Revised research topic.
20 05 2009For my research paper, I would like to look at the division of household labor and how if affects marital happiness in three different types of couples:
-newlyweds (defined as couples being married for less than 3 years)
-couples with children living at home (from small children to teenagers)
-couples with children who don’t live at home (children in college, or college age and up)
I want to see who is more satisfied with the division of labor in their home. Who is less affected by the division? And who is more affected. My guess would definitely be the couples with children living at home, but who knows?
From this, I want to tie in the different roles that individuals play in the couple. Are they traditional couples, where one person works and the other person stays at home (typically the husband works and the wife stays at home) or are they egalitarian couples (where both individuals work). I want to see what role this plays in the happiness of the couples with their own division of labor.
I’m not sure how to tie the roles part in, so advice would be appreciated. If I can’t use it, then that’s ok, but it’s really interesting so I definitely want to try!!! 
I just finished responding to Keith, whose topic is pretty narrow. Your topic, while clearly defined, is too broad for a short paper. You have suggested an excellent thesis, perhaps even dissertation topic. However, it’s too broad for a short paper to be written in a few weeks.
I see where you are going with your comparison–comparing couples at different stages of the life cycle. However, the analysis will get quite complex because couples’ roles within relationships tend to shift with life cycle stages. The literature suggests that early in most couples’ marriage (BC–”Before Children”), they are the most egalitarian; they share in household duties and economic responsibilites the most. Then, when children come, couples tend to move toward more traditional roles. When children leave home, some couples stay traditional, but many revert to more egalitarian roles again. Furthermore, there is a generational issue. For example, my in-laws, who have an empty nest, have always held traditional roles and still do. They are in their 70s and that’s all they’ve ever wanted. However, “empty nesters” in their 50s are likely to have had more sharing in their marriage than an older generation and may more easily revert back to egalitarian roles.
All of this impacts on marital satisfaction because our satisfaction is related to what we want and expect in a relationship. If I am in a traditional relationship, and that’s what I wanted and expected, then I’m probably satisfied. If I’m in a traditional relationship, but want an egalitarian one (or vice versa) then I’m probably less satisfied.
So, like I said at the begining of this post, it’s really complex. Here’s what I suggest; you can simplify the topic by saying you want to compare marital satisfaction in traditional and egalitarian couples. If you leave out the life stage variable, your topic will be much more manageable. Does this sound ok to you or do you want to work on it some more? I’m not trying to push you into a topic, but simply trying to make a huge topic manageable.
Also, you will be getting into two bodies of literature: marital satisfaction (also called marital happiness) and traditional v. egalitarian couples. In your paper you’ll have to spend a little time explaining what is meant by marital satisfaction and how it’s measured (there’s a lot in this area) and then, of course, briefly describing the two types of couples. The remainder of your paper will have lots of room for you to report on what researchers have found on the relationship between marital satisfaction and “couple type.”
Another way to frame your topic is to look at how marital satisfaction shifts throughout marriages with changing life stages and roles. This topic is more descriptive, but it also will work as a topic. If this is the area you are interested in, we can refine it a bit so it allows for some analysis on your part.
Let me know by tomorrow (Friday) what you think about the different approaches I’ve suggested.
You’re right. I decided on this topic because it is one that is so interesting to me, mostly because so many married couples I know fit into the more traditional roles. I wanted to compare both types. While I love the topic I picked first, it is true that it is way too broad for this paper. Maybe I should save it for my dissertation if I want my Ph D.
I like the idea of the traditional couples compared to the egalitarian couples, so I think I will move in that direction! Thanks for the help!