5 A full description of the research methodology is included as an appendix in the forthcoming book, Ziettlow, Amy & Cahn, Naomi, Homeward Bound: Filial Responsibility in the 21st Century (Oxford University Press, forthcoming 2016)Google Scholar. In brief, we selected a seven-month period in the racially diverse, midsize American city of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and read every obituary appearing in its leading newspaper, the Advocate. From that sample we made a list of every grown child or stepchild named in the obituary of a deceased person age seventy or younger. In this way, we compiled a list of more than 2,700 names of persons whose baby boom generation parent had died approximately one year previously. Using information available in publicly accessible databases, we found reliable contact information for more than 1,500 of these grown children and stepchildren survivors. We employed all available means of contact—regular mail, e-mail, and telephone—to invite these grown children and stepchildren to be participants in our study. From the random sample of more than 1,500, we recruited 62 participants located in Louisiana, California, Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, and Florida. Interview demographics reflect the gender and race diversity of Baton Rouge and the surrounding area: thirty-eight female, twenty-four male; three Hispanic, twenty-four African American, and thirty-five Caucasian. All interviewees were middle-aged, with ages ranging from twenty-eight to forty-eight years old. In terms of birth order, twenty were the oldest child, thirteen the middle child, thirteen the youngest child, five the only child, and one adopted; twenty-one were from first and only married families, twenty-two from single-parent families, and nineteen from remarried parent families, seven of whom were a stepchild to the deceased. In terms of religious identification, twenty-six identified as nondenominational Christian, ten as mainline Christian, eight as Baptist Christian, six as Catholic Christian, seven as none, four as spiritual or Christian but nonpracticing, and one as atheist.
The structure of the qualitative interview tool was modeled after the interview instrument Elizabeth Marquardt used in the National Survey on the Moral and Spiritual Lives of Children of Divorce, survey questions included in Appendix B of Between Two Worlds: The Inner Lives of Children of Divorce, infra note 66. What follows is a summary of the interview questions used in the research discussed in Homeward Bound:
- (1)
(1) the drawing of their family when they were a child,
- (2)
(2) describing their home and family rituals as a child,
- (3)
(3) the story of divorce/remarriage/cohabitation, if applicable,
- (4)
(4) describing their church/faith home growing up,
- (5)
(5) the time before, during, and immediately after the death of their parent or parent figure,
- (6)
(6) describing the funeral and burial,
- (7)
(7) sorting through the belongings of their parent and the inheritance,
- (8)
(8) and lastly, coping in the past year, how private and public rituals have changed, what spiritual beliefs have been helpful, and their reflections on the commandment “Honor your mother and father.”
The interviews, averaging two hours in length, were audio recorded and transcribed. Interviews were conducted in congregations, libraries, and by phone. Respondents received $50 for their time. Following transcription of each interview, we organized the materials into sections to be analyzed for salient themes.
