A sociological investigation into cohabitation in Britain today Essay Example for Free

A sociological investigation into cohabitation in Britain today Essay In my coursework I shall conduct a sociological investigation into cohabitation in Britain today. This is expanded from my previous coursework, which updated past research into the stigmas attached to cohabitation. It interests me to investigate whether facts and opinions of cohabitation have changed over time. To achieve this aim I shall look at the following questions throughout my research: 1. Why has cohabitation increased? 2. Does cohabitation have an effect on children? 3. What advantages and disadvantages are there to cohabitation? 4. Is there still a stigma attached to cohabitation? 5. Do cohabiting couples ever wish to marry or is it a permanent status? I believe that cohabitation is increasingly replacing marriage. I intend to research cohabitation using a questionnaire, which will be given to both cohabiting and married couples to complete. 133 Words Context Cohabitation has doubled since 1981 to around 25% and is greatly increasing. It is defined as when two people live together in a relationship without being married. This can be either a short-term arrangement or a permanent status in which the couple do not see the need to be legally married. Sociologists have researched into many areas of cohabitation and the family. However, more recently the main focus has been on the increase in cohabitation. It is argued that marriage is becoming less popular and so people are developing alternatives to conventional married life. Also, there are increasing numbers of marital breakdown, which are reflected in rises in the divorce rates. The General Household Survey from Social Trends (2000) found that in Great Britain between 1998 and 1999, 26% of males and 25% of females, between the ages of 16 and 59, were in a cohabiting relationship. This is relevant as it show evidence of the large numbers of cohabiting couples in society today. Chester (1980) has argued that cohabitation is only a temporary situation that often leads to marriage. Chester said that in many cases it is not possible for a couple to marry, due to one or both partners being married. Also, many couples see cohabitation as a trial period, which often determines whether they choose to marry. Chester concluded that around 2% of single women aged 18-49 are living and bearing children in constitutional unions which may be permanent. However, Chandler argues against this theory, seeing the increase in cohabitation as more significant. Chandler says that couples appear to be spending lengthening amounts of time cohabiting and seem to be choosing cohabitation as a permanent replacement for marriage. Chandler (1993) supports this by noting that 28% of children were born to unmarried mothers, 70% of which were registered by both parents. These arguments show the conflicting opinions, between sociologists, regarding the status that cohabitation appears to now have. Approximately 15% of one-parent families are created through the break-up of cohabiting unions, showing that cohabitations with children are even more likely to break-up than childless ones. Today, more than 20% of children are born to cohabiting couples, although around only a third of these children will remain with both parents throughout their childhood. This means that children born to cohabiting parents are more likely to experience a series of disruptions in their family life, which can have negative consequences for their emotional and educational development. Berthoud and Gershuny found, in seven years in the lives of British families, that 70% of children born to married parents are likely to live their entire childhood with both parents whereas only 36% of children born to cohabiting parents remain with both parents. It has also been shown that children living in cohabiting stepfamilies are at a significantly higher risk of child abuse, showing that these informal cohabiting families are the most unsafe environments for children. This is interesting as it shows an insight into the effects that cohabitation can have on children. There have been many theories as to why cohabitation has increased, alongside the simple and more obvious explanations. Marriage is seen as a more risky choice in a relationship due to the divorce rates and expense of marriage, along with the decline in religious influence and growing economic and employment insecurity worries. Single parenthood has been a partial explanation as to why cohabitation has increased as many women choose to cohabit in a relationship, rather than having the irresponsibility of raising a child outside of a stable relationship. Cohabitation has greatly occurred from the great rise in divorce rates, which may also have the effect if children, from divorced parents, being wary of marriage. However, the decline in childbirth and the conscious decision to not have children may have made it less necessary for couples to marry. Past research conducted into sociology appears to indicate that the once prominent stigma attached to cohabitation has greatly declined in society. Th decline in the negative view to cohabitation, in society, has been shown in the Social Trends Survey (1996). The results from people who feel cohabitation is wrong: by gender, 1994 show that between 1960 and 1978, 7% of males and 6% of females felt that cohabitation is wrong. This has greatly decreased from 40% of males and 37% of females in 1930. These statistics could also imply that these numbers are still decreasing in society today. Ronald Fletchers (1988) theory shows an inclination as to why this social stigma has decreased. He suggests that cohabitation is a form of marriage, which is similar to that of a nuclear family, rather than a different relationship form altogether. He argued that cohabiting couples are concealed nuclear families that are not legalised through marriage. This theory not only suggests reasons for cohabitation but also indicates that it could continue to increase in society. 810 Words Methodology feelings towards discussing such information. Using a questionnaire will allow me to get results in a short period of time, which will be easy for both me and my participants as it will take into account any individual variables, such as the participant being in a rush etc. Questionnaires will be the best method of data collection for my study as I can then easily quantify and analyse the results in relation to my rationale. I shall conduct my study by In sociology, structionalists and interactionists have each used different methods of attempting to research areas of sociology. Structuralists are positivists and so use scientific, quantitative methods if collecting data. Common methods used by structuralists are laboratory experiments, which isolate the variables to find a relationship between them and field experiments, which, attempt to control variables in a natural situation. Also used by structuralists are questionnaires, structural interviews and the analysis of official statistics. Interactionists, however, are anti-positivists and reject scientific research methods, using qualitative methods of collecting data. Common methods used by interactionists are informal/unstructured interviews, where the subject directs the interview, and participant observation, where the participants are observed during their daily activities. For my research I shall be using the quantitative research methods of questionnaires. I considered using formal interviews to collect my data as I would have been able to get more in-depth and personal results, but decided that this would be more difficult to conduct and a suitable sized sample may be harder to find for reasons such as time difficulties and personal handling out questionnaires to randomly aged cohabiting, married and non-cohabiting couples. I shall use 25 questionnaires to complete my study as I feel that this is a relatively suitable sized sample to gain reliable results with. I have chosen this sample in the hope that I will gain a wide variety of couples and ages, without attempting to manipulate who participates. The gender of my participants shall also be randomly selected, rather than pre-determined. I shall also distribute my questionnaires in a variety of places sixth form college, workplace, public areas) to aid my aim of getting a varied sample and ensure that my results are representative. I shall ensure that I am ethical in my approach of this by gaining their consent before handing them the questionnaire. The questionnaires shall also have details of the nature of the study written above the questions and they shall be verbally informed that it is not required of them to answer any questions that they do not wish to. The questionnaires shall also be confidential and so will not require a name or contact details from the participant, which may increase the validity of my results as they may be less likely to lie or refuse to disclose information. When constructing my questionnaire I ensured that I considered all of my aims, stated in my rationale. I included questions which required both written answers and a choice of pre-selected answers, depending on the nature of the question. For two of my questions, the answer choices were given in ranges, rather than individual answers (e. g. are you, 26-35 etc). I did this with ages to male the question less personal as the participant may be uncomfortable disclosing their exact age. It has also been done when asking how many cohabiting couples they know of, as it is unlikely that they would consider the exact amount accurately. I constructed the questionnaire in a form that is suitable for both married and cohabiting/non cohabiting couples to complete, and based all of my questions on a more personal form of my aims, which will hopefully result in valid results. Before conducting my final study, I completed a pilot study of four questionnaires to find any area of improvement which could better my final study. I conducted and distributed these questionnaires in exactly the same way as planned for the final study. I feel that my pilot study was successful and without any major problems. I shall, however, change some minor aspects of the questionnaire. I found that the question regarding benefits of cohabiting couples may have been misinterpreted as financial benefits only, and so I shall change the structure of that question. I also found that people were writing more, for their answers, than the allocated space and so I shall add more lines per question on my final questionnaires. The remainder of my questionnaire shall stay the same. 741 Words Evidence To present the results of my questionnaire I shall display and discuss each question individually, in the order which they appear in on the questionnaire itself. 1. Are you: Male Female I decided to first gain some knowledge of the participant so that any relations could be made between the results and their personal details, if necessary. For my research, however, I am looking at the overall current opinions of the public and so am not looking for any direct relationships related to gender. Due to my random sample it was not expected that an equal number of males and females would be used, and this is shown in the above table.

Mergers in the World Economy Essay -- Economics Wealth Papers

Mergers in the World Economy . "Monopoly is a great enemy to good management which can never be universally established but in consequence of that free and universal competition which forces every body to have recourse to it for the sake of self-defense" (Smith, 1776: 63). Adam Smith found that monopolies were a negative aspect for an economy therefore supporting competition among firms in order to protect one’s firm. Competition policy affects the nature of firms and policy makers in today’s global economy. Competition policy effects the world economy in many ways and with its increase in importance there must be an international agreement on competition policy. Adam Smith highly regarded competition policy as a means to enhance economic performance. Mergers can provide positive aspects for an economy and competition policy but also provide problems. The merger of aircraft manufacturers shows how mergers directly affect society today. Competition within economies is the act of competing in the international economy. Competition policy is necessary to regulate competition between firms. It serves as a barrier for misconduct of firms while encompassing antimonopoly policies which act as guideline against boundaries or barriers. "Competition policy is understood as facilitating corporate takeovers to allow more efficient managers to control productive assets" (Peritz, 1996: 282) The main goal for competition policy is to support effectiveness of the economy as a whole. Smith points out how competition will only benefit both consumers and producers in the end rather than have a monopoly. "It can never hurt either the consumer or the producer on the contrary it must tend to make the retailers both sell cheaper and bu... ...ade Rules in the Making. Washington DC: The Brookings Institute Press. Jacquemin, Lloyd, Tharakan and Waelbroeck. 1998. "Competition Policy in an International Setting: The Way Ahead." The World Economy Volume 21 Number 8, pages 1179-1183. Kim, E. Han., Singal, Vijay. 1993. "Mergers and Market Power: Evidence from the Airline Industry." The American Economic Review Volume 83 Number 3, pages 549-568. Ott, James. 1986. "Airline Mergers Will Intensify Competition for Aircraft Orders." Aviation Week and Space Technology, pages 32-34. Peritz, Rudolph. 1996. Competition Policy in America: 1888-1992. England: Oxford University Press. Smith, Adam. 1776. The Wealth of Nations. England: Oxford University Press. Tharakan and Lloyd. 1998."Competition Policy in a Changing International Economic Enviroment." The World Economy Volume 21 Number 8, pages 997-1002.

Poverty and Progress: Are we suffering from delusion of poverty?

It is indeed that most Filipino today suffers from delusion of poverty which is a false belief of a person that he or she is impoverished or will be deprived of material possessions or a person’s mindset the he strongly believes that he is financially incapacitated. Many people will use the excuse of this is the way I was born or this is my environment and I cannot change it. Through these statements it shows that most of the time it is because of your own mindset the reason you are where you are today. We have all heard, you are where you are today because of what you did yesterday.If you didn’t change or plan ahead yesterday, then you can expect today to be different until you change. A poverty mindset can manifest itself in a lack of vision for the future. You end up stuck in a financial rut, perhaps working a job that barely meets the financial needs of your household. When you lack vision, it’s hard for you to believe that God would give you an idea to take your household to prosperity. And if God does give you a big idea, you either will not follow-up on it, or you will find a way to sabotage it. Your poverty mindset keeps you stuck where you are.If a person feels less than others then he will not feel deserving. If he does not feel deserving, his life is based on desperation and wanting, rather than from joy and abundance. If one feels abundant, he will have abundance. If one feels desperate and wanting, he will expand the poverty in his life. Wealth or poverty is something that resides within. Poverty is a state of mind and about perspective not always about money. It is a fear of never having enough. To break that state of mind we have to make different choices and unblock the shackles that have been placed on our minds by our parents and the society around us.Our beliefs about how the world works is passed down from generation to generation. If your parents have a poverty mindset, it’s highly likely that you grew up with th ese same beliefs. People may say that they want to be wealthy, however a mindset that is set for poverty cannot handle a sudden increase in wealth. Because of the delusion of poverty mindset, you never set up a written budget to plan the use of your finances. You never set financial goals for what you want your money to accomplish. You just let it flow through your fingers and out of your pocket and the end result is being broke.That’s the type of mentality that keeps people in poverty. Often, thinking that we’re â€Å"poor† while others are â€Å"rich† is a result of comparing ourselves with other people. The first step is to stop comparing ourselves with others. You don’t need lots of money to be rich. Poor people put a high priority in having cash on hand. They do pocket accounting. What cash they have in their pocket is often how they manage their money. They do not like checking accounts because it requires financial management. Delusion of po verty has nothing to do with money, it has everything to do with the willingness to communicate and face a problem.Growing up in that environment absolutely shapes one’s mind about money and life. People who heard from their parents that â€Å"we can’t afford this and can’t afford that†, as if there was no other way to get money other than welfare. There was no budgeting to help make the money last the full 2 weeks. They get their check and blow it on junk food, alcohol, drugs etc. Then act like victims for the rest of the days while waiting for the next check or the next binge. Change your environment and you change your financial future. Where did you learn your financial habits? Other adults: primarily your parents.We spend the way they spend. We value what they value. We carry their views on most things. So if your parents spent foolishly, their actions taught you to spend foolishly. If your parents spent wisely, you would gravitate towards wisdom in finances. If your parents were really wise they would have explained why they spend the way they do and how to by-pass financial failures through proper money management. People who grew up hearing a language of poverty that sounds like this: â€Å"we can’t afford it†, â€Å"we don’t have the money†, â€Å"that’s for the rich people not for us†. All of those statements are victimized, poverty statements.Change your language, and you change your financial future. Even the rich people suffer from delusion of poverty according to the Philippine Daily Inquirer (2007, January), â€Å"As the economy dips precariously, people who still have a lot of means are freaking out†. According to Dr. Kotbi from his interview in New York Times (2009,Jauary) he had a wealthy woman patient, worried about whether she would have enough money to buy groceries, refused to eat. Another patient, a real estate investor grew so paralyzed by financial fear that h e asked his wife, who had hardly paid a bill in her life to take over the family finances.Dr. Kotbi said they often suffer â€Å"delusions of poverty† which is in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, associated with psychotic depression and despite retaining millions of money in assets, are crippled by self-doubt, loss of power, and sometimes guilt. These people have fear of being poor. I hate this delusion of poverty in our country where poverty is imbibed to all of us: ‘Hindi ako makakapagtapos ng pag-aaral kasi dukha lang kami’ or ‘Anong magagawa namin? Eh mahirap lang kami? ’ It’s always like that. I also hear that from my neighbors, saying everyday that they are just poor folks.I hate that in every election season, the candidates that we see on television hail themselves as messiahs or the bringer of solutions to poverty. Or perhaps, a knight in shining armor, ready to rescue a poverty-stricken maiden. We should acce pt the fact that the way we think affect our actions. Yes, somehow we are poor but we can be rich also. We need to be aware of a self-defeating thought process or activity in order to change our poverty mindset. Remember the sayings that what your mind can conceive your heart and body can achieve. It is the time to cut the chain that ties Filipino to the endless delusion of poverty.

Social Media And Its Impact On Society - 1224 Words

Social media is a variety of platforms provided to the public as a medium for expression and communication. Seemingly, social media could be viewed as a positive contribution to society, but one must consider the underlying effects of society. Many of us don’t take into account the role that social media plays in the way we perceive things, think, and live our lives. Social media plays a critical part in societal norms. â€Å"Social norms are rules of conduct that governs interactions among individuals within a reference group. Norm violations can often provoke disapproval and loss of esteem,† (Young, 2007). People seek approval or validation by their peers or other individuals in society; in effect, societal norms are generally abided by many individuals. â€Å"People want to be accepted by others in their social environment and often end up conforming to behaviors that they believe the majority holds as appropriate,†(Power, 2011). Often times societal norms cre ate a strong scrutiny of individuals, which in turn can create poor body image, body dissatisfaction, and more. Poor body image and body dissatisfaction can be the basis for development of an eating disorder. â€Å" The best known contributor to both clinical eating disorders and sub clinical cases of disordered eating is negative body image and high body dissatisfaction,†(NEDA). There are various types of eating disorders; â€Å"All feature serious disturbances in eating behaviors and weight regulation,† (Eating Disorders: More ThanShow MoreRelatedImpact Of Social Media On Society Essay917 Words   |  4 PagesHave you thought about the impact that social media has on society? Today I would like to address the impact of social media on society for those of you that are social media users and this includes the advantages or disadvantages that as associated with it. In this speech, I want to relate to you how social media is being used by social media users. 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