April Mitchell, Family Sciences, Kelly Welker, Psychology, Amy Whisenant, Family Sciences, Dr. Thomas B. Holman

In the social sciences, qualitative research methods have recently become widely used due to the difficulty of measuring social, phenomena quantitatively. Thus, our analyses were qualitative, following the grounded theory method as articulated by Strauss and Corbin (1990). The steps in this theory dictate that the researcher first forms a preliminary hypothesis, then allows the emerging data to either nullify or ratify the hypothesis. If the data does not support the hypothesis, the hypothesis must be changed. We found that the flexibility of this method allowed us to conduct our research with a mind open to various interpretations of the data.

This grant allowed us the necessary funding to conduct our research. We decided to base our research on mate selection among Latter-day Saint couples. Our goal was to understand what factors were involved in making the final marriage partner decision. Because the focus of the LDS church is the family, thus making the selection of a mate the most significant choice that a young Latter-day Saint will ever make, we originally hypothesized that active Latter-day Saints would base their marriage decision upon seeking and receiving a spiritual confirmation from God.

Data were derived from five college-aged, Mormon couples. At the time of the interviews, the couples had been married for various periods of time, ranging from 3 months to 5 years. The interviews were held in neutral locations determined by the interviewees. Interviews were conducted by 1-3 of the interviewers with the husband and wife both being present at each interview. The ages of the interviewees ranged from 21-34 years with the average age of males being 24.8 years, and for the females 23.4 years. All were baptized members of the LDS church with all but one couple being active. Eight out of the 10 participants were attending BYU at the time the interview was conducted. All originate from active Latter-day Saint families.

The couples were interviewed and initially asked to describe their courtship and significant events that led up to their engagement and marriage. Questions were also asked about each individual’s religious insights and family of origin. All interviews were audio taped, transcribed and analyzed by one of the researchers.

The final product of this research consisted of 44 pages of uniformly transcribed and coded interviews and a 15 page paper summarizing our findings. Many sections of our paper incorporated direct quotes from the interviews in order to first, clearly highlight the phenomena that supported our hypothesis, and to diminish the chance of misinterpretation by allowing the reader access to direct documentation of the data.

We originally hypothesized that Latter-day Saints would base their marriage decision upon receiving a spiritual confirmation from God. However, through our research other epistemologies, or ways of knowing whom they should marry, were uncovered. As we analyzed our data, an interesting phenomenon emerged. The primary conclusion from our research was that the relationship between a parent and child is parallel to the relationship between that child and God. More specifically, we noticed a trend emerging that children who depend on their parents for making a decision also rely on God for a confirmation of their decision. Another correlation existed when children who relied on their own judgment without seeking parental guidance also failed to seek out God’s approval. Examples of this phenomenon were evident in each of our 5 interviews.

Throughout our research on Mormon epistemologies, we intended to look strictly at spiritual confirmations as a way of knowing. However, as we interviewed our participants, we found that even when a spiritual confirmation occurred, each couple relied on non-spiritual ways of confirming their decisions. Many times this consisted of a list of traits or characteristics that each person desired in a mate, or a goodness of fit.

It should be understood that our participants only represented a small percentage of the LDS population. We understand that there are probably other epistemologies that we have not addressed. Because we were only able to research the experiences of five couples, there may be other ways of knowing that lie beyond the scope of our research.

In summary, we found that the level of dependence a child fosters in his or her relationship with parents correlates with the amount of dependence in the child’s relationship with God. Those who rely heavily upon their parents for guidance also depended upon God for a spiritual confirmation. Conversely, we found a similar relationship among those who made decisions independently from their parents. Their independence from their parents correlated with their independence from God. Although all couples did not require a spiritual confirmation before marriage, all couples identified non-spiritual ways of knowing.

In conclusion, we found that among Latter-day Saints there is not one right way of knowing. Depending upon the relationship that each individual has with their parents, they may or may not base their decision upon a confirmation from God.

References

1) Strauss, A.L. and Corbin, J.M. 1990. Basics of Qualitative Research: Grounded Theory Procedures and Techniques. Sage Publications, Newbury Park, CA.