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tentativeandmay change,dependingon
howwemeasurephenomena.Whilea
variety of methodscan beusedin a
scientific study,allscientific exploration
employscertain steps(Tweedell,2002).
Combiningspiritualdiscernment with
sciencecan inform usmorecompletely
about marriagesandfamilies.
Select a Researchable Topic.Scientists
seek not only to describe how marriages
and families function, but to explain
why certain behaviors exist. Questions
such as“who,”“what,”“where,”“when,”
and“why”are all important to gain a

rich understanding of social behavior.

The first step in a scientific investigation

is to choose a topic and frame a

question that can be answered by

gathering data.

Formulate Hypotheses.You may have

heard the expression that a hypothesis is

an“educated guess.”Hypothesesare the

building blocks of scientific theory.

They are assumptions that scientists test

and from which they draw conclusions.

Scientists formulate predictions about

the relationship between two or more

variables in a hypothesis. Some

Why Marriage and Family?

SIDEBAR1.2

MARRIAGEMYTHS

David Popenoe lists the following as commonly-held myths about marriage.Which ones do you

believe?

1. Marriage benefits men much more than women.


2. Having children typically brings a married couple closer together and increases marital
   happiness.


3. The keys to long-term marital success are good luck and romantic love.


4. The more educated a woman becomes,the lower are her chances of getting married.


5. Coupleswholivetogetherbeforemarriage,andarethusabletotesthowwell-suitedtheyarefor
   eachother,havemoresatisfyingandlonger-lastingmarriagesthancoupleswhodonot.


6. Peoplecan’tbeexpectedtostayinamarriageforalifetimeastheydidinthepastbecausethey
   live so much longer today.


7. Marrying puts a woman at greater risk of domestic violence than if she remains single.


8. Married people have less satisfying sex lives,and less sex,than single people.


9. Cohabitation is just like marriage,but without“the piece of paper.”


10. Because of the high divorce rate, which weeds out the unhappy marriages, people who stay
    married have happier marriages than people did in the past when everyone stuck it out, no
    matter how bad the marriage.
    Source:Popenoe,D.(2002).Top ten marriage myths.National Marriage Project at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J.
    accessedAugust 4,2008 from http://health.discovery.com/centers/loverelationships/articles/marriage_myths.html