This qualitative study was designed to investigate which sources of information participating mothers had actually based their recent parental actions on. The sample included thirty married mothers living in Muncie, Indiana. Fifteen of these mothers had a firstborn fouryear-old, and fifteen had a firstborn eight-year-old. No mothers were trained in education or behavioral sciences.Participants responded to two-hour semi-structured interviews in their homes, according to a methodology delineated in Grant McCracken's book The Long Interview (SAGE, 1988). Interviews focused on eleven categories of typical parent-child interactions, with four interview questions pertaining to each category.In each category, the mother first described a recent parental action. Second, she related the information or belief which had influenced her action. Third, she told where this information had come from; fourth, she told why she considered the source credible.Mothers reported that most of their trusted information came from their personal beliefs/values, their observations of their child's needs and preferences, from raising their children as they were raised or from reacting against the way they were raised, and from impulsive reacting without thinking or planning. The next most cited sources were friends and relatives, then public media, and least-utilized sources were professionals. Participants trusted most information which agreed with their own beliefs, values, observations, and past experiences. Sources of information varied by topic category. Teacher influence on all mothers' actions was minimal.Twenty-six mothers volunteered that they felt despair about their continual discipline problems. / Department of Educational Leadership
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/179216 |
| Date | January 1990 |
| Creators | Oliphant, Charlotte J. |
| Contributors | McElhinney, James H. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | ix, 278 leaves ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
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