowledge of the family. First, she posits that what we don’t know can hurt us. The author supports her claim by pointing out staggering statistics about the number of people who rely on faulty information sources in order to make decisions about their health. Because these people don’t seek the information from the correct sources, their lack of accurate knowledge results in negative effects on their well-being. Second, theories and research help us understand ourselves and our families. Here the author uses examples such as the effectiveness of spanking a child as a form of discipline. If a research study were able to deduct such an effectiveness or ineffectiveness of this form of discipline it would allow the family to understand and dispense discipline with more expertise. Third, research and theory improve our ability to think more critically and make informed decisions in our own families. The author notes the prevalence of self-help books that are often based on inaccurate information. Proper theory and research, however, can allow us to more accurately make decisions that affect our family’s well-being.

After convincing readers of the consequential nature of research and theory, she outlines the most influential theories about the family to date. She begins with the structural-functional theory, which looks at the relationship between the family and larger society. This theory focuses on the functions of different members of the family and tends to describe the “traditional family” as having a “breadwinner” husband and a “homemaker” wife. The rest of the theories discussed in detail were: Conflict, Feminist, Ecological, Developmental, Symbolic Interactionist, Social Exchange, and Family Systems. A detailed table (2.1) outlining each theory’s level of analysis, view of the family and major questions can be found on page 50.

Finally, the author outlines six major research methods employed in studying the family. These include: surveys, clinical research, field research, secondary analysis, experiment and evaluation research. Strengths and weakness of each method were included as well as descriptions of each. The author goes on to outline important concepts such as qualitative research versus quantitative research, population, sample etc..

 

2.  What was interesting/what did I learn

Something new I found timely and interesting was the Kinscript theory (pg. 37 in the choices box) which Linda Burton and Carol Stack (1993) used to explain the life courses of multi-generational families. Kinscript appears in times of economic strife and when the family members have an interest in helping future generations to survive. It requires three things: Kin-work, Kin-time, and Kinscription. Kin-work is the work that the family shares in order to survive. This includes such activities as helping with child-care or aiding in the support of elderly family members. Kin-time is the shared understanding of when and in what order kin-work should be done and aids in learning during important milestones such as marriage and childbirth. Finally, kinscription is how kin work is assigned to different family members. Kin-work is typically assigned to women who are seen as more nurturing than men and therefore expected to do such family work.

I found this theory to be especially exciting and applicable because of the recent recession. The researchers’ sample included low-income African American families who rely on the methods elucidated in Kinscript theory in order to survive. However, the recent recession may have brought about enough economic strife onto groups such as the white middle class that the Kinscript theory may be even more applicable to them as ever. For example, ten years ago a typical middle class family may have been able to afford to pay an outside day car service to car for their children. However, due to the recent economic turmoil they may have to enlist an elder relative to care for their children while they work. Similarly, an elder may have to move into a younger family members home in order to be able to afford housing costs. Perhaps it may take these families time to practice and develop successful kin-time and kinscription so that the kin-work could be understood among the family and the tasks distributed effectively.

 

3. Discussion Point/ Question

Located in one of the “Ask Yourself boxes” on page 45 was a description of a research project in which a professor went undercover as a student in a university. She lived in a dorm, attended classes and integrated herself into student life. I was struck by a comment the researcher made in which she concluded that being a student in the 21^st century is harder than she had imagined. This troubled me for a couple of reasons. First, I think it is dangerous to make sweeping assumptions that being one thing in a certain point in time is harder than being that same thing in a different point of time. I think what she meant to describe was the tension between balancing fun and school work is more strenuous than ever, however it comes across as her experience in college today was harder than it was in earlier times.

 

My question is whether perhaps there was some bias unknowingly added into the research process, which poses a threat to the validity of her findings. For example, do you think she concluded that it was harder to be a student today than she had imagined because during her college career she probably surrounded herself with the most focused, hardest working students (she had to have worked hard enough to be accepted into Ph.d programs). When the researcher entered the project she probably kept her eyes and ears open for all kinds of different student experiences and was therefore able to see the conflict that many students face involving balancing school and social life and finally concluded that it was harder to be a student in the 21^st century.

 

Or is she right?  Is it harder to be a student now and balance our lives to our satisfaction?

 

 -Ali Mosser

Chapter 2

Summary:

Chapter 2 focuses on mainly the Theoretical perspective on families, and study methods on Families. The theoretical perspective branch off into hierarchical order of perspectives. these include, the structural functionalist, conflict perspective, feminist, ecological, developmental, symbolic interactionist, social exchange, and family systems. The way these different perspectives are broken down are their level of analysis and their respective views on the family. The two different ways these perspectives are analyzed are either micro or macro methods. Some as in the structural functionalist and conflict perspective are both macro analyzed while the symbolic interactionist, social exchange, and family systems are analyzed by micro methods. However, the other three perspectives are analyzed by using both micro and macro techniques. Continuing, there are usually only 6 different ways to conduct family research. These methods are, surveys, which are usually mailed in questionnaires, clinical research, field research which studies families in everyday life, secondary analysis which relies on data collected by someone else, experiments cause and effect scenarios with families in closed settings, and evaluation research which is confronts and deals with certain family problems (i.e, drugs, pregnancy, etc). All of these research methods have pros and cons which mainly focus on bias, cost, effectiveness, and boundary limitations.

What Interested Me:

The way some of the research methods on families are conducted. For example, studying family members in their everyday life then bringing them into a closed setting while testing cause and effect can really show the difference for how certain environments can change people. For example, someones behavior can completely change when put into different scenarios. One can be social and a leader in a work setting but when put into a more stressful situation, that person can alone become isolated and easily controlled. For example, the jail and guard study was a ground breaking experiment for seeing how people interact in different scenarios. Also, for scientists to compile this data ethically and without bias is also an are on intrigue for me.

Question:

What limitations must scientists have to ethically and correctly conduct research on a family? What boundaries must be set by scientist and family to correctly find the issue at hand and must some lines be crossed to compound the necessary research? Moreover, how can a study that doesn't cross the ethical line become ineffective? Could it be due to the certain method used and the bias of the scientist? There must be a way to find a non bias, completely ethical way to conduct a correct study on a family that addresses problems and finds solutions.

Billy Bayer

Chapter 2

1.) Chapter 2 discusses two main subjects: the Theoretical Perspectives on Families and Family Research Methods. The Theoretical Perspectives ranged from macro-level analysis (Structural-Functionalist and Conflict Perspectives) to micro-level analysis (Symbolic-Interactionist, Social Exchange, and Family Systems Perspectives) and also included methods that involved both levels of analysis (Feminist, Ecological, and Developmental Perspectives). The second section of the chapter discussed Family Research Methods. Social scientists use six major research methods to answer various questions about family, these methods are: surveys, clinical research, field research, secondary analysis, experiments, and evaluation research.

2.) Since I have taken Sociology courses before, I have already learned about many of the various Theoretical Perspectives mentioned in the chapter. However, there are a few perspectives that I do not remember hearing before, such as the Ecological Perspective and the Family Development Perspective. I found the Ecological Model of Family Development (p. 35) helpful in my understanding of the Ecological Perspective. While reading about the Family Development Perspective, I came across the family life cycle. After reading about it, it clearly makes sense but I never previously thought about it as a cycle, I always thought of it simply as life. Through my reading, I learned about the idea of kinscripts as well. Kinscript, as we read, “arises in response to both extreme economic need and intense commitment by family members to the survival of future generations” (p. 37). Although, I was previously aware that in some families, children are raised by family members other than their parents, learning about the various aspects of kinscripts was rather interesting to me. I also want to mention that on page 32, grief counseling is discussed and this one paragraph changed the way I view grief counseling. Having lost many people I have known throughout my life, I am no stranger to grief and I know that everyone deals with it in their own way, but through this short passage I realized that grief counseling can in fact prolong feelings of depression and anxiety. Thus, in this way, counseling can sometimes do more harm than good.

3.) As I was reading about the Structural Functionalism Perspective, I came across Family Roles. I was taken off guard that the father/husband was called the “breadwinner” and that the mother/wife was the “homemaker.” It is said that social scientists call these families the “traditional family” but is this all that makes them traditional? I consider my family to be traditional, there’s a Mom, Dad, two kids; we even have pets - two cats and a dog. So since both of my parents work and “bring home the bacon” so to speak, does this mean that my family is not traditional?

-Kazzandra Thens

Chapter 2

Summary:
This chapter details the importance of theories and research in general. It also deals with the varying perspectives on, and different ways of analyzing, the family. Benokraitis highlights eight of the most well-known theoretical approaches associated with the study of the family. The author examines theories such as the Ecological, Structural Functionalism, and Social Exchange perspectives, among others; she lists their respective level(s) of analysis, view of the family, and which familial question(s) they seek to answer. Equally important in this chapter is the discussion of various ways of conducting research. The second half of the chapter describes, then lists the relative strengths and weaknesses of, such methods as field and clinical research, surveys, and experiments. This section's ending pages touch on ethics as related to family research.

Info of interest:
I found the end part of chapter 2 pretty interesting. It mentions the role of ethics in research, and goes on to say that medical scientists are more likely than their social scientist counterparts to practice unethical behaviors. Apparently, this difference in ethical action can be attributed--at least in part-- to third parties [read: (unsavory?) corporations] who support research(ers) that will promote the party's cause. It seems that these companies are often concerned with medical issues (e.g. pharmaceuticals) over more social ones (e.g. poverty), since there is more money to be made in that industry. I think it's unfortunate that while medical scientists should have the public's best interest in mind, the "bottom line" seems to take top priority.

Question:
I wonder what the other theories are that were not covered in this chapter (will the be addressed in later chapters?), and why they are not as well-known. Is it that they are not as valid as the 12 main theories? Perhaps they are obsolete, or have been disproved? Or is it something else entirely?

Studying the Family

Summary:

The beginning of chapter 2 discusses why theories and research are important in our everyday lives.

Here are three main reasons why theories and research are important to us:

1. What we are unaware of can hurt us.

Ex: You have to be careful where you get your self-help information because not everyone who writes that information is not always a professional, and you could be lead astray from the actual truth.

2. Theories and research help us understand who we are, and help us understand our families.

Ex: You have to weed out the myths from actual facts.

3. Research and theories enhance skillful judgment, and give us the ability to understand information that we can communicate with our family.

Ex: With different types of media available for us, facts are stated and they also state what people want to hear at times but they can be inaccurate. Through research they can depict what is fact and fiction.

Chapter 2 also goes into detail on what types of theories are being used to study family behavior and how families develop over time. Details include what roles the husband and wife are suppose to have and how those roles make them a functional or a dysfunctional family, and how families handle different stages and events in their life time.

To put conflict into perspective, there has always been a tension between the wealthy and the not so wealthy because there is not equality from resources to opportunities. A bad economy = cutting back on a multitude of things. Racial discrimination can cause problems by not getting the proper resources such as health care, employment, and type of education.

In chapter 2, on page 40 under Family Research Methods it discusses how questions about family are answered. Some of the family questions that were used on page 40 were:

Why are young adults postponing marriage?

Why have divorce rates recently declined?

In order to answer these questions, social scientists typically use 6 major research methods:

1. Surveys
2. Clinical research
3. Field research
4. Secondary analysis
5. Experiments
6. Evaluation research

(Table 2.2 on page 40 provides a brief description of pros and cons of these 6 data collecting methods)

Interests/ Unusual Items Learned:

I found that the three practical reasons why theories and research are important to be interesting because I was naive in a sense. I never knew certain information such as self-help books could be untrustworthy.

I also learned from the six major research methods. I never knew you could actually get that much information out those 6 different methods of research. In a sense, its kind of dishearting to know in some cases that all of the time and money that is put into these research studies one can still end up with inaccurate information.

Discussion:

I would like to bring up a subject that I find problematic on page 50 of chapter 2. The book briefly goes into detail on how abstinence-only programs don’t work. They also state how teens are uneducated about sex, STD’s, and different forms of birth control. Counselors at some pregnancy resource centers are telling false information to females that have unintentional pregnancies. They are saying abortions raise their chances of getting illnesses such as:

• Breast cancer
• Infertility
• Long-lasting psychological trauma

Most of these pregnancy resource centers are associated with religious anti-abortion groups. In 2002 and 2008 the Bush administration funded 2,000 of these resource centers. With this being said, isn’t their something else that could be done besides lying? Misleading people under circumstances like these only causes more problems in my point of view.


Natalie Sebula

Chapter 2 Blog

This chapter was about the "Theoritical Perspectives on Families" which discussed each perspective separately and how the dynamics of each views the family. These perspectives covered are the structural-functionalist, conflict, feminist, ecological, family development, symbolic interaction, social exchange, and family systems perspectives. Each differed from one another in interesting ways through the approach of each and the view of the familyand its interaction within society, also through what is acceptable behaviors of a family and what is considered wrong is how a family should operate. The other major topic covered in the chapter reading was "Family Research Methods" which discussed the different forms of conducted research that sociologists can use to study the family. These research methods include surveys, clinical research, field research, secondary analysis, experiments, and evaluation research. Along with each of these methods were the strengths and limitations that each proposed for the family and which forms of research work best and hwich are rarely used for these purposed of family study.

Something new that i was not aware of before is the concept of the conflict perspective that generally views dysfunctional events as positive ones. Most people in society generally view negative events as something bad and a result of malfunction within a system. In this case as an example used in the book, families going through a divorce typically are viewed as dysfunctional because divorce represents separation due to a series of bad or faulty events that have occured within a relationship. The conflict perspective takes this concept of divorce and turns it around. Divorce is not viewed as a negative concept, it reflects a positive change for a relationship in that there is an end to an unhappy relationship and the two involved can move on being happy afterall with their lives.

When the text discussed the effectiveness of surveys, one type of survey in particular--the internet poll--it emphasized how ineffective surveys are in obtaining a good sample of the population because the feedback responses are self-selected and not randomized. One question I came across while reading the chapter is if these types of research methods are so ineffective then how come reputable sites post these internet polls for their visitors to partake in if they are so ineffective in obtaining the correct sample of whatever research they're conducting? Why not resort to a more effective research strategy instead of wasting time iwth something that won't produce a good sample of population opinion?

Megan Callahan

Chapter 2 Reading

1.) The chapter was mainly describing the different types of theories that are used in sociology when describing the family. It covered every angle: from the very conservative structural-functionalist to the opposite side of the spectrum of the feminist perspective. Also discussed were the many ways that research can be conducted. Included are the very common case studies, experiments, surveys, and interviews. Something new that was brought up was the possibility of a focus group. I have never heard of something like this before and thought that it was very interesting. Small groups get together to discuss a sole issue. It almost acts as a type of group therapy.

2.) Two points that I found to be very interesting in the text were the self-help book section and the online polls/surveys section. I have never thought that self-help books were reliable yet alone minutely useful, so it did not surprise me much that the majority of them are a scam. What really interested me was that most of the authors have the same types of problems that they are writing to their patients trying to tell them how to fix. In the internet survey section, they explained that when a company offers a coupon in exchange for taking an online survey, the company does not get a very accurate feel as to how their customer service skills were. Only a certain type of person is drawn to complete the survey so all of the information that they gain from it cannot be generalized to the whole population. It then explained that what the company does gain is some of your personal information that they can then sell to third party companies.

3.) A question/discussion point that came to mind was what theory do you think best suits the "average" American family? Which one best suits all types of families--heterosexual, homosexual, single-parents, no kids, etc.?

--Bonnie Noel