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Quantitative Methodology for Studying Families

  • Chapter
Handbook of Marriage and the Family

Abstract

Many characteristics shape the research methods of family scholars. First, families have a shared past and future (Copeland and White, 1991). Other fields study groups that have history, but few areas involve a history that is so persistently salient to everyday decisions. Second, families are both sacred and profane. The reverence we have for families challenges researchers who seek to objectify and measure them, while also recognizing the levels of violence, dishonesty, and abuse in families that expressions like “dirty linen” fail to capture. Being both sacred and profane introduces a level of privacy that is difficult to unravel.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, Oregon State University, 97331-5102, Corvallis, Oregon, USA

    Alan C. Acock

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  1. Alan C. Acock
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Union Institute, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

    Marvin B. Sussman

  2. Department of Sociology, Indiana University — Purdue University at Indianapolis, 46236, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

    Suzanne K. Steinmetz

  3. Department of Sociology, Arizona State University, 85287-2502, Tempe, Arizona, USA

    Gary W. Peterson

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Acock, A.C. (1999). Quantitative Methodology for Studying Families. In: Sussman, M.B., Steinmetz, S.K., Peterson, G.W. (eds) Handbook of Marriage and the Family. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-5367-7_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-5367-7_11

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-5369-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-5367-7

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