Paper prepared for the conference on “Divorce in Cross-National Perspective: A European Research Network” European University Institute, Florence, Italy November 14 & 15, 2002 DRAFT A Meta-Analysis of German Research on Divorce Risks Michael Wagner and Bernd Weiß Research Institute for Sociology University of Cologne Greinstr. 2 50939 Cologne mwagner@wiso.uni-koeln.de bernd.weiss@wiso.uni-koeln.de Abstract The aim of the paper is to evaluate divorce studies in Germany and to apply metaanalytic techniques in order to summarize the results of this research. Literature research identified 42 studies published between 1987 and 2001. These studies use longitudinal data from seven projects and all studies estimate event history models with the divorce rate as dependent variable. In sum, they examine 399 different risk factors and report 3730 effects. Results of the meta-analysis are threefold. First, there are methodological problems in the field of meta-analysis that are not resolved in a very satisfactory way. Second, no theory of divorce has been tested in detail, rather single hypotheses have been examined which were derived from exchange or microeconomic theory. Third, divorce research can be improved by a more cumulative design which means that we need more studies conducting a replication of existing empirical findings. 1 1 Problem1 During the past twenty years German sociology experienced a boom of divorce studies. This development was mainly caused by methodological innovations that enabled a reliable longitudinal assessment of marital histories, e.g. retrospectively in life course research or prospectively in panel studies. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the studies on divorce risks in Germany. So many divorce risks have been reported that it became unclear what we really know about the determinants of marital instability (Hartmann 1989; Dorbritz/Gärtner 1998). Which theories or hypotheses have been confirmed by empirical findings? Is research undertaken cumulatively? Are empirical findings presented in such a way that their evaluation is possible? The evaluation of empirical research is usually done by qualitative reviews. However, this kind of research synthesis shows various shortcomings. The two most serious ones result from non-systematical and incomplete literature research as well as from an inadequate integration and interpretation of diverging quantitative results (Wagner/Weiß 2001). In order to overcome these disadvantages, we apply metaanalytic methods. Besides primary and secondary research, this method stands for a third type of empirical social research. Meta-analysis is primarily concerned with the quantitative integration of published empirical findings (Glass 1976). However, it allows not only their integration but also the explanation of their heterogeneity. Meta-analysis is rather unknown, especially in German sociology. Only Künzler (1994) and Engelhardt (2000) mention it, the latter as part of a survey of study designs in demography. Some others call their study a meta-analysis, as in fact they summarize characteristics of numerous publications, but without systematically investigating quantitative results (Bretschneider 1997; Hartmann 1999). In other disciplines than sociology, like medical science, psychology and educational science, meta-analysis has gained much more popularity, in Germany as well as elsewhere. In psychology, the outcomes of a great number of studies that are interested in the success of certain therapies have been summarized by meta-analyses. In medical science, the „Evidence Based Medicine“ has already been institutionalized (Altman 2000; Petitti 2000; Sutton et al. 2000). Numerous handbooks and monographies on meta-analysis underline the importance of this research area (Bortz/Olkin 1985; Hunter/Schmidt 1990; Lipsey/Wilson 2001; Rosenthal 1991; Schultz-Gambard 1987; Sutton et al. 2000). 1 This research was supported by the German Science Foundation from July 2000 to July 2001 (WA 1502/1-1). We thank Hans-Peter Blossfeld (Bamberg) for helpful comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. 2 2 Meta-analysis To perform a meta-analysis does not differ much from other types of social research (Diekmann 1997; Schnell et al. 1995). We apply a five stage-model proposed by Cooper (1982): 1. Problem/research question 2. Literature research 3. Data evaluation and coding 4. Data analysis 5. Presentation of results 2.1 Literature Research The population of our meta-analysis is defined as the totality of empirical studies from Germany investigating marital stability and using the divorce rate as the dependent variable. These studies use longitudinal data on marriages and partnerships. Before 1990, only studies of West Germany, after 1990 studies of West and East Germany were included. A comprehensive literature research is necessary for any meta-analysis, including all types of publications and research reports. A detailed description of literature research procedures is given by Lipsey/Wilson (2001) and White (1994). In the present case, we started with a stock of 15 studies. Then a systematical search using several social science literature databases was undertaken (Family Studies Database, Popline, SSCI, SOLIS, FORIS, Sociological Abstracts, IHS, PsycINFO and PSYNDEX). References of publications were examined for further studies. The literature research was finished in spring 2001 (for details see Wagner/Weiß 2001; Weiß 2001). Finally, 42 publications could be identified that matched the search criteria. They were published between 1987 and 2001. Half of all publications appeared before 1998. Many articles were published after 1997, because at this point of time the results of the Mannheim Research Project „Determinants of Divorces“ had been released. In Germany, the relevant divorce studies use data samples from seven larger projects of the Social Sciences. These are the Mannheim Research Project ‘Determinants of Divorce’, the German Socio-Economic Panel, the Family Survey of the German Youth Institute, the German Life History Study (Max Planck Institute for Human 3 Development), the Family and Fertility Survey of Germany, the General Social Survey of the Social Sciences and the Cologne Longitudinal Study of Gymnasium graduates. Most of the publications are taken from the Mannheim Research Project, followed by the Family Survey (Table 1). Table 1: Number of publications by year of publication and study Year Study DoD1 GSEP FS GLHS FFS GSS 1987 0 0 0 0 0 1 1989 0 1 0 0 0 0 1991 0 1 0 1 0 0 1992 0 3 0 0 0 0 1993 0 0 0 1 0 0 1994 0 1 0 0 0 0 1995 0 0 2 0 0 0 1996 0 0 1 0 0 0 1997 3 0 2 1 0 0 1998 2 1 1 0 2 0 1999 10 0 4 1 0 0 2000 2 0 1 0 0 0 2001 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 17 7 11 4 2 1 Total2 KLS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 2 3 1 1 2 1 6 6 15 3 1 43 1 DoD: Mannheim Research Project Determinants of Divorce` ;GSEP: German Socio-Economic Panel (DIW, Berlin); FS: Family Survey of the German Youth Institute (DJI, Munich); GLHS: German Life History Study (MPI, Berlin); FFS: Family and Fertility Survey; GSS: General Social Survey of the Social Studies; KLS: Cologne Longitudinal Study of Gymnasium Graduates. 2 Klein‘s (1999; No. 32 and 33) study has been counted twice, so the total number of publications has been artificially increased by an additional publication. Literature research revealed a number of anomalies. We ignored double publications of identical or nearly identical texts (cf. publication No. 232 and Diekmann/Klein 1993 as well as publication No. 2 and Babka von Gostomski 1999). If a paper has been published twice with substantial modifications this was counted as two publications and both went into the meta-analysis (cf. publications No. 7 and 34). Moreover, it is possible that publications include empirical results which are based on two different samples. These publications have been registered as two independent cases (cf. publications No. 32 and 33). 2 See the number of identification as it is found in the bibliography of the studies that have been included in the meta-analysis. 4 2.2 Levels of Analysis We distinguish between three basic concepts: study, publication and effect size. These concepts are ordered hierarchically (figure 1): ‘study’ is defined as the data source or data sample, ‘publications’ report empirical results that are based on individual studies, and an ‘effect size’ is a standardized research outcome which refers to statistics that capture the degree of association between variables (Hedges/Olkin 1985). In our case, the only type of research outcomes are regression coefficients. Figure 1: Levels of Meta-Analysis S tudy Sampling unit P ublicatio n A Unit of analysis P ublicatio n B S ubgro up A P ublicatio n C S ubgro up B M o del A M o del B D ivo rce risk A E ffect size A E ffect size A D ivo rce risk B E ffect size B E ffect size B D ivo rce risk C E ffect size C D ivo rce risk D E ffect size D E ffect size D In meta-analysis, single publications can be regarded as the sampling units and reported effect sizes can be regarded as the units of analysis. The state of research could be related to the study level. It is important to note that empirical results might be valid only for specific subgroups. Sometimes, divorce risks are reported for West or for East Germany or for different marriage cohorts. Rather often for every single subgroup several event history models are estimated. Each of these models includes a different combination of covariates. 5 Consequently, the effect sizes do not only depend on the studies or on the characteristics of the underlying sample, but also on the particular subgroup and on the particular specification of the model. Altogether 3730 effects have been coded which have been reported for 399 variables the determinantes of divorce. This huge number of variables results from the fact that some of them only differ with respect to value categorization or reference groups, although they measure the same theoretical concept. The variables and their effects have been estimated in 515 models (Cox-model 71.3%; sickle model 11.8%; exponential model 9.7%; generalized log-logistic model 4.1%; remaining model specifications 3.1%). On an average, 7.2 covariate effects have been observed for each model and 9.3 covariate effects were counted for each variable. 2.3 Collecting and Coding Data It is not only justified to collect data on reported statistical results like single coefficients, levels of significance, or standard errors. As study characteristics might affect statistical results and therefore account for their heterogeneity, also study variables like type of institutional affiliation, type of financial support, or year of start and end of the project are of interest (Lipsey 1994; Lipsey/Wilson 2000). In all publications divorce rates are analyzed by multivariate methods of eventanalysis. However, each analysis is based on different variables. The theoretical and technical problem is to identify, to define and to sort this variety of variables and to assign effect sizes. It was necessary to develop a detailed schema which merges variables of the same meaning, operationalization and reference group. Based on 15 divorce studies, a preleminary classification was developed. The categorization schema broadly followed the ‘ Thesaurus Social Sciences’ of the Informationszentrum Sozialwissenschaften (1999) that uses eight categories: demography and other; marriage, family or kin and other networks; education; occupation; religion; nationality; spatial environment; property. Each of these categories was further divided into several subgroups. Altogether, 399 codes had been assigned which means that we identified 399 different determinants of divorce. The hierarchical arrangement of data corresponds to a special type of data storage and data organization. Instead of storing data in an inappropriate rectangle matrix, which is done by MS-EXCEL or SPSS, we made use of a relational database. It allows a more flexible use of data, and data retrieval account for different levels of analysis. A detailed description of data coding and data organization is given by Wagner/Weiß 6 (2001) and Weiß (2001). The statistical analyses have been realized by the software “R: A Language for Data Analysis and Graphics” (Ihaka/Gentleman 1996). Some of the already existing analysis functions could be taken over, in other cases the programming of new functions was necessary. 2.4 Data Analysis Data analysis is performed in four steps: preparation of data, integration of effect sizes, tests for homogeneity and detailed subgroup analysis. The outcome of effect size integration is a set of different and pooled divorce factors. An analysis of graphical curves has not been realized (Weiß 2001). Integration will be done by using two different methods: vote-counting and calculating mean effect sizes. 2.4.1 Vote-counting Vote-counting is somewhere in between qualitative and quantitative review. It counts significant positive, significant negative and non-significant effects. The modal category is regarded to be the best estimator concerning the direction of the effect between the independent and the dependent variable (Light/Smith 1971). This method shows some serious statistical shortcomings (Fricke/Treinies 1985; Hedges/Olkin 1985; Wolf 1986). Additionally, Glass (1976) points out that votecounting does not consider the magnitude of the correlation between two variables. 2.4.2 Estimation of mean effect sizes Many authors describe meta-analytical methods for pooling bivariate statistics (e.g. correlation coefficients, rank order correlations etc.) (Bortz/Döring 1995). Less information exists on synthesizing regression coefficients from multivariate event history models (cf. Greenland 1987). Many meta-analysts use such regression coefficients without giving any reasons (Karney/Bradbury 1995; Amato/Keith 1991; Amato 2001). Another difficulty has to do with the aggregation of effect sizes that stem from models that are differently specified. Coefficients from bivariate or multivariate methods differ according to their magnitudes and standard errors. Following Lipsey/Wilson (2001), meta-analysis misses adequate procedures of multivariate result integration (e.g. factor analysis or multiple regression). Only very few authors discuss this methodological problem (Amato 2001; Lipsey/Wilson 2001: 67 ff. and other metaanalyses cited in this book). 7 Some authors simply aggregate effect sizes of coefficients from multivariate models. For example t- and p-values can be transformed into a correlation coefficient r in order to get a comparable effect size (Amato/Gilbreth 1999; Karney/Bradbury 1995). We do not know of any meta-analysis that ignores an effect size because coefficients were estimated in multivariate models. Because it is common to aggregate effect sizes which is related to different subgroups (cohorts, geographical regions, years), and which also estimates different parameters, it is reasonable to use this method. In the present study we exclusively use regression coefficients. The pooled effect sizes are realized through the computation of the weighted means of all effect sizes. In this context, three requirements are important : a) b) c) It is only meaningful to aggregate effect sizes if at least two individual effect sizes are documented; effect sizes have to be statistically independent (Fricke/Treinies 1995; Lipsey/Wilson 2000); effect sizes are weighted according to their reliability. A consequence of the first requirement is that only a small sample of all variables is included in meta-analysis (see below). To realize condition b), it is important only to integrate those effect sizes that are derived from different studies or subsamples. To meet these criteria, in a first step effect sizes for similar variables are aggregated for each study. In a second step mean effect sizes are pooled across studies (Beelmann/Bliesener 1994; Bortz/Döring 1995). To achieve the third requirement, we weighted the single effect sizes by their inverse variance (the squared standard error) of each effect size. As suggested by many authors, we use the weighted arithmetic mean (Hedges/Olkin 1985; Lipsey/Wilson 2000; Normand 1999; Shadish/Haddock 1994).”Hence, larger weights are assigned to effect sizes from studies with smaller variances and larger within-study sample sizes“ (Shadish/Haddock 1994). Effect sizes based on a large sample show a higher reliability and will therefore get higher weights. The mean effect size E S , weighted by their inverse variance vi is calculated for n independent effects sizes ESi as follows: n ES = ∑w i =1 i × ESi n ∑w i =1 , where w i = i 8 1 1 . = vi SE 2 The inverse variance vi is a weight assigned to the study and equals the inverse squared standard error (see appendix). 2.4.3 Effect size distributions Two distribution models of effect sizes have to be distinguished. The fixed effects model assumes all effect sizes to come from one study population. It thus estimates only one population effect size and differences of effect sizes between studies are ignored. The random effects model assumes the population parameters to be randomly distributed and located around a so-called “superpopulation”. The total variance of effect size estimates reflects both a study-within-variance and a studybetween-variance (Shadish/Haddock 1994): v i* = σθ2 + v i (see appendix) . In the present case, the pooled effect sizes are expected to be heterogeneous, because the different effect sizes are based on different subgroups or model specifications (cf. above). Especially, the integration of partial coefficients is not successfully solved. Coefficients from different models do not estimate the same parameter. Therefore, we particularly make use of random effects models and expect results of strong heterogeneity. We cannot address the question to what extent heterogeneity analyses could assess how the variety of model specifications affect the mean effect size. Homogeneity tests are applied to decide whether a distribution model with random or with fixed effects is appropriate. In many cases these tests are based on the so-called Q-statistic (cf. Hedges/Olkin 1985; Normand 1999; White 1999). We do not consider other homogeneity tests like for example the Likelihood Ratio Test (Hedges/Olkin 1985). With k-1 degrees of freedom, the Q-statistic follows a Chi2 distribution with k effect sizes: Q = k ∑ w (ES i i =1 i − ES )2 . If Q exceeds the critical value of the Chi2 distribution, the null hypothesis of a homogeneous distribution has to be rejected. Hence, the distribution of effect sizes would be assumed to be heterogeneous. It would be possible to conduct further analyses that identify the determinants of heterogeneity. Those analyses are restricted 9 to large sample sizes and could therefore not be applied in the present study. Instead, we compute the weighting factor as the weighted average mean based on a random effects model. 2.4.4 Estimation of weights Serious problems emerge if publications do not report sufficient information to conduct a meta-analysis. This is especially true in case of missing standard errors of the effect sizes: only nine publications (21.4 percent of all publications) report standard errors or t-values. The remaining publications only offer information about significance levels using the well known ‘ star symbolism’. To estimate the standard errors the given information should be used at the best possible degree. Therefore, different estimation methods can be found which basically refer to three different levels of information: (1) At best, publications report exact information on standard errors, and the methods described in section 2.4.2. can be applied. Only effect sizes of the same type can be aggregated ( - or -coefficients). We decided to aggregate -coefficients. Hence, coefficients had to be converted following =ln( ) with SE= /t, where t= /SE. (2) The equation above can also be used if t-values are reported. There is no difference between - or -coefficients, because the computation of a t-value does not depend on effect size types. (3) As already stated, some publications only report intervals of significance levels, e.g. 0.01 < p < 0.05. In this case, the appropriate z-value can still be computed (that is the upper bound of the interval) and we get SE= /Z. We define effect sizes as non-significant if no significance levels are reported. Following Rosenthal (1991), we assign a p-value of 0.5 and the corresponding z-value of 0.0 (one-tailed) as non-significant. In our case, a two-tailed question is given, so that z is set to 0.67. The estimation of the standard error can only be done very roughly. Another method is to set -coefficients to zero. It is not known which of the two methods produces less errors. The whole decision process of finding an appropriate estimation procedure can be visualized as a flowchart (figure 2). It also includes the so-called percent effects that can be computed from ( -1) x 100.The figure shows the three already mentioned information levels which follow a hierarchical order. Within these three levels, it is important to distinguish between types of effect sizes in order to choose the 10 appropriate estimation method. To avoid confusion not all connections are shown (instead we use an encircled A). 11 Figure 2: Flow chart of the process of estimating standard errors S ta rt S ta n d a rd e rr o r s (S E ) o r o th e r u se fu l sta tistics fo r co m p u tin g we ig h ts In fo rm a tio n o n sta n d a r d e rr o r s? no no t-v a lu e s ? p - va lu e s? ye s ye s ye s W h ich typ e o f e ffe ct? W h ich typ e o f e ffe ct? W h ich typ e o f e ffe ct? β-e ffe c t ? ye s β-e ffe c t ? β-e ffe c t ? ye s ye s S E = β/z S E = β/t A ye s no no α-e ffe c t ? ye s A (1 ) t= α/S E (2 ) β= ln (α) (3 ) S E = β/t α-e ffe c t ? α-e ffe c t ? no ye s ye s (1 ) β= ln (α) (2 ) S E = β/t (1 ) β= ln (α) (2 ) S E = β/z A A no % -e ffe c t ? ye s (1 ) (2 ) (3 ) (4 ) α=%/100+1 t= α/S E β= ln ( α) S E = β/t A no % -e ffe c t ? % -e ffe c t ? ye s S q u a re S E a n d we ig h t β' s ye s (1 ) α=%/100+1 (2) β= ln ( α) (3 ) S E = β/z (1 ) α=%/100+1 (2) β= ln (α) (3 ) S E = β/t A End 3 Theories of marital stability and results of the meta-analysis The results of the meta-analyses are presented in three steps. First, the sample is described. Second, we report the results for the divorce risks in detail. Only those 12 variables are integrated that are related to a common theoretical concept that is an element of a theory of marital stability. For that reason we shortly present the main theories of marital stability. 3.1 Theories of marital stability Based on the theory of action, two approaches are primarly used for explaining marital stability: exchange theory and microeconomic theory (cf. Engelhardt 2002). Exchange theory has been founded by George C. Homans, Peter M. Blau, John W. Thibaut and Harold H. Kelly. It is assumed that actors achieve their aims through an exchange of material and immaterial resources where rewards are maximized and costs are minimized. The exchange of resources is regulated by norms of reciprocity and justice which enhance the progression of trust and commitment (Sabatelli/Shehan 1993). Exchange theory has been applied to marital stability by Levinger (1965, 1982) and Lewis/Spanier (1979). It is hypothesized that marital stability depends on the quality of relationship, on the alternatives to the existing marriage, and on external social barriers which are opposed to divorce. Marital quality is attributed to social and personal resources, to satisfaction with the life style, and to rewards of spousal interaction. In accordance with the microeconomic theory, several authors emphasized marital investments because they increase the costs for divorce. Couples break up if the quality of relationship falls below the aspiration level and if the expected gain from alternatives (for example a relationship with another partner) exceeds the costs of divorce. Based on the studies of Gary S. Becker, the microeconomic theory of the family suits exchange theory in many aspects. Microeconomic theory of divorce assumes persons to organize their household in such a way that the utility of commodities is maximized. If the collective utility of marriage is less than the expected utility of the alternatives, the marriage will be divorced. Among other things, the rewards of marriage are dependent on the mode of division of labor, investments in marital capital, and the “partner-match”. If the marriage market would be perfect, partner would have no reason for leaving their spouses. Because micro-economic theory gives up the the neoclassical fiction of a perfect market, conceptions like search costs and subjective insecurity are implemented into the theory. Search costs arise because individuals need information about potential spouses. At the time of marriage not all qualities of the partners are known (Hill/Kopp 1995). Newly, a framing model of marriage has been proposed by Esser (1999, 2002) which combines microeconomic theory and theories about subjective ‘ realities’ as they are 13 proposed by Schütz, Berger/Luckmann and Goffmann. ‘ Marriage frames’ are relatively stable mental models of a marriage which offer basic orientations for the spouses. The existence of a frame of a “good marriage” is an important condition for marital investments which in turn strengthen the frame. If the frame loses relevance caused by serious marital problems, the frame gets redefined in a kind of self-dynamic process. Now, the stability of marriage depends on the utility balances made up by the two partners. We consider the household economy to be the theory of divorce which was quoted most often. In fact, only a crude rating of the theoretical orientations was possible. But microeconomic theory has been accentuated in more than half of the publications, whereas exchange theory only in every tenth of all publications. In nearly 30% of all publications, we could not identify a definite theoretical framework. Despite of many authors do not develop specific hypotheses, it seems to be obvious that German divorce research favors microeconomic theory. 3.2 Sample Only independent effect sizes should be synthesized in meta-analysis. As the publications are rooted in seven single studies a maximum of seven effects per variable can be integrated. Effect size were pooled if the corresponding effect was reported at least in two cases. As table 2 shows, 399 variables stem from 42 publications. For 336 variables only one independent effect size has been observed. We disregard these variables for two reasons. First, the number of variables would have been oversized. Second, it is questionable whether effects which have not been replicated are important (Karney/Bradbury 1995). For the remaining 63 variables, between two and five independent effect sizes have been observed. Thus, no variable has been used either in all or in six of the seven studies. Out of the 63 variables with more than one independent effect size, 45 went into the meta-analysis. This reduction resulted from the fact that some variables had different reference categories, whereas other variables had been aggregated to a more general variable. Also the gender variable was sorted out as it is only useful for methodological reasons. The remaining 45 variables “produced” 1550 effects which resulted in 136 independent effect sizes after their aggregation at the study level. 14 Table 2: Divorce factors (in %) by number of independent effect sizes Number of independent effect sizes Divorce factors (in %) (n) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Total 84,2 (336) 9,3 (37) 3,3 (13) 2,3 (9) 1,0 (4) 0 0 100 (399) 3.3 Integrated divorce risks The results of the meta-analysis are presented in table 3. Variables have been grouped according to theoretical concepts. These classifications are hypothetical and cannot always been justified in a satisfying way. Only very few of the publications we analyzed included explicit arguments about the assignment of variables to theoretical constructs (for example Brüderl/Kalter 2001). In addition to that, variable descriptions often are far from being optimal. Variables are not described precisely in nearly one-third of the publications. Sometimes the meaning of variables is not clear, sometimes the categories of the variables are not at all or not correctly explained. In most of these cases, other publications are mentioned that are supposed to offer more detailed information about the variables. Hence, we tried to find missing variable information in other publications. Sometimes, data coding had to operate with plausible assumptions about missing variable information. Initially, calculations are made for all determinants of divorce applying a fixed effects model. In case of heterogenous effect sizes, integrated effects are reported that are based on a random effects model. 15 Table 3: Pooled divorce risks sig <0 Divorce risk Premarital information about the spouse Premarital cohabitation Duration of cohabitation Duration until start of relationship Duration until common household k n 5 2 2 2 74 48 13 9 4 4 8 7 8 11 10 11 0 61 0,098 10,296 *** 0,010 2 3 0,002 0,200 0,005 0 0 -0,094 -8,972 *** 0,013 0 0 -0,022 -2,176 *** 0,004 Search costs Early marriage (marriage before 21) Child birth at time of marriage Age at marriage Wife‘ s age at marriage Husband‘ s age at marriage Wife‘ s age at start of relationship Husband‘ s age at start of relationship 4 3 5 5 3 2 2 31 10 66 87 67 5 5 28 0 8 8 52 63 73 81 24 63 3 3 2 4 Marital investments Birth of first child Birth of second child Birth of third child Common parenthood Number of children Premarital birth Common home-ownership of the spouses Home-ownership 4 4 4 4 4 5 2 3 60 27 19 73 41 79 42 31 40 13 7 49 37 25 27 29 External barriers Catholic Number of church attendances 3 2 13 12 13 17 14 14 56 25 10 69 38 30 41 31 0 >0 Fixed effects model beta in % sig SE Random effects model beta in % sig SE -0,123 -11,574 0 31 0,647 90,980 *** 0,037 0 2 -0,394 -32,565 *** 0,038 0 3 -0,011 -1,094 *** 0,001 1 5 -0,056 -5,446 *** 0,003 1 3 -0,019 -1,911 *** 0,002 0 2 -0,048 -4,687 *** 0,007 0 1 -0,023 -2,274 *** 0,007 0,711 103,603 *** -0,454 -36,492 -0,044 -4,305 ** -0,070 -6,658 *** -0,023 -2,274 *** -0,031 -3,052 0,099 0,316 0,016 0,011 0,006 0,042 0,353 16,61 0,886 124,04 0,068 162,78 0,056 49,45 0,017 9,68 0,084 28,60 0,016 0,95 0 4 -0,107 -10,147 0 2 -0,015 -1,489 0 9 -0,004 -0,399 0 4 -0,167 -15,380 0 3 -0,235 -20,943 2 47 -0,003 -0,300 0 1 -0,456 -36,619 0 0 -0,797 -54,932 *** 0,013 0,010 0,034 *** 0,015 *** 0,019 0,004 *** 0,035 *** 0,052 -0,259 -0,039 -0,019 -0,518 -0,210 0,021 -0,776 -0,832 -22,818 -3,825 -1,882 -40,429 -18,942 2,122 -53,976 -56,482 0,103 0,032 0,063 0,174 0,099 0,018 0,371 0,103 0,441 0,444 0,770 0,961 0,358 0,634 0,743 0,512 62,81 13,44 4,95 34,87 67,67 51,94 18,44 4,43 0 -0,411 -33,701 *** 0,056 3 -0,031 -3,052 *** 0,008 -0,086 -8,241 0,189 0,065 0,131 1,77 14,30 16 14,798 Q 0,097 1,341 168,21 0,096 0,00 0,033 1,63 0,113 0,227 154,19 0 0 0,138 Range ** *** ** ** *** Church wedding Reform of divorce law 2 3 29 27 29 10 4 10 0 0 Division of labor Not employed Wife‘ s employment Husband’s employment 4 2 2 35 11 13 33 24 6 19 17 17 0 22 -0,007 -0,698 0,009 0 27 0,221 24,732 *** 0,023 0 2 -0,569 -43,391 *** 0,073 Social context Year of marriage Large city Size of birthplace Marriage in GDR 4 2 2 4 50 46 61 48 6 4 22 18 0 48 0,024 2,429 *** 0,002 0 61 0,317 37,300 *** 0,021 0 4 0,011 1,106 0,018 0 17 0,127 13,542 *** 0,046 Homogamy Educational homogamy Wife is better educated than husband Both catholic Wife older than husband 2 3 2 2 30 18 30 10 10 6 22 8 18 18 0 5 0 0 0 4 0 4 0 13 -0,308 -26,508 *** 0,035 0,000 0,000 0,033 -0,053 -5,162 *** 0,015 -0,004 -0,399 0,014 Social and personal resources High level of father’s education Wife‘ s education in years Husband‘ s education in years Abitur Mittlere Reife Educational level of wife: Abitur 2 2 2 4 3 2 23 17 1 30 14 11 27 4 21 34 5 13 24 12 11 6 0 1 1 1 2 0 0 0 0,485 62,418 *** 0,003 0,300 -0,009 -0,896 ** 0,006 0,602 0,010 1,005 0,023 2,327 0,051 0,002 0,004 0,009 0,014 0,026 0,497 0,027 64,378 *** 2,737 0,197 0,192 21,774 21,167 Transmission of divorce risk Parent‘ s divorce Grown up without biological parents Grown up with one parent 5 2 2 90 71 5 50 14 3 57 7 30 0 85 0,432 54,034 *** 0,023 0 47 0,028 2,840 *** 0,009 0 27 0,023 2,327 * 0,014 0,415 0,249 0,069 51,437 *** 28,274 7,144 2 0 2 5 0 -0,497 -39,165 *** 0,039 0 -0,426 -34,688 *** 0,100 21 18 4 21 13 5 17 -0,502 -39,468 ** 0,013 1,308 -0,137 -12,803 0,015 0,362 0,236 0,316 1,511 43,620 *** 26,617 37,163 -0,696 -50,142 0,373 45,208 -0,192 -17,469 0,155 0,235 0,639 1,64 8,12 0,263 1,283 0,155 0,674 1,349 28,94 4,28 48,71 0,012 0,092 0,250 0,233 0,098 0,189 0,501 2,240 88,18 14,51 14,35 49,83 0,436 0,874 0,262 1,386 0,170 0,340 0,039 15,38 51,30 38,66 0,12 0,094 0,187 0,030 0,060 0,003 0,160 0,836 0,164 0,405 0,107 3,27 49,76 0,23 13,45 57,02 0,56 0,088 0,606 0,237 0,474 0,075 0,151 50,43 75,16 16,89 Marriage experience First marriage Remarriage 5 3 61 32 55 28 12 1 0 6 -0,132 -12,366 *** 0,024 0 27 0,323 38,127 *** 0,056 *p<0,10; **p<0,05; ***p<0,01 18 -0,288 -25,024 *** 0,112 0,614 0,041 49,46 0,03 Tabelle 4 : Divorce risks Determinant Premarital information about the spouse Premarital cohabitation Duration of cohabitation Duration until start of relationship Duration until common household Search costs Early marriage (marriage before 21) Child birth at time of marriage Age at marriage Wife‘ s age at marriage Husband‘ s age at marriage W ife‘ s age at start of relationship Husband‘ s age at start of relationship Code d m m m d Annotation Spouses were living together for at least four months before marriage. Some authors estimate effect sizes for ‚non premarital cohabitation‘ . Because of dummy coding, this variable has been multiplied by -1 and now represents the effect size for „premarital cohabitation“. Duration of cohabitation in years Time between first aquantance and start of the relationship in years in years At least one of the spouses is younger than 21 years at the time of marriage. d m m m m in years in years in years in years m in years Marital investments Birth of first child Birth of second child Birth of third child Common parenthood d d d d Number of children m Premarital birth Common home-ownership of the spouses Home-ownership d d time dependent covariate time dependent covariate time dependent covariate Both spouses are biological parents for at least one of the children In one out of four cases the variable is time dependent coded Birth of first child before marriage d External barriers Catholic d No. of church attendances m Church wedding Reform of divorce law d d Division of labor Not employed d Respondent belongs to the catholic church at the time of interview Frequency of church attendance is coded 1 (never) to 5 (weekly attendances) Coded as 1 if year of marriage is 1977 or 1978, otherwise 0. The respondent was either not or never employed. To increase the number of cases, the variable „employed“ was added and multiplied with the factor (-1). Employment was coded either time dependently or time independently. 19 Determinant Code Wife‘ s employment Husband‘ s employment d d Social context Year of marriage Large city m d Size of birthplace Marriage in GDR m d Annotation Wife is gainfully employed (partially time dependent) Husband is gainfully employed (partially time dependent) At time of marriage spouses live in a city with at least 100.000 inhabitants Number of inhabitants of birthplace Homogamy Educational homogamy Wife is better educated than husband Both catholic d d Equal educational level of both spouses d Wife older than husband d At the time of interview both spouses belong to the catholic church Wife is at least two years older than husband So ci al and p erso n al resources High lev el of f at her’s education Wife‘ s education in years Husband’s education in years Abitur Mittlere Reife Educational level of wife: ‚Abitur‘ Transmission of divorce risk Divorce of parents Gr own up without biological parents Grown up with only one parent d m m d V/H d d Respondent’s highest educational level is ‚Abitur‘ . Resondent’s highest educational level is ‚Mittlere Reife‘ At least one of the spouses experienced a divorce before age of eighteen d d Marriage experience First marriage d Respondent’s first marriage Remarriage d At least one of the spouses experienced a remarriage d: dummy-coding; m: metric variable; V/H: category of reference: Volks-/Hauptschule 20 First, we regard indicators of the level of information about the spouse before marriage: cohabitation, duration of cohabitation, duration of time between first contact and beginning of the relationship, duration of time until the start of a common household. Whereas the effects of cohabitation and of duration of cohabitation are not significant, the duration of the premarital relationship (whether the partners have a common household or not) reduces the risk of divorce. Time duration between the date of becoming acquainted and the beginning of a relationship is rather important. Each year reduces the divorce risk by about nine percent. It presumably does not only matter if ‘ a marriage is on trial’, but also whether potential partners take their time before starting a partnership. Another explanation favours the idea of relationships, which took a long time to be established because social barriers against a partnership exist. If partnerships are established despite of such barriers this would indicate a special ‘ seriousness’ or an outstandingly promising ‘match’. Second, we have indicators of costs for searching a partner: early marriage, age of marriage of interviewed person, age of marriage (husband or wife), age of beginning a relationship (husband or wife). It is quite open whether the ‘ forced marriage’ (child birth at time of marriage, ‘ Mussehe’) indicates search costs. All of these variables are negatively related to the divorce rate. The higher the search costs, the more stable is the marriage. Early marriages get separated very often. Every year of waiting time until marriage reduces the divorce risk by four percent. Wife’s age at marriage is more important than husband’s age at marriage. The third block of variables are assumed to indicate the amount of marital investments. Marital investments increase the costs for divorce. On the one hand, integrated effect sizes are available for the variables birth of first child, birth of second child, birth of third child, common child, number of children and premarital child. On the other hand, the variables home-ownership and common home-ownership are included. The birth of a second or a third child does actually not affect the divorce risk. Only the birth of the first child affects the stability of marriage, although this effect is not homogeneous. Thus effect sizes between the studies vary systematically. As the results show, it is important that the child is a common child of both spouses. If not both spouses are the parents of the child, the divorce risk is very high. External barriers against divorce result from social norms that regulate the break up of marriages. The influence of the reform of the divorce law, affiliation to the catholic church, frequency of church visits, and the church wedding are related to the validity and internalization of these standards. It is almost certain that the affiliation to the catholic church or a church wedding reduce the divorce risk. If the frequency of church 21 attendances is high, we find significant effects only for the model with fixed effects. However, these effects are not homogeneous. Moreover, the new divorce law resulted in a strong reduction of divorce rates during the years 1977/1978. Also the division of household labor can be understood as a marital investment. The more efficient the division of labor is, the higher are the gains of marriage. Admittedly, a positive effect of wife’s employment on the rate of divorce is only based on two studies. We do not find significant influences of other variables like non-employment or husband’s employment. There are a number of variables which can be allocated in an unspecific way to the social context or more specific to marital alternatives: Living in a large city, size of birth place, marriage in GDR and year of marriage. The rate of divorce is significantly higher in large cities, even though the size of birth place is irrelevant. The integrated effect of the year of marriage, which has been estimated in four studies, positively affects the divorce rate under the assumption of a fixed effects model. However, this model is inadequate, obviously relevant differences in effect sizes exist between the studies. According to the random effects model year of marriage is no longer significant. Similar results arise from comparing former East and West Germany. According to official statistics, the divorce rate of GDR exceeded that of the FRG. As our results show, this fact is asserted if we follow a model with fixed effects. But a larger heterogeneity of results is ascertained as well, presumably because the effect of this variable strongly depends on control variables that are included into the specific models. We therefore have to assume a model with random effects, which shows differences between East and West to be statistically insignificant. A number of different indicators capture the amount of social homogamy: wife older than husband, educational homogamy, a relatively high level of wife’s education, both spouses being catholic. None of these variables significantly corresponds to the risk of divorce. Hence, no effect of social homogamy on marital stability could be identified. Only a few measures of the social and economic resources of couples were available: We do have information about the level of education of husband and wife as well as of the father’s education. It was not possible to include measures of household or personal income into meta-analysis. Whereas the level of father’s education strongly increases the divorce risk, husband’s level of education is positively related to marital 22 stability. The educational level of the wife and the educational level which is not differentiated by gender show no significant effects. Many times the hypothesis of the intergenerational transmission of divorce has been tested. It presumes a divorce of parents to reduce the marital stability of their children. So far, it is not completely clear why this association exists. For that reason it is not possible to relate the stability of the parental marriage to a single theoretical construct. The transmission effect sizes have been integrated throughout five studies into a statistically significant mean effect size. The divorce risk increases up to 50% if the parental marriage had been separated. Other variables that measure whether the interviewed persons grew up either without parents or with only one parent do not reach an integrated effect size which is different from zero. Finally, also variables concerning the first or the second marriage are listed separately, without a correspondence to a single theoretical construct. Assumably, these variables capture selection effects. Nevertheless, these variables are meaningful in a statistical sense: the divorce risk of first marriages is about 25% lower than for marriages of a higher order. 4 Summary and discussion The aim of this paper was to evaluate German divorce studies by means of metaanalytic methods. We discuss the results with respect to 1) 2) 3) the applicability of meta-analysis, the evaluation of the present state of research, the quality of publications and methods of analyzing divorce risks. The applicability of meta-analysis in divorce research is limited because of three problems: the comparability of bivariate and multivariate effects, the calculation of appropriate weighting factors and the handling of publications whith incomplete data. Some of these problems could be solved if the quality of research and of publications would be improved. Almost all of the evaluated studies present incomplete statistical data. Especially unfavourable is that bivariate effects and the standard errors of effect sizes often are not reported. The present analyses has pointed out that the construction of independent variables 23 widely differs between authors. In this situation an integration of results is only achievable by a broader definition of categories. Nevertheless, in this case one might run into the risk of comparing apples and oranges. Such a procedure can only be justified if ‘ fruits’ are an appropriate construct. But such theoretical integrative procedures could possibly also improve the present study. Different measures can also be an advantage for meta-analysis: the benefit of a meta-analytical integration results out of the diversity of studies (Glass 1977). Different operationalizations or research contexts enhance the generalization level of the effect to be integrated (Drinkmann 1990). One might object that the problem of comparing apples and oranges applies to integrative reviews in general. The special advantage of a quantitative integration compared to a qualitative one is indeed to be found in the systematic and explicit procedure. For instance, a quantitative review allows an analysis of study differences and of their influence on meta-analytical results. These points in mind one has to be careful when evaluating the state of research. We are far away from an adequate testing of a theory of marital stability. Only selected constructs or single hypotheses from exchange or microeconomic theory have been considered in empirical research. Our meta-analysis clearly shows that variables influence the divorce risk that are related to search costs, marital investments and external barriers. The division of labor between spouses, social homogamy, and own resources really do not affect the risk of divorce. In contrast, the transmission hypothesis is clearly supported, and first marriages are more stable than marriages of a higher order. However, it is in turn not very evident how these empirical associations can be interpreted in the light of exchange or microeconomic theory. Very few attempts have been undertaken to measure the opportunities of remarriages or more general the alternatives to an existing marriage. These central hypothetical constructs that are part of all divorce theories were only measured in a very crude way through variables like year of marriage, size of place or marriage in the GDR or FRG. The effects of marriage cohort or of East/West marriage are very heterogenous. Obviously, effect sizes of these variables strongly depend on model specifications. The quality of divorce research does not only show the already mentioned shortcomings. Research is hardly organized in a cumulative way. Replications are not really done and much too often different variables and measures are used. New studies are carried out without relating them systematically to the results of already existing research. Meta-analysis should become part of the methodological canon in 24 sociology. This would be facilitated by an improvement of research and a higher quality of publications. 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Weick (Eds.): Der Familienzyklus als sozialer Prozeß. Bevölkerungssoziologische Untersuchungen mit den Methoden der Ereignisanalyse. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot. [14] Wagner, M., 1997: Scheidung in Ost- und Westdeutschland: Zum Verhältnis von Ehestabilität und Sozialstruktur. Frankfurt/Main: Campus. [15] Appendix As mentioned in section 2.4.2 it is necessary to use independent effect sizes for integration. Therefore calculation of weighted means will be done in a two-stage process. At the second stage standard errors are computed as follows: SE ES = 1 k ∑ wi , with k number of studies. i =1 The between-studies variance σ θ (cf. section 2.4.3) is calculated as follows : 2 ∑k w 2 i Q − ( k − 1) mit c = ∑k w − i =1 . 2 σθ = k i i =1 c ∑ wi i =1 35