- The rise in popularity of alternative relationships:
Rapoport & Rapoport, made famous by their ‘dual burden’ micro theory of conjugal roles in the household, support the view that the family is becoming less popular. They argue that Britain no longer has a single concept of what the ideal family set up should be (married parents and two or three children), but has various concepts. They say that this has been brought on by the dramatic increase of alternative families from other countries, and the changing role of women in the home and workplace. Therefore, as more people are opting for alternative relationships, people must see marriage as less important.
Joan Chandler supports this view. She found that cohabitation is very popular, as 28% of babies are born outside of marriage, and of these 28%, co-habitant parents raise 70%. However, she goes on to say that this trend is not new. She points to the fact that a quarter to a third of couples in 18th century Britain co-habited.
Robert Chester also disputes the view that marriage is declining. He argues that although cohabitation is becoming more popular, people are viewing it as a pre-run for marriage, rather than an alternative. Now that the stigma of ‘living in sin’ has gone, people feel they would like to see how it would be to live with someone before making a commitment. Chester calls this ‘The Neo-Conventional Family’.
In conclusion, it is not clear what is causing a reduction in the importance of marriage, or indeed, if there is a reduction. This is another reason for my choice of research topic.
(395 words)
MAIN RESEARCH METHOD AND REASONS
The main research method I will use here is a questionnaire, in the context of a social survey.
This is known as a positivist approach, and I have chosen it because it is believed to be more objective, with quantifiable data, and so will be more widely accepted in the academic world.
My sample will consist of 50 men and 50 women, between the ages of 18 and 45. I have chosen this age range because I want an adult’s view, and older people’s views will probably reflect those of previous decades, preventing me from obtaining contemporary views. I have chosen to use equal numbers of men and women as this will be representative of the population. This is called quota sampling, as I am setting certain criteria for the respondents.
The questionnaire will be a form, posted on a discussion forum, such as Delphi, Yahoo, NBCi or AOL. I will make the form available to registered British users between 18 and 45 only. They will select their gender and answer multiple choice questions. Once 50 people have responded, I will download the data. It is then ready to quantify and compare with views of previous decades.
The advantages of this approach are that it is easy to collect the data, quantify it and analyse it. I can create a form and post it within minutes and then the data should then start coming in. The data can be downloaded in a spreadsheet form, saying how many people gave certain answers to the questions. This makes it easy to create charts and graphs.
Also, the fact that the questionnaire is the same for every respondent means that it is more reliable than unstructured interviews or questionnaires, as it is easier to repeat.
Finally, the use of a questionnaire in electronic form removes my presence, and therefore removes any interviewer bias, where the respondent tries to give answers that they think the researcher wants to hear.
Before conducting the study, I will email the questions to everyone on my mailing list, asking them to comment on anything they don’t understand. I will then re-word the questions, or provide an explanation. This is known as a pilot study.
(406 words)
POTENTIAL PROBLEMS
Like virtually all sociological research done in the past, the methodology in my work is open to criticism.
A major problem with my approach is my choice of sample and sampling method. It could be argued that my decision to use quota sampling and to set an age limit means that a large, and ever growing portion of the population is excluded, whose views are important. Furthermore, those who are too busy to surf, and those without access to the web will be excluded. It may be a certain group of people who bother to respond to these questionnaires, and this group may hold similar values that are not representative of the population as a whole. These factors question my methodology on the grounds of validity.
Something that many sociologists face in their research is deception by the respondent. As I will not be present when the questionnaire is filled in, it would be very easy for someone to lie about his or her details and views. This could happen quite easily, as there are many users of these forums who have nothing better to do than waste other people's time.
Furthermore, people may feel that they do not fit into any of the categories set, and so choose an answer that is not actually representative of their views. This will bring the validity of the data into question, although it is precisely this lack of presence that eliminates impositional bias.
Finally, a major criticism of questionnaires (highlighted by Steve Taylor in ‘The A Level Sociology Magazine’) is that the choice of words can have a huge impact on the answers respondents give. Different people can attach different meanings to words such as ‘important’; invalidating the results. Therefore, my main grounds for choosing questionnaires (because they are more objective) come into disrepute, as questionnaires are not as objective and quantifiable as some might think. It is therefore clear that although I am trying to be objective, it is clearly an impossible task.
(332 words)
(1243 words)
