Collecting information on marital status: a methodological note

Marital status is often probed in epidemiological, public health, and social surveys, and has been shown to be associated with various health outcomes. Skiptomaincontent YouarehereHome Archive Volume56, Issue3 Collectinginformationonmaritalstatus:amethodologicalnote Emailalerts ArticleText Articlemenu ArticleText Articleinfo CitationTools Share RapidResponses Articlemetrics Alerts PDF Theoryandmethods Collectinginformationonmaritalstatus:amethodologicalnoteFree GBarrett,KWellingsLondonSchoolofHygieneandTropicalMedicine,LondonCorrespondenceto:
DrGBarrett,HealthPromotionResearchUnit,DepartmentofPublicHealthandPolicy,LondonSchoolofHygieneandTropicalMedicine,KeppelStreet,LondonWC1E7HT,UK;
geraldine.barrett{at}lshtm.ac.uk http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jech.56.3.175 StatisticsfromAltmetric.com RequestPermissions IfyouwishtoreuseanyorallofthisarticlepleaseusethelinkbelowwhichwilltakeyoutotheCopyrightClearanceCenter’sRightsLinkservice.Youwillbeabletogetaquickpriceandinstantpermissiontoreusethecontentinmanydifferentways. maritalstatusMaritalstatusisoftenprobedinepidemiological,publichealth,andsocialsurveys,andhasbeenshowntobeassociatedwithvarioushealthoutcomes.However,inthepast25yearstherehasbeenatrendtowardscohabitation,andhigherratesofdivorceandremarriage.1Birthregistrationdataalsoshowthatnearly40%ofbirthsareoutsidemarriage,alargeproportionofwhicharetocohabitingcouples.2Thewayinwhichdataarecollectedhastendedtoreflecttheincreaseincohabitation;“livingwithpartner”tendstobeanadditionalcategoryofmaritalstatus,forexample,Johnsonetal.3Inourrecentwork(astudytodevelopameasureofunplannedpregnancy)wewantedtoidentifybothwomen'smaritalstatusandwhotheywerelivingwithbecausepreviousresearchhasshownthatthelifeexperiencesofcertaingroups(forexample,nevermarriedcohabitingmothers,previouslymarriedcohabitingmothers,andnevermarriedlonemothers)aredifferent.4Collectingthesedatawasmorecomplicatedthatwehadexpected.Wepilotedourquestionswith26womenandusedinterviewtechniquestoassesstheirunderstanding,similartoamethodusedbyDonovanetal.5Wesoonrealisedtherewasaproblemwithversion1ofthemaritalstatusquestions(table1).Oneinterviewee(aged22,livingwithpartner)leftthequestionblankandafterwardsreportedthatshehadbeenconfusedoverwhichtotick.Asecondinterviewee(aged42,livingwithpartnerforpast18years)ticked“single”butputaquestionmarkagainstitandafterwardscommentedonherdissatisfactionwiththisquestion.Athirdwoman(aged37,livingwithpartner)ticked“single”butstatedthatshedisliked“single”becauseofitsconnotationsof“singlemother”.Viewthistable:Viewinline Viewpopup Table1 Questionspiloted Inversion2,weplacedthe“livingwith”questionfirstandchanged“single”to“unmarried”.Sevenwomencompletedthesequestions,anditwasclearthatnoproblemshadbeensolved.Onewoman(age37,livingwithpartnerforpast12years)ticked“unmarried”.Afterwardsitemergedthatshehadpreviouslybeenmarriedforfiveyears—sowastechnicallyinthe“divorced/separated”category.Shewasansweringthequestionwithhercurrentpartnershipinmind,ratherthanherlegalstatuswithregardtomarriage.Twootherwomenticked“married”buthesitatedsometimeoverthequestion.Wefelttherewassufficientdoubtaboutthevalidityofthequestionanddecidedtoomititaltogetherinversion3,andseparatedout“husband”and“partner”intheremainingquestion.Thisquestionworkedwellwiththeremainingpilotintervieweesandthe1000pluswomenwhotookpartinthefieldtesting. CONCLUSIONS Weweresurprisedatthenumberofproblemsweencounteredwiththemaritalstatusquestion.Generally,womendidnotseethecategoriesasrepresentingtheirlegalstateinrelationtomarriage,butunderstoodtheminamorecolloquialsense.However,byomittingthemaritalstatusquestionwearesimplyfocusingonthepresenceofapartnerinthehome;wearenotabletoidentifyparticularlysubgroupsofinterest(forexample,nevermarriedlonemothers,previouslymarriedcohabitingmothers).Aspartnershiphistoriesbecomemorecomplicated,wecannotassumethatoldrelationshipsbetweenmaritalstatusandhealthoutcomesstillstand,andresearchisrequiredtoseeiftherearenewpatterns.However,askingaboutmaritalstatusisnolongerstraightforward;researchinstrumentsmusttakeaccountofthefactthatresponseswillbemadeintermsoflayconventionsratherthanofficialcategories,andtheremaybedisparitiesanddiscontinuitiesbetweenthetwo.Questionsthatcancollectcomplexinformationaboutpartnership/maritalhistories,yetarevalidinlayterms,andarereliableandconcise,needtobedeveloped. REFERENCES↵ HaskeyJ.Demographicissuesin1975and2000.PopulTrends2000;100:20–31. ↵ BottingB,DunnellK.Trendsinfertilityandcontraceptioninthelastquarterofthe20thcentury.PopulTrends2000;100:32–9. ↵ JohnsonAM,WadsworthJ,WellingsK,etal.SexualattitudesandlifestylesOxford:BlackwellScientific,1994. ↵ HaskeyJ.Havingabirthoutsidemarriage:theproportionsoflonemothersandcohabitingmotherswhosubsequentlymarryPopulTrends1999;97:6–18. ↵ DonovanJL,FrankelSJ,EylesJD.AssessingtheneedforhealthstatusmeasuresJEpidemiolCommunityHealth1993;47:158–62.OpenUrlFREEFullText Footnotes Funding:GBwasfundedbyaMedicalResearchCouncil/LondonRegionspecialtrainingfellowshipinhealthservicesresearch. Conflictsofinterest:none. LinkedArticles InthisissueRESEARCHTOMAKEADIFFERENCE JohnRAshton CarlosAlvarez-Dardet JournalofEpidemiology&CommunityHealth2002;56161-161PublishedOnlineFirst:01Mar2002.doi:10.1136/jech.56.3.161 ReadthefulltextordownloadthePDF: Subscribe Login LoginviaInstitutionLoginviaOpenAthens Loginusingyourusernameandpassword ForpersonalaccountsORmanagersofinstitutionalaccounts Username* Password* Forgotyourlogindetails?Registeranewaccount?Forgotyourusernameorpassword?