Anissa StewartINQ 110-R09/09/12Summary 7-1Current Investigation- Aim is to triangulate existing quantitative studies with new qualitative data to explore what positive economic circumstances mean cohabitating men and women- 115 in depth interviews with men and women who are within a cohabitating relation or just recently left one- Approach is the social psychological paradigm of symbolic interactionism o Individual behavior is based not only on what is, but also on individuals interpretations of what is o Assuming that individuals categorize and construct their social world, subjectively define situations, and use other interpretations to adapt their behavior (Mead 1934; Stryker 1972)- Focus on working and lower middle class individuals- Focus on parents and non-parents while restricting focus to cohabitating or recently cohabitating young adults o Including those who are childless; focusing solely on the couple 60% of cohabitating couples do not have childrenMethod- Analysis is based on 115 in depth interviews with male and female young adults currentlyin a cohabitating relationship or who were recently in one. - Duration of time from previous cohabitating relationship would be no more than three years o With 1 year as the median for the data- Beginning Statistics o 47% Cohabitatingo 26% Married (after having cohabitated) o 26% Single ( recently cohabitated)o Interviewers age between 18-36 years old (median of 26)o All live in or near Toledo, Ohio- Used the Atlas/ti computer program to help code the data and later merge it to find and discuss discrepanciesAnissa StewartINQ 110-R09/09/12Summary 7-1Results- Table 7.2o Economic Issues Money, job, assets 23%o Individual qualities More time together, companionship, mental health  23%o Both 50%o No Response 4%Money, Money, Money- Financialso One does not marry without the thought or need for financial stabilityo People want to be financially stable (debt free) before they marry- A Real Weddingo Many couples (mostly men) feel that once their finances are straight they can have the “big wedding” o There is a clear distinction between a ‘beg wedding”, or a trip “downtown” or “justice of the peace” It is seen as a compromise to go “downtown”- Prerequisites to Marriageo A place to stay  22%o Financial Stabilityo Dependable transportation (car)o Finishing School- Gender Expectationso Men should take care of the house, family and bills Seen now as a traditionalist- Money Problemso Perceived economic hardship has a negative effect on relationship qualityo Thus it is positively related to thoughts of divorce o Money is a problem area in most relationshipsAnissa StewartINQ 110-R09/09/12Summary 7-1 Usually not having enough money Or a spouse who does not work enough to earn enough moneyQuotes“In the end, our results suggest that a feeling of readiness to marry hinges not on the hopeof a comfortable financial future but on the sense that it has already been attained.” P169“…because I’ve done the schooling and I’ve secured the job with the security, financial security.” ~Gloria P165“Among other cohabitors, especially some women, the resistance to “going downtown” was formidable.” P163Anissa StewartINQ 110-R09/09/12Summary 7-1ReflectionThis article was truly unnecessary. I found the information to be more common sense than an extensive experiment. It seems that this experiment is the basis of sociology. I’ve l \earned that sociology is a social science. Thus the study within sociology is explanatory, exploratory and predictive. The researchers have taken the common thoughts of marriage and of couple’s finances and explored the deeper aspects of these thoughts and how each couple explains their thoughts. Although I would have to say that it was very interesting to see the adamant disapproval of the quick court wedding. The justice of the peace was regarded as a “poor mans” wedding. The female subjects also seemed to look down upon the simple and inexpensive way to tie the knot. In truth the experiment seemed well thought out and performed impeccably. The idea of interviewing people was very clever. When I began to read the article I assumed they would do some type of private questionnaire allowing for each person to put their honest opinion on paper and not having to feel insecure when speaking to an interviewer. Once the subjects spoke to the interviewer that revealed the flaw within my original assumption. The subjects give more information when they are seemingly probed for more information. They become comfortable and then begin to speak their mind allowing for more detailed responses. These detailed responses add to the data greatly by introducing new factors to the initial theory. Without the interviews the data would have been heavily skewed. There would have been random outliers with recurring error. This would have made the data untrustworthy. All of the findings would not be valid thus they would be irrelevant to anyone trying to learn about the studied