It is also important in connection with the ongoing contemporary debate about same-sex marriage and same-sex adoptive partners (Healey, 2008). Research Question

1. How prevalent are so-called non-traditional families (NTFs) in the U.S.

2. What problems (if any) have been associated with NTFs?

3. Are children living in NTFs benefited or harmed by their situation?

4. Are children living in NTFs better off than children living with unhappily married parents in traditional families?

Problem Statement

So-called traditional families are still considered the norm in American society and they are often represented as the model for parenthood in particular. Meanwhile, there is likely ample reason to suspect that children raised in happy single-parent (and same-sex parent) families are happier than those raised by unhappily married parents in traditional...

If that is true, the prevailing social prejudice against non-traditional family structure is entirely unjustified by any evidence.
Research Hypotheses

1. Non-traditional families (NTFs) are now more prevalent in the U.S. than traditional families.

2. There are fewer problems associated with children being raised in happy NTFs than there are associated with children being raised in unhappy traditional families.

3. Any remaining prejudice against NTF structure is not logically justified.

References

Healey, J.F. (2008). Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Class: The Sociology of Group

Conflict and Change. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge.

Henslin, J.M. (2005). Essentials of Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach. Boston:

Allyn and Bacon.

Macionis, J.J. (2007). Sociology. Hoboken, NJ: Prentice Hall.