Deck 2: Family Scholarship in Action: Theories, Methods and Ethics

Question 1

_____ helps family scholars move beyond description to explanation and even prediction.

A) Ethics
B) Methods
C) Research
D) Theory

Answer 1

Theory

Question 2

People often ask of battered women: "Why do they stay?" Which theory helps us understand the complex calculus of costs and benefits in such a woman's life?

A) Conflict theory
B) Exchange theory.
C) Family ecology theory
D) Symbolic interaction theory.

Answer 2

Exchange theory.

Question 3

We might approach understanding the different meanings of housework for men and women through:

A) Family ecology theory.
B) Feminist theory.
C) Structural functional theory.
D) Symbolic interaction theory.

Answer 3

Symbolic interaction theory.

Question 4

Two family studies theories emphasize equilibrium. Those two theories are:

A) Conflict and family ecology.
B) Family systems and structural functionalism.
C) Family ecology and feminist theory.
D) Rational choice and symbolic interaction.

Question 5

Family life course development theory considers the:

A) Additions and subtractions of members.
B) Phases of children's lives.
C) Stages through which families and their members pass.
D) All of the above.

Question 6

Zimmerman's essay on MADDADS illustrates the place of the black family in the urban environment. This is an application of _____ theory.

A) Conflict.
B) Family ecology.
C) Family systems.
D) Race.

Question 7

In her _____ analysis, Embser-Herbert describes the lesbian family as being in tension with the dominant society, with the result that lesbian families have a more difficult set of structural constraints.

A) Conflict.
B) Femininst.
C) GLTBQ.
D) Structural functional.

Question 8

Feminist theory seeks to understand how _____ and _____ disadvantage women and can compromise the quality of life for women, their families, and relationships.

A) Conflict and oppression.
B) Gender roles and sex roles.
C) Patriarchy and sexism.
D) Psychology and society.

Question 9

Families are increasingly at risk in today's society. That sentiment is at the core of _____.

A) Conflict.
B) Family ecology.
C) Family systems.
D) Postmodernism.

Question 10

To determine the causal relationship between family dinners and family harmony, your best choice for a research would be:

A) Archival data.
B) An experiment.
C) An interview with mothers.
D) Unobtrusive observation.

Question 11

You wish to obtain valid data about not what parents say they do, but about what they actually do in real life. You might engage in which of the following research method?

A) Experiment.
B) Interview.
C) Questionnaire.
D) Unobtrusive observation.

Question 12

All of the following are true about surveys EXCEPT:

A) An interview may be subject to a social desirability effect.
B) The two types are participant and unobtrusive.
C) Their generalizability is dependent on representative sampling.
D) They enable researchers to gather data about attitudes, as well as past and intended future behaviors.

Question 13

Pipher's research on the challenges faced by adolescent girls, published as Reviving Ophelia, is an example of:

A) The case study method.
B) Qualitative research.
C) The poorest kind of family scholarship.
D) Both a & b

Question 14

Archival research includes all of the following EXCEPT:

A) Fitzharris' research on Lizzie and Mad Bowler's life apart during the Civil War.
B) Karraker and Grochowski's interviews with single mothers.
C) Parish records.
D) World Health Organization data on health patterns worldwide.

Question 15

Triangulation refers to:

A) Data collection across time
B) Data collection across space.
C) Family conflict-ecology-systems.
D) Multimethod research techniques.

Question 16

To determine if Edin and Kefalas' findings about American women are generalizable to women in other societies, we would need to collect:

A) Comparative data.
B) Experimental data.
C) Longitudinal data.
D) Survey data.

Question 17

To determine if Edin and Kefalas' findings that some women are putting motherhood ahead of marriage is an emerging trend among American women, we would need to collect:

A) Comparative data.
B) Experimental data.
C) Longitudinal data.
D) Survey data.

Question 18

Most family mediation programs were established in the 1990s, but empirical research on the effectiveness of such programs is not conclusive. This indicates the need for:

A) Evaluation research.
B) The failure of family scientists to ground their research in empirical reality.
C) More theory in family scholarship.
D) A serious examination of the ethics for family studies.

Question 19

Karraker and Grochowski advocate:

A) Ethics over integrity.
B) Ethnocentrism.
C) Methods over theory.
D) Personal experience as a possible source of inspiration.

Question 20

Ethical issues faced by family scholars:

A) Include subject risk, confidentiality, and informed consent.
B) Personal integrity.
C) The uses to which research will be applied.
D) All of the above.

Question 21

Chapter 2 outlines eight theories used by family studies scholars. Which of those theories is the best 'fit' for (a) how you view families and (b) the questions you want to ask about families?

Question 22

September 26, 2011 is the 10th anniversary of Family Day: A Day to Eat Dinner with Your Family, launched by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse. (See a related story at http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/taste/129921943.html). The author of a recent letter to the editor in the Minneapolis Star Tribune linked family dinners to the quality of parent-child relationships in her own family. Read the letter at http://www.startribune.com/opinion/letters/130473903.html. Besides the absence of family dinners, what factors could affect the quality of family life?

Question 23

Differentiate between problems of research methods and problems of research ethics. How might one affect the other?

Question 24

Using the example of Edin and Kefalas' research on women who place motherhood ahead of marriage, suggest some directions for longitudinal and comparative research on this topic.

Question 25

Does your institution have an Institutional Review Board (IRB)? What is the purpose of the IRB?