1 Using survey data to research family relationships Angela Dale University of Manchester

2 Why would you? Are family relationships well captured by surveys? –Yes and –No

3 The ‘yes’ bits Surveys are good at capturing family structure and composition –Especially when the family is defined as being co-resident –Asking for information on everyone living together – and their relationships –Many surveys use a household matrix to capture the relationship of each person to all others in the household

4 Making linkages Family 1 North West Social rented Person 1 Fam ref person Female 28 GCSE separated Not ill Person 2 Son of FRP Male 12 N/A Not ill Family 2 Wales Owner occupier Person 1 Fam ref person Male 33 Degree Married Not ill Person 2 Spouse of FRP Female 31 Degree married Not ill Person 3 Parent of FRP Female 72 No quals Widowed Not ill

5 Relationships of other household members to person 1 (hholds with >1 person) How are the people in your household related to each other? 1 Spouse4,905 2 Cohabitee Son or daughter 6,319 4 Step-son/daughter Foster child 11 6 Son/daughter-in-law 42 7 Parent/guardian 99 8 Step-parent 3 9 Foster-parent 0 10 Parent-in-law Brother/sister Step-brother/sister 2 13 Foster brother/sister 0 14 Brother/sister-in-law Grandchild Grand-parent 5 17 Other relative Other non-relative Civil Partner 6 Notes: adopted children are included with natural children. Source: GHS 2006, R01 – relationship to person 1

6 Household type F (grouped) GHS, person only2, unrelated adults 549 3married couple with dependent children7,267 4married couple, independent children1,661 5married couple, no children5,208 6lone parent, dependent children1,937 7lone parent, independent children families 460 9same sex cohabitees 71 10cohabiting couple, dependent children 1, cohabiting couple, independent children cohabiting couple, no children 1,054 Valid cases Expands to 57 categories

7 More ‘yes’ bits Understanding family processes is crucial to much social science –Effects of parental characteristics on child outcomes, eg educational attainment, obesity –Social mobility and the role of parental networks, informal support –Informal caring Survey evidence provides one, but only one, important kind of knowledge on these topics

8 Some questions How many women aged in Britain lived in three-generational households in 2001? –a) 2% b) 10% c) 20% In 2001 were lone parents with dependent children more likely to be a)Single, b) divorced, c) widowed,d) separated or e) married?

9 Answers How many women aged in Britain lived in three-generational households in 2001? –a) 2% b) 10% c) 20% In 2001 were lone parents with dependent children more likely to be a) Single (39%), b) divorced (35%), c) widowed (5%) d) separated (18%), e)married (3%)?

10 Answers - Bangladeshis How many women aged in Britain lived in three-generational households in 2001? –a) 2% b) 10% c) 20% In 2001 were lone parents with dependent children more likely to be a) Single (5%), b) divorced (12%), c) widowed (39%) or d) separated (23) married (30)?

11 Who are you interested in? Surveys allow you to explore: –Children - how do children’s educational outcomes relate to the number of siblings they have? –Partnerships – movement in and out of partnerships –the elderly – do they live alone or with other kin? Is this changing? How does it vary with socio-economic characteristics? With ethnicity? –Women – how is women’s employment influenced by that of their partner?

12 The benefits of surveys You can use large good quality surveys someone else has collected You can get a nationally representative picture of the topic of interest You can make comparisons between groups based on the same questions You can make your own definitions of family – but depends on questions asked and answers recorded

13 Family relationships: the ‘no’ bits Surveys set their own agenda and ask everyone the same questions –Although good pilot work finds out salient issues from respondents you cannot pursue interesting answers; you cannot ask ‘why’ and ‘how’ and ‘what does it feel like’ –Respondents do not have their own voice Some surveys provide space for write-ins

14 Family relationships: the ‘no’ bits The family is the site of conflict, intimacy, affection, rivalry ….. Surveys cannot capture the depth of these relationships Surveys are not good at capturing ambivalence

15 Getting the best of both worlds? –Can one combine the strengths of surveys with the strengths of qualitative methods? –Yes, there are many good examples, but don’t forget that different methods produce different knowledge

16 Surveys can provide a context for qualitative research background information about the locality of a study Information on the demographic structure of a group, or their socio-economic characteristics Published data – or simple on-line extraction - can often give you exactly what you need

17 Surveys can identify questions which need qualitative research Surveys often throw up puzzles which need deeper, qualitative work to answer –eg why do many Pakistani and Bangladeshi women have low levels of economic activity? Survey analysis can help to target a theoretical sample for deeper and richer analysis –Eg a comparison between key groups of Pakistani and white women Analysis can be integrated, eg survey analysis-> quali work -> better model with survey data

18 Exploring differences Surveys and qualitative methods can give conflicting accounts –Different methods generate different kinds of knowledge, so not surprising –But deeper interrogation using both methods can be very valuable –Can lead to greater understanding than either methods along –Neither method is ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ but each can generate important questions for the other

19 How to have a go The Economic and Social Data Service provide access and support to many different surveys –Cross-section and longitudinal –Wide range of topics On-line quick and easy access

20 Introductory workshops Web-based resources Getting started Guides Guides to SPSS and STATA Methodological Guides Helpdesk