As Ball State professors in family and consumer sciences, ScottHall and Rebecca Adams have noticed a lack of information when itcomes to marriage.
So, they decided to create their own.
"I've been teaching marriage for quite a while and very littleresearch has been done on the first year of marriage. That's animportant foundation," Adams said.
The study cited most in academic literature was conducted in the1980s, she said.
"We think marriage has changed since then," she said.
Hall, assistant professor of family and consumer sciences, andAdams, associate professor of family and consumer sciences, are inthe preliminary stages of a research study on couples in theirfirst year of marriage.
"We're trying to understand how a couple's relationship changesby virtue of getting married [and] what do they do to cope withsome of the disappointment and disillusionment that comes with . .. expectations not being fulfilled," Hall said.
They will recruit 10 to 15 couples who have been married betweenthree months and one year. In the next stage of their study, theywill use the results to apply for external grants that would allowthem to expand the study to thirty couples.
Because this study isn't about analyzing numbers, they don'tneed a large pool of participants. Instead, they depend on thedepth of the research, Adams said.
To gain the necessary insight, the two will conduct weeklyinterviews with the participating couples.
"We want to really get some intense questioning trying to get agreater depth of understanding of what these couples go through,"Hall said.
For example, Hall said he wants to know what their expectationswere going into the marriage and what habits they established whiledating that worked then but don't now.
Such information can be used to help develop programs forcouples who aren't married yet as well as people who work withmarried couples, Adams said.
"The more one can learn about [marriage] the more one can find away of helping couples so maybe they can go into it with a littlemore understanding," Hall said.
The preliminary study will be finished by the end of thecalender year, Hall said. That research will be used to apply forexternal grants so the study can be expanded to thirty couples.
Marginalia:
Couples that have been married between three months and one yearwho want to be a part of the study can contact Scott Hall at285-5943 or Rebecca Adams at 285-5924.
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