Slide 1
Sociology 640
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Class 2:
• How do Sociologists Study Family Behavior?
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• Methodological issues and complexities
• Racial/Ethnic differences
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Slide 2
Sociological Approach to
Analysis of the Family
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1. Derive testable hypotheses from theoretical
framework(s)
2. Locate/collect data most appropriate for
testing of hypotheses
3. Analyze data to confirm or reject
hypotheses
4. Recognize inherent limitations
(importance of using various theories, methods,
and data)
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Slide 3
An important point
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• Family sociology, as with all social sciences, is
ultimately interested in averages and variations.
• Individual cases are important,but only to the
extent that they allow us to generalize.
– Developing an appreciation of this insight is perhaps
one of the most important practical goals of this class
• Relative advantages and disadvantages of survey
data and ethnographic data.
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Slide 4
Theoretical Frameworks for
Studying the Family
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• Functionalism
• Exchange Theory
• Conflict Perspective
• Symbolic Interaction
• Feminist Theory
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Slide 5
Study of the Family
Analysis of variation and change
• Historical approach
• Comparative approach
• Group differences
• Life Course approach
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Slide 6
Data used to Study the Family
• Survey data
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–
–
–
Random sample
Large scale
Allows for generalization
Allows for comparison of many groups
• Ethnographic data
– Usually non-random sample
– Small scale
– Allows for much more nuanced analysis
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Slide 7
Methodological notes
• Pay attention to the variety of measures cited in
these early articles.
• For example:
– divorce rates vs. probability that marriage ends in
divorce
– proportion of children living in single-parent
families vs. likelihood of ever living in a singleparent family vs. proportion of childhood spent in
single-parent family
– Mean age at marriage vs. median age at marriage vs.
proportion never marrying
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Slide 8
Complexities
• Non-linearities
e.g., Wives’ earnings and marital
stability
• Interactions
e.g., marital discord and effect of
divorce on children
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Slide 9
Racial and Ethnic
Differences in Family
• Important differences in family structure
• Differences in marriage and childbearing
patterns
• Economic differences – esp. in
“persistent poor”
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Slide 10
Racial and Ethnic Differences in
Children’s Family Structure 1995
80
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76
70
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63
60
52
50
40
33
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28
30
18
20
11
10
3
4
3
4
4
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0
White
Both Parents
Black
Mother Only
Hispanic
Father Only
Neither Parent
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Slide 11
Family Status and Poverty, 1990
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60
53.4
50
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37.2
40
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30
19.9
20
13.5
12
Total
Householder
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10
0
Children
Female HH
Children in
Female HH
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Slide 12
Racial/Ethnic Differences
• Words of caution:
– Tremendous variation within racial and ethnic
groups
– Overlap between race and class
– Multivariate analyses key to understanding
racial differences
– Increasing difficulty of making racial
comparisons
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Slide 13
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Racial and Ethnic Differences in
Marriage and Childbearing
NON-HISPANIC
White
African American
17
HISPANIC
Mexican American
Puerto Rican
Cuban American
Other
33
5
41
10
13
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56
18
ASIAN/PACIFIC ISL.
Chinese American
Japanese American
Hawaiian
Filipino American
Other
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67
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45
16
NATIVE AMERICAN
Amer. Ind./Alaskan
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54
0
20
40
60
80
Percent of mothers who were not married
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Slide 14
What does Family
Sociology contribute?
• Attempts to accurately describe trends/changes in
family behavior (e.g., emergence of nuclear family,
emergence of cohabitation).
• Recognizes complexity of factors influencing family
change/variation. Attempts to theoretically untangle
causal relationships (e.g., attitudes and divorce).
* Recognizes that correlation does not imply causation
(e.g., women’s education and marriage).
• Attempts to objectively assess implications of family
behavior and changes therein (e.g., impact of
divorce/stepfamilies on children). (But see Cowan note
for alternative view)
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Slide 15
More questions for thought
• Are you optimistic about family change over
the next 30 years? Pessimistic?
• What do you think will be important family
changes/issues for your generation?
• What do you think will be important family
changes/issues for you?
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