JERWIN Y.

LLOVIDO

BSSW 2B-Student

Research
Paper
Proposal
A survey of the observations and experiences of negotiating employment
and caring responsibilities of fathers in separation co-parenting
situations.

I. Introduction:

In theoretical terms fatherhood is increasingly recognised as complex

and dynamic, as an identity and a ‘practice’ which is played out in a range of
social contexts and which is both enabled and constrained by (often-
contradictory) social institutions and norms.

In spite of some thirty years of social scientific research into fatherhood

and masculinity, and the recent increase in the public and political ‘visibility’ of
fathers, key researchers such as Lamb (2004), Morgan (2002) and Lewis (2000)
continue to argue that our understanding of men’s experiences as fathers
remains limited. “There are substantial gaps in our current knowledge about
fatherhood” (Lewis, 2000). One such gap is in the relative lack of empirical
insight into the experiences of working class fathers.

More research is needed that attempts to chart the processes by which

men perceive and negotiate their identity and activity as fathers. In addition, a
growing recognition of the importance and ‘reality’ of post-divorce parenting has
focused both academic and political attention on the roles, involvement and
identity of fathers after divorce or separation.

II. Research Questions:

This activity aims to help to the process of more accurately

documenting what families and family members actually 'do' as a basis for more
appropriate and democratic social policy and to offer an analysis of the
 experiences and practice of separation fatherhood. The research questions will
be organized to investigate three main areas:

1) Fathering work:

1. a. How do fathers’ describe and experience the work of

being a father after separation?
2. What aspects of their roles and relationships with their
children generate satisfaction or dissatisfaction?
3. How does post-divorce fatherhood compare with pre-divorce
experience?

1) Role adaption/perception:

1. How do fathers negotiate and manage carrying out the work

of fatherhood after divorce/separation and what are the
factors influencing such negotiations?
2. To what extent do such processes involve questions of
moral identity, rationalization or presentation?

III.Research Design

Due to the insight into separation fatherhood is limited and because of a

commitment to a grounded approach to knowledge production in policy-relevant
areas, the research will be inductive and iterative. It will consist predominantly of
individual interviews with fathers in separation situations, in a range of occupations,
which have regular physical care of their children. It will also involve more
ethnographic methods, such as participant observation, informal group discussion
and reflexive interviewing, as a mechanism to disseminate information about, and
generate interest in, the research. An ethnographic approach offers particular
opportunities to ‘get close’ to fatherhood as a routine activity and as an aspect of
identity, and could provide the tools to explore father’s perspectives in some of the
contexts in which they are lived.

IV. Data Gathering Methods

The sample will only include fathers’ who have been separated for at least
one year. The researcher will be developing a theoretical sample from the
geographical region of East Anglia.

There are a number of possible contexts for obtaining participants for this
research. The researcher intends to approach a range of places of work formally, but
also to try and develop a snowball sample through work-related or informal contacts.
Relationship between employment and social attachment among Solo Parent
families: Does ensuring Solo Parents are in paid work prevent them from being
socially excluded?

I. Introduction

The research will discover the relationship between employment and social
inclusion of Solo parent families. Our primary research question is "does
ensuring that solo parents are in paid work prevent them from being socially
excluded?” There are employment barriers experienced by lone parents.
Stigmatisation of some Solo parents who do not receive a lot of sympathy from
the public is one of the reasons why barriers are experienced. This in effect
affects how Solo parents are included in typical society including the realm of
employment. On the other hand, some solo parents are not willing to take on
paid work for different reasons. This could be difficulty in balancing family
responsibilities and employment on part of Solo parents so some may choose to
stay at home. So, Solo parents' values and attitudes towards paid employment is
something the research will address.

The research will combine two contrasting research methodology:

qualitative and quantitative. Former being focus groups and interviews, which
deals with texts, and latter referring to, surveys which will enable us to examine
the issues in figures. Firstly a number of focus groups will be conducted to grasp
the overall picture of the situation of social exclusion/inclusion as well as
employment status of lone parents. This is then following by a series of
interviews with not only lone parents but also with other stake holders such as
employers, neighbours and social workers who can also give insights as to what
the core issues are. All interviews will be filmed. The colleted data will be
analysed using a software called Nvivo. The quantitative part of the research will
involve a large scale survey, one of the main purpose being to take a snap shot
 of the current circumstances. A longitudinal survey, which is done over time to
monitor changes, will be done to see if there are any significant trends.

II. Research Questions

The research topic is “the relationship between employment and social

inclusion of Solo parent families” and our main question is: Does ensuring Solo
parents are in paid work avoid being socially excluded?

Additional research questions are:

1. Why are some people not in employment? Is it their rational choice?

2. How do family responsibilities interfere with lone parent’s ability to take

on paid work? 3.What do lone parents consider the barriers to be in the
job market?

III. Research Design

The research will involve qualitative technique targeting a relatively small

amount of samples and quantitative research which will achieve a much higher
number of samples. Consequently the sample may not be representative. However
in this research, the problem of small sample in qualitative research can be
overcome by the usage of surveys that can cover a larger number of samples.
Respondents who have participated in the qualitative research will not be targeted
for quantitative research to avoid prolonged or repetitive testing, which can be
distressful.
 IV. Data Gathering Method

Research will involve both quantitative and qualitative techniques to reduce

limitations of each. Rogers and Nicolaas suggest that “the complementarity of mixing
qualitative and quantitative methods have pointed to the need to consider both
epistemology and the technical aspects in carrying out and resolving tensions in
combined work” (1998: 1). Quantitative research methodology is generally regarded
as objective, structured and reliable but over-systematic and lacking in validity.
Qualitative research on the other hand is seen as