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Handbook of Measurement Issues in Family Research

• Edited by Sandra L. Hofferth, Lynne M. Casper

• Price: $99.00
• Binding: Hardback
• Pages: 514
• Published by: Routledge
• Publication Date: 26th June 2006
• ISBN: 978-0-8058-5617-0

About the Book

Dramatic societal changes have reshaped America’s families. Young adults have delayed marriage, and cohabitation before marriage has become commonplace. One in three women giving birth is unmarried, and the proportion of children under 18 living in single-parent families rose from 23 to 31 percent between 1980 and 2000, reflecting increased rates of both nonmarital childbearing and divorce.

This authoritative volume offers a blueprint for addressing some of the most important measurement issues in family research, and it points out potential pitfalls for researchers and students who may not be familiar with data quality issues.

The Handbook of Measurement Issues in Family Research will appeal to scholars in the departments of psychology, sociology, and population studies, as well as researchers working in governmental agencies.

Table of Contents

Contents: Preface. Part I: Introduction. L.M. Casper, S.L. Hofferth, Playing Catch-Up: Improving Data and Measures for Family Research. Part II: Marriage and Cohabitation. J.T. Knab, S. McLanahan, Measuring Cohabitation: Does How, When, and Who You Ask Matter? M.S. Pollard, K.M. Harris, Measuring Cohabitation in Add Health. P.R. Amato, Studying Marriage and Commitment With Survey Data. A.J. Hawkins, B.J. Fowers, J.S. Carroll, C. Yang, Conceptualizing and Measuring Marital Virtues. S.M. Stanley, Assessing Couple and Marital Relationships: Beyond Form and Toward a Deeper Knowledge of Function. K.A. Moore, J. Bronte-Tinkew, S. Jekielek, L. Guzman, S. Ryan, Z. Redd, J. Carrano, G. Matthews, Developing Measures of Healthy Marriages and Relationships. Part III: Separation and Divorce. L. Bumpass, K. Raley, Measuring Separation and Divorce. M. O'Connell, The Visible Hand: Editing Marital-History Data From Census Bureau Surveys. Part IV: Household Composition and Family Relationships. P.D. Brandon, Mapping Children's Living Arrangements With a Relationship Matrix. M. Hill, P. Callister, Is Single-Parent Family a Misnomer Misdirecting Research and Policies? W.D. Manning, R.E. Bulanda, Cohabitation and Measurement of Family Trajectories. J. Iceland, Measuring Poverty With Different Units of Analysis. G.J. Gates, R. Sell, Measuring Gay and Lesbian Couples. W.D. Mosher, Including the Military and the Incarcerated in Surveys of Families. Part V: Becoming a Father. F.L. Mott, D.S. Hurst, T. Gryn, Male Relationship and Fertility Data in the NLSY. S. Boggess, G. Martinez, C.B. Jasik, L.D. Lindberg, Counting Dads: Improving Estimates of Teen Fatherhood. W. Marsiglio, Qualitative Insights for Studying Male Fertility. C. Bachrach, Taking Stock: Do Surveys of Men's Fertility Deliver? Part VI: Fathers and Fathering. S.L. Hofferth, N. Cabrera, M. Carlson, R.L. Coley, R. Day, H. Schindler, Resident Father Involvement and Social Fathering. L. Argys, E. Peters, S. Cook, S. Garasky, L. Nepomnyaschy, E. Sorensen, Measuring Contact Between Children and Nonresident Fathers. S. Garasky, E. Peters, L. Argys, S. Cook, L. Nepomnyaschy, E. Sorensen, Measuring Support to Children by Nonresident Fathers. Part VII: Conclusion. S.L. Hofferth, L.M. Casper, Progress Made, Gaps Remain: Final Observations.