Making It Count: The Improvement of Social Research and Theory by Stanley Lieberson

Author:Stanley Lieberson [Stanley Lieberson]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2010-01-29T22:42:00+00:00

To what extent were the differences between the two groups when they were teenagers and young adults attributable to differences in the age of their parents at their birth, as opposed to other demographic and family background differences? Could any insight be obtained regarding the process leading from adolescent parentage to its outcomes? These were the research questions tackled next. First, the direct effect due to adolescent parentage was studied by investigating the extent to which differences between CAPs and their classmates persisted after the demographic and family background differences were controlled. Then the role of family structure as a variable intervening between adolescent parentage and its outcomes was assessed via two sets of multivariate analyses conducted on data from the 15-year-old cohort: (a) a series of analyses of covariance and multiple classification analysis using matched samples of first-born CAPs and COMPs, and (b) an integrative path analysis using the entire analysis sample. (Card 1981: 147, 150)

As one might expect, the application of these various controls alters the initial crude linkage found between age of parent at child's birth and later characteristics of the child. For example, differences in personality, interests, and educational expectations all disappeared (Card 1981: 150). Other associations remain even after these controls were applied, although their magnitude is changed. What could be a more typical piece of social research? But it all makes sense if we can assume that there is a true possibility of matching these parents up when we control for the socioeconomic characteristics of parents, birth order of child, and any and all other characteristics that might influence the offsprings' behavior independently of the test variable under consideration. Let us work out the logic of this. (Although restricting ourselves to the controls for socioeconomic status, we recognize that controls would normally be applied to more than this cluster.)

The procedure makes sense if we can assume that "teenage" parents who are at present of a given socioeconomic position are identical to "older" parents occupying the same socioeconomic position. Problems exist for the social researcher even if conditions deviate only slightly from the experimental ideal. Suppose we start by assuming that the following four conditions operate:

1. At the time of puberty, it is possible to predict the socioeconomic level that will be attained by the subject when reaching adulthood.

2. For whatever reason, persons destined to be of low socioeconomic status have a greater chance of having a child when they are teenagers than are parents destined to be of higher socioeconomic status.

3. From the pool of adolescents destined to be of low socioeconomic status when they become adults, some are randomly assigned to have children at an early age and others must wait.

4. From the pool of those destined to reach higher socioeconomic status, some are also randomly assigned to have children during their teenage years and others to wait until later. The only difference from condition 3 is that a smaller proportion of this group are assigned to have children when they are teenagers.

If

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