A Ph. D. candidate at the University of Delaware is looking to recruit lesbians with children for a new study examining the impact of marriage equality — and inequality — on such families.
Nikki DiGregorio, a graduate assistant in the university’s Department of Human Development & Family Studies, is seeking up to 20 couples to participate in the study, her dissertation project.
Couples will undergo a one-hour interview that will include questions on their views on marriage, their relationship, parenting and their plans for the future. Study participants will be reimbursed $20 for their involvement, and all identities will be kept confidential.
DiGregorio, herself a lesbian, conducted her master’s thesis on the concept of family through the lens of lesbian women and said this next venture is a natural stepping stone from that work.
She has already interviewed couples from New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Iowa, where relationship recognition is available for same-sex couples, and is particularly interested in interviewing couples whose state, like Pennsylvania, does not sanction civil unions or marriage equality.
“I think it is critical to demonstrate that marriage is more than just a legal issue and that there are subtle nuances that policy does not always address that move beyond simply labeling it as symbolic,” DiGregorio said. “I hope to gain a deeper understanding of what marriage means to the community at large by hearing the narratives and then relaying those stories to academia in a way that is meaningful.”
DiGregorio hopes to have the research published and said this study will be strictly qualitative, although there is the potential for a longitudinal study based on these interviews in the future, as well as the possibility of a similar study examining the issues from the gay-male perspective.
For more information or to volunteer for the study, email [email protected].