Helen Norman and Laura Watt - PowerPoint Presentation

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Helen Norman and Laura WattUniversity of Manchester, UK26 April 2017TRIAD researcher workshop 2016-18. Seminar 2. Transition to parenthood: Hands-on working with conceptual and methodological issues April 24-27, 2017 University of Jyväskylä, Finland

Exploring ways of measuring paternal involvement through qualitative experiments with fathers

Presentation outlineWhat is ‘paternal involvement’?Project and research questionsDeriving measure(s):Through quantitative analysisThrough qualitative experiments with fathersSummary and conclusions

What is paternal involvement? The term ‘involved’ connotes being ‘concerned’ and ‘engaged’ (Dermott, 2003).We define an ‘involved father’ as one who participates in the nurturing tasks involved in the ‘taking care of’ children.We measure it as roughly sharing childcare with a partner or doing the most.

Although material provision (i.e. ‘breadwinning’) is an important part of parenting, it is an activity distinct from ‘involved fathering’ for this study.

Aim: To establish which employment and socio-demographic characteristics shape paternal involvement as children age from nine months to eleven years old.Award: ESRC Secondary Data Analysis Initiative (Phase 3)Dates: 1 February 2016 - 31 July 2017Award holders: Dr Helen Norman (PI), Professor Colette Fagan (Co-I), Professor Mark Elliot (Co-I). RA: Dr Laura Watt. University of Manchester, UKProject partner: Working Families: https://www.workingfamilies.org.uk/ URL

: http://projects.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk/involved-fathers/

Which fathers are involved in looking after their children? Identifying the conditions associated with paternal involvement

Research questionsHow can we develop quantitative measure(s) of paternal involvement in childcare?What influences paternal involvement in childcare at different time points of a child’s life? (i.e. 9 months, 3, 5, 7 and 11 years old)Does a father’s childcare and employment behaviour in the first year of a child’s life affect how involved he is when the child is older?Does paternal involvement impact on the stability of the relationship between the mother and the father?

How can we develop quantitative measure(s) of paternal involvement in childcare?To answer this research question, we carried out two stages of (quantitative and qualitative) work:Stage 1: Deriving quantitative measure(s) through statistical techniques (factor analysis)Stage 2: Validating the measure(s) through qualitative experiments and interviews

1. Deriving quantitative measures: DataThe Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) – a nationally representative survey following a cohort of children born around 2000 in the UK We are using data from five sweeps – taken when the cohort child is aged nine months, three, five, seven and eleven years old. There are 29 variables over the five sweeps of MCS data, which measure how often fathers do certain childcare tasks

MCS variable:How often does the father….Age

1

3

5

7

11

… change the baby’s diaper?

X

… feed

the baby?

X

… get up in the night for

the baby?

X

… look after

the

baby/child

on his

own

?

X

X

X

X

… read to

the

child

?

X

X

X

… play with

the

child

?

X

… get

the

child

ready

for bed?

X

X

X

…tell stories to

the child

not from a book?

X

X

…play music, listen to music, sing songs or nursery rhymes, dance or do other musical activities with

the

child?

X

X

…draw, paint or make things with

the

child

?

X

X

…play sports or physically active games outdoors or indoors with

the

child

?

X

X

X

…play with toys or games indoors with

the

child

?

X

X

X

…take

the

child

to

the park or to an outdoor playground?

X

X

…talk to

the

child

about things that are important to

him/her

?

X

1. Deriving measures of Paternal Involvement (PI): Results of the factor analysisPI @9 mthsPI @3 years

PI @5 years

PI @

7 years

PI @

11 years

Feed

Diaper

Night

Look

Bed

Look

Read

Play

Read

Bed

look

Story

Music

Paint

Park

Toys

Game

Read

Look

Bed

Story

Music

Paint

Park

Toys

Game

Toys

Game

Talk

PI @5 yearsReadBedLookPaint

Music

Story

Game

Toys

Park

Set 1

Set 3

Set 2

Paternal involvement at age 5

Do these measures make sense?Do our measures really reflect what ‘involved’ fathers do? Are the variables organised in the correct way? What are the other important ‘core’ tasks that are missing?Solution: small-scale qualitative study with fathers to assess whether the measures produced make sense conceptually

How can we develop quantitative measure(s) of paternal involvement in childcare?To answer this research question, we carried out two stages of (quantitative and qualitative) work:Stage 1: Deriving quantitative measure(s) through statistical techniques (factor analysis)Stage 2: Validating the measure(s) through qualitative experiments and interviews

2: qualitative experimentsCard sort + cognitive interviewAll 29 variables were written onto individual cards (e.g. feeding at 9 months; getting child ready for bed at age 3 etc). Participants were asked to sort the cards into categories of ‘things fathers do with or for their children’ and describe their thought processes whilst doing so. Participants were asked to repeat the exercise up to five times.Short semi-structured interviewParticipants were asked about any core tasks that were missing, and what being an ‘involved’ father meant to them.

Selection and recruitmentAccess: Fathers accessed through five primary schools in the Greater Manchester area of the UKRecruitment: Fathers approached in the playground at the start or end of the school dayMonetary reward (£30 / €36) offeredSample = 30 heterosexual fathers aged 24-52 from a range of socio-economic backgrounds; 70% White British/Irish; 30% BAME.

Results: how were activities grouped?50% of fathers grouped childcare activities by age (validating our statistical measure).50% of fathers grouped activities by ‘type’ of activity e.g. Basic care activities (e.g. looking after child on own, changing diapers, getting up in the night, feeding the child, getting child ready for bed)‘Bonus’ activities (e.g. reading, telling stories, taking child to park, playing with toys and games, playing sports, doing musical activities, drawing and painting) Some fathers sub-divided the ‘bonus’ activities into learning activities (e.g. reading), fun/physical activities (e.g. play, going to the park) and creative activities (e.g. music, drawing)

Results: Which activities are missing? General care e.g. making appointments and taking them to doctors and dentist, taking them to after-school clubs, buying things for them. Excursions and holidays e.g. taking them to museums, swimming, the zoo, cinema, beach.Education/personal development e.g. helping with homework, teaching, watching them in school plays, instilling values, beliefs and qualities such as kindness, respect and honesty. Emotional care e.g. talking to them about problems, worries, concerns, providing physical affection

Summary and conclusionsPaternal involvement (PI) is a complex term, which makes deriving a quantitative measure(s) tricky!The quantitative (factor) analysis shows that one way of measuring PI is by deriving measures according to the age of the child.The qualitative (experiments) analysis partially corroborates this – but also highlights other ways in which PI can be measured.This triangulation of research methods improves the validity and reliability of our quantitative measures but also highlights some of the limitations.

ReferencesKey referencesProject URL: http://projects.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk/involved-fathers/ Norman, H., Elliot, M. (2015) : Measuring paternal involvement in childcare and housework, Sociological Research Online, 20(2), [7]Norman, H. (2015): Paternal involvement in childcare: how can it be classified and what are the key influences?, Families, Relationships and Societies, 4(3) (fast track online version: 2015; printed version: March 2017)Other related references:

Fagan, C., Norman, H. (2016): ‘What makes fathers involved? An exploration of the longitudinal influence of fathers’ and mothers’ employment on father’s involvement in looking after their pre-school children in the UK’ in Crespi, I., Ruspini

, E. (

ed

): Balancing work and family in a changing society: the father’s perspective, Palgrave MacMillan: Basingstoke

Norman, H., Elliot, M. and Fagan, C. (2014)

 ‘Which fathers are the most involved in taking care of their toddlers in the UK? An investigation of the predictors of paternal involvement’

, Community, Work & Family, 17:2, 163-180