An Investigation about Married Couples

Question: Describe about An Investigation about Married Couples. Answer: Research Topic An investigation into how couples select their marriage partner. In what ways western countries differ from eastern countries and what do divorce rates signify regarding the relative success of each given system? Business Significance This study mainly discuses the factors that are considered by couples on selection of their marriage partner (Adams and Thompson 2011). This research topic emphasis upon understanding the viewpoint of married couples. This will help in gaining better understanding of the factors that are present causing success or failure of marital relationship. In the recent times, divorce rates and separation are increasing at faster pace and leading to unsuccessful marriages. The relationships in eastern cultures are mostly family centric in nature (Allendorf 2013). Couples, in that case requires passing through family approvals On the contrary, Western civilization prefers over family and decisions are made on priority as well as relevance of relationships (Larson and Holman 1994). The failure for committing towards spouse leads to divorce situation. Divorce is the term that means strong indication of unhappiness as well as dissatisfaction of marriage. Researchers had found out that divorce as w ell as resulting separation was correlated with satisfaction and unhappiness in any marital relationships. Study had pointed out that marriage as well as divorce cases compares trends for last 150 years in and across countries into proper demographic groups (Bleisteiner 2015). Research Questions What are the factors taken into consideration at the time where couples select their marriage partner? How Western countries marriages differ from Easter countries? How divorce rates indicate relative success for the given system? Literature Review Introduction Marriage is considered one of the important and fundamental human relationships. This relationship has been studied for a long, long time. Marital satisfaction is vital for a marriage to be happy, healthy, and long lasting. The question is what are the factors that make a marriage last (Larson and Holman 1994). The present literature review provides several facts on the study that has been carried out by analyzing collection of personal experiences, interviews, and surveys. The proposed literature review will enhance the understanding of marital relationships and throw light upon research on marital qualities. Adhering to few of the recent trends regarding marital research, the present qualitative study will look at various perspectives on how marriages become successful and how to assess unsuccessful marriages. Furthermore, this literature review aims to further enrich the marriage literature and offer qualitative studies on the elements that make a marriage happy, healthy, and long lasting. Perspectives on marriage According to (Larson and Holman, 1994) marriage is considered to be the most essential and fundamental relationship as it plays the key role in establishing a family as well as the basis for nurturing the next generation. However, marital satisfaction has a huge role in determining how happy, healthy, and long-lasting a relationship will be. Several researchers have attempted to analyses numerous marriages in order to identify crucial factors that contribute to a strong marriage. Several researchers including (Bachand and Caron, 2001) have proposed key themes that play important roles for strengthening a marriage relationship. However, through the various surveys, interviews, and personal experiences it was constructed that different couples had different views on what kind of ingredients aided in the success of marriage. Nonetheless, there were three key factors which most couples considered were important and according to (Lauer and Kerr, 1990) these factors were enjoy an intimate bond with an approved partner, commitment to their partner and to marriage, and humor. In a famous family therapy conference held in 1990, nine core elements had been postulated which constitutes the cornerstones upon which a happy, healthy, and strong family was built (Family therapy News, 1990). The nine core elements are also used as cornerstones for building a strong marriage (Kaslow and Robinson, 1996). They were adaptive ability, which is capable of being flexible to predictable and unexpected turn events; commitment to family and acknowledging and valuing of each partner by the other. Communication to be frank, direct, and regular; encouragement of spouse, appreciation and expression of positive regards for one another; spiritual and religious experiences, social connection with a big network of family and friends; clarity of roles defining responsibility of each member and lastly shared time, spending quality time together. According to (Fennell, 1993), these 9 core elements have been found to be important for building strong marital relationships. In a study involving 147 couples married for 20 years or more, the researcher found out that eight characteristics were common to couples who shared a happy and strong marital relationship. The eight factors as described by (Fennell, 1993) are companionship, life-long commitment to their partner and marriage, sexual fidelity commitment, respect, loyalty and reciprocity, the want of being good parents, mutual sharing of strong moral values, and religious and spiritual commitment. Another study by (Sokolski and Hendrick, 1999) involving 160 graduate individuals and their partners found similar elements through both qualitative and quantitative means (Larson and Holman 1994). Outlook on partner-making choices Several studies have tried to analyze the weight of this factor in determining if a marriage relationship will fail or prosper. In this regard, the two primary types of marriage associations come into light. On one hand, love marriages result from two people developing likeness towards each others characteristics and deciding to marry. While on the other hand, two people completely unknown to each other previously marry each other and start falling in love. According to (Shek, 1995) quality of any marital relationship depends on the psychological state of both the partners. Marriage relationships are expected to fulfill a number of criterion like physical needs, innate psychological need, companionship, emotional need, and the like. When anyone or more of these expectations go unfulfilled for one or both the partners, their marital relationship then tends to take a tumultuous turn. The choice criteria in the case of arranged as well as marriage of choice are significantly different. Several studies have been conducted what the innate qualities of a human are being that play key role in partner selection. Yet other researchers have tried to find out the success rates of arranged and love marriages. A study by (Yalom et al. 2002) done across 37 cultures showed that female and male college students reported dependence, intelligent quotient, kindness and understanding, and emotional stability in the respective order to be the most important factors when choosing a prospective mate. Additionally, love and mutual attraction were also considered essential by the students from different cultures. According to women, happiness and satisfaction in a marital relationship have strong correlation to love experiences (Xiaohe and Whyte, 1990). However, (Madathil and Benshoff, 2008) points out that factors like happiness, love, and intimacy can be generally found in marriages of choice rather than in arranged marriages. This happens because in the latter kind of marital relati onship, it is not the individual who gets to carefully handpick their prospective mate but the individual's family members. In giving logic more weight than love and emotion, family members go to individuals who will be compatible, be able to raise social standing, able to accumulate enough wealth and, create a stable family and household. However, in marriages by choice, individuals give more weight to emotions and love over logic and reasoning (Larson and Holman 1994). Divorce and Separation The failure to commit to the spouse and to the institution of marriage terminates in divorce. Divorce is a tough term giving strong indications of unhappiness and dissatisfaction in a marriage. Researchers say that divorce and the resulting separation from it can easily be correlated with satisfaction and happiness in a marital relationship(Schlyter, 2005). In United States, marriage by choice is more common yet the divorce rates are more than fifty percent. On the contrary, divorce cases resulting from arranged marriages are not even nearly as high. India, a country where arranged marriages happen more, divorce rates are the least, in fact, the country exhibits the least number of divorce cases in the world. One important thing to note is that divorces cannot be directly correlated with unhappiness and dissatisfaction in a marital relationship(Emener and Lambos, 2009). Marriages that do not end in divorce do not necessarily mean a healthy, happy, and a long lasting marriage. In coun tries like India and in Asian cultures, divorces are not well received in traditional cultures, which mean that partners may still continue to be married even if they would choose otherwise. In Asian cultures, especially females who divorce their husbands face a lot of social stigma(Frost, 2011). So, divorce and separation rates may be less in case of arranged marriages and higher in case of love marriages; it does not necessarily conclude that in arranged marriages factors such as satisfaction and happiness are being met. In poorer countries facing economic stress, families force their daughters to marry wealthy men at a very young age. These females may also be sold for money by their family members, generally to the one who places the highest bid. These women because of being bought in exchange for money, are treated like objects, and often abused physically, sexually, and emotionally by their husbands and his family members. In such cases of arranged marriages, there is no optio n of getting a divorce; the woman may either endure it or commit suicide. In the West, marriage happens under an authority, usually in a church aided by a priest(Strier and Zidan, 2013). A study showed that United States exhibits the highest rate of divorce cases in the world. In some countries like that of Philippines, divorce is illegal. Around 1970, divorce rates were very low in most countries of American and Latin origin and even in the United States. Marriage was considered a holy union and an institution built on trust and honesty. However by 1985, divorce cases gradually became a common scenario across most countries. By 1995, divorce rates in East Asian countries increased to such an extent that they competed with other industrialized countries. Between the year 1995 and 2005, Australia, New Zealand and other European as well as North American countries saw a decline in the divorce rates. However, at present, most of the developed countries and regions exhibit a divorce rat e which surpasses 2.0 divorces every 1,000 individuals(Nanavatty, 1988). Studies show that in the United States, forty to fifty percent of first marriages and sixty percent of second marriages are likely to end up in divorce. A number of studies have found out the increasing rates of divorces occurring at present than at earlier times. Researchers have been analyzing marital relationships to understand the reasons responsible for such abrupt termination. Some of the common factors that are responsible for divorce cases include teenage marriages, financial instabilities, less education, live-in relationships, premarital pregnancies, feelings of insecurity, and sometimes peer pressures from family members. Personal experiences, surveys, and interviews of individuals across different cultures have shown that divorces often result from lack of commitments, sexual infidelity, lack of communication, teen marriages, lack of respect and trust, and abuse. These marital issues can be fixed to prevent divorces. Researchers are trying to find out the driving factors which prevent spouses from settling problems and instead seeking a divorce. Researchers are also trying to find out what are the factors that trigger such problems and what are the steps that can be taken in order to nip the problems in the bud(Nanavatty, 1988). Trends in Western and Eastern cultures A study documented key facts regarding marriage and divorce cases and comparing trends over the last 150 years across various countries and demographic groups. The study shows that although divorce rates were at its peak during the last hundred and fifty years, divorce rates have subsequently declined in the last quarter century(Wood, 2014). Additionally, marriage rates have also declined in the last quarter century. More importantly, the meaning and importance of marriage in the various points of the life cycle is rapidly changing. Such changes are being reflected in rising age in first matrimony, rising divorce cases, and higher rates of remarriages. In the western countries, the rise of cohabitation is increasing and being considered as a replacement to marriage (Larson and Holman 1994). However, compared to other countries, marriages still hold a constitutional position in the lives of American people. Studies show the factors responsible for such radical changes; increased popul arity of birth control pills, sharp changes in income structure, and most importantly the heightened popularity of social media matchmaking technologies(Lingyu, 2016). Researchers are assessing the impact of these factors in marriage constituencies across different countries. Studies show the well-documented rise in divorce rates across several Western countries in the past thirty years, with somewhat stable rate observed in the past decade. In recent years, the world has seen some serious changes and globalization. Now more and more individuals are delaying their marriage, or opting cohabitation. Marriage is viewed differently amongst different cultures and differently in the east and the west. In western cultures, marrying and divorcing, living in cohabitation or remarrying may be viewed as a norm. However, in other cultures, divorce rates are lower as they are looked down upon in their traditional customs. Interracial marriages are also encouraged in countries like United States but the same is highly protested and looked down upon in India and other Asian countries (Bleisteiner 2015). Males having more than one wife or polygamy are practiced majorly in Islamic countries. Marriage customs largely differ across countries based on the freedom of partner selection. Western countries favor marriages by choice whereas Asian countries prefer arranged marriages. It is really hard to understand marital satisfaction from the viewpoint of one particular ethnic group. Marital satisfaction and happiness in the United States amount from mutual understanding, equality, and sharing of household work between spouses. However, in Japan, a dominant factor in predicting marital satisfaction is the husband's financial status (Bleisteiner, 2015). Research Methodology In this particular research topic, both qualitative as well as quantitative research methodologies are used in a way for collecting potential information (Larson and Holman 1994). In this, open-ended questions will be asked in an interview to the research participants. These interview questions will be based on married couples whereby research participants will be giving descriptive detail of answers. Correlation analysis will be used for analyzing the relationship between divorces as other related factors at the same time. Some of the participants were even recruited by using fliers, snowball method as well as ads featured in university newspapers (Bachand and Caron 2001). Data Collection and Analysis In this particular research, data will be collected by conducting interview and distributing survey questionnaire (Larson and Holman 1994). Researchers will be asking open-ended questions to the research participants. Collected data will help in giving insight in the thought process of married individuals. This includes combined data used for reaching definite conclusions. Researchers will be collecting data by using qualitative and quantitative research (Adams and Thompson 2011). This is because qualitative data will help in giving details regarding individuals based on marital history. On the other hand, Quantitative data will be collected by way of calculating marriage rates and divorce rates. In this particular research, collection of survey data will be done and divided into four major categories such as cross-sectional surveys for understanding retrospective relationship facts, cross-sectional surveys for understanding the retrospective relationship evidences as well as longitudinal surveys for tracking the specific individuals for given period and longitudinal surveys by providing retrospective information (Yalom 2002). Research Process This particular research proposal was performed in different steps with a view to complete the final report in successful way. Researchers will be collecting secondary data for conducting the research. This data will be obtained by gathering information from potential sources such as authentic websites, peer-reviewed journal articles as well as academic books and university libraries. Secondly, researchers will be collecting primary data by interviewing participants by distributing surveys and questionnaires. Recruiting individuals will be done through college fliers, fliers in schools and churches as well as university advertisement. Finally, data will be combined for deriving at conclusion and drawn from the literature review. Data Sampling Method Sample is the set of data used for data acquisition as well as selected from the specified statistical population (Larson and Holman 1994). Addition to that, components of sample means sample points by considering sampling units by conducting observation method analysis. It is thereby noticed that researchers will be using probability-sampling methods from targeted population. Probability sampling is one of the sampling techniques that is conducted from requisites of samples after considering constituent individuals by equal chance of population (Bachand and Caron 2001). It makes ways for utilizing probability methods when researchers should fund number of people by playing wide-range of individuals regarding married couples. This particular research requires conducting marginal probability of two stated criteria in specified locations (Adams and Thompson 2011). Discussion of Results In order to conduct the research, researchers will be discussing the results in the most appropriate way (Lauer, Lauer and Kerr 1990). The above analysis discuses the approaches used in the research by way of performing research on married couples and factors influencing on the divorce rates. Quantitative as well as Qualitative data are collected by way of bringing clear depiction of research topic on investigation on married couples. As far as Quantitative data collection methods are concerned, researchers will be conducting sampling and permitting the remuneration process. Data will be collected from the past records (Madathil and Benshoff 2008). Discussion of Hypothesis This particular research topic will be based on considering the research variable, one independent variables and other dependent variables (Lauer and Holman 1994). Independent variables are the factors required for selection of partners. Dependent variable will be the married couples. Discussion of Literature and Research Results The above literature review discuses on marriage aspects that are one of the fundamental human relationships (Lingyu 2016). The research proposal explains the factors governing to marital governance like leading happy, healthy as well as long-lasting relationships. Researchers will be collecting facts regarding analyzing collection of personal experiences as well as surveys and interviews. The literature review elucidates understanding of marital relationships as well as marital qualities at the same time. Several studies had been conducted for analyzing the weighted factors for determining whether a marriage relationship can fail or prosper in nearby future. Vital types of marriage associations that explain the scenario in better ways (Kaslow and Robinson 1996). Recommendations It is recommended that researchers should conduct in-depth analysis on the selected topic on investigation on married couples. Some of the areas that remained untouched or not focused like interracial marriages. More focus needs to be made on the aspects of human relationship as well as human interactions. It is thereby important to point out that marriage is complicated but essential part in the life cycle of human beings. More emphasis has to be given on understanding the process of gaining and maintaining peace in the marital lives of people. Project Milestone Main Activities/ Period 1st Week 2nd Week 3rd and 4th Week 5th and 6th Week Ideation Designing the research Collection of the requisite data Interpretation of the collected data Publication process Primary Mentor My Primary Mentor for this research project is primary supervisor who had guided me in each single step for completing the project on time. My seniors and classmates were great inspiration and received constant guidance in the given process. My mentor provided me every single detail and explained the research topic that made me complete the research work in allocated time. Conclusion and Future work The future scope of the study is discussing on various issues like marital problems, divorces as well as factors triggering with such problem. It has been noted that couples become happy at the time of marriage but later it may happen resulting to marital unhappiness as well as dissatisfaction leading to divorce. Researchers will be collecting secondary data from surveys, personal experiences of couples as well as interview. Collection of data has been analyzed by taking into consideration couple of marriages from unique cultures and countries from past few years. Several criterions are present for sympathetic the potential associate whereby investigator was puzzled for long time. Partners look for character as well as select possible mate. It requires illustrating the factors formative wedding quality as well as approval in an across unique cultures. This takes into consideration different beliefs and customers between western countries and eastern countries. Marriage relations as w ell as success widely depend upon large variety of factors. These factors vary in agreement with beliefs, ideologies as well as principles and culture. It was found out that all the Indian participant irrespective of their location had agreed marriages while all the American participants were married to partners of their own choice. The researchers using the CHARISMA review found out that the factor had unreliable level of significance to different participant coming from dissimilar cultures. Participants wedded in arrange wedding style gave more significance to obligation and faithfulness while persons in love marriages or marriage of choice gave more worth to love and intimacy factors. Reference List Adams, C. and Thompson, T. 2011. 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