Research Methods

Overview

In the chapters that follow, we report the results of an investigation of parent-teenager communication about premarital sex and birth control. The study was a survey of parents in which a wide range of variables about parent-teen communication and the relationship between parents and teenagers was assessed. In addition, a short mail survey of the teenagers of the parents was conducted. The major purpose of the latter survey was to assess the sexual activity of the teenagers so that this could be related to selected communication variables. The sampling frame of the parent survey was a 2×2 factorial design crossing the gender of the parent with the gender of the teenager. This frame permitted us to examine parent-teenager communication for mother-daughter, mother-son, father-daughter, and father-son dyads. In addition, mother-father combinations came from the same family (i.e., we interviewed only smarried couples). Although this strategy limited the generalizability of the results vis-a-vis single parent families, it had the advantage of allowing us to assess couple effects.

This chapter describes the basic methodology used in the survey. After describing the subject population, sampling strategy, and interviewing techniques, we briefly characterize the measures used. More detailed descriptions of the measures are provided in Appendix A.