Session summaries

Theme: "Families and Innovation"
Innovation is the creation of new objects or ideas - it is the process by which people introduce,re- think, adapt, surprise, generate, transform, and otherwise move some part of the world in a new direction. Innovation brings attention to human agency and creativity, and the importance of recognizing our capacity to think, act, and react beyond "the norm" or what is expected. The 2010 NCFR annual conference theme is "Families and Innovation." Plenary sessions will highlight new research on family issues that push against conventional ideas and/or illustrate the gaps between what we know and what we could know if we did things differently. The intention behind this theme is to invigorate the work of family researchers, teachers, policy makers, and practitioners by creating a forum for intellectually rigorous exploration, conversation, and debate.

Major program sessions

Do Children Need Both a Mother and a Father?
The Relationship between Science and Politics (Plenary)
Sponsored by the University of Georgia, Department of Child and Family Development
Timothy Biblarz, Ph.D., USC, and Judith Stacey, Ph.D., NYU, lead this signature plenary session. In their JMF article in February, Timothy Biblarz and Judith Stacey challenged the idea that “fatherless” children are necessarily at a disadvantage or that men provide a different, indispensable set of parenting skills than women. The article is based on their analysis of relevant studies about parenting, including available research on single-mother and single-father households, gay male parents and lesbian parents.
Discussant: Dr. Joseph Pleck.

Familes and Social Media (Plenary)
Sponsored by the University of Minnesota, Department of Family Social Science
Hear from leading researchers in major foundation-funded projects studying families and social media. Donald Roberts, Ph.D., Stanford University (Kaiser Family Foundation). Heather Horst, Ph.D., University of California-Irvine (MacArthur Foundation). Tracey Kennedy, Ph.D., University of Toronto (Pew Charitable Trusts). Moderator: Susan Walker, Ph.D., University of Minnesota.

Innovations in Family Policy (Plenary)
Sponsored by the University of Illinois, Department of Human and Community Development and The Family Resiliency Center
Approximately 40 percent of children are now born to unmarried parents, and our estimates suggest that most of these parents will go on to have children with other partners. The resulting complex families, together with changing employment patterns lead most mothers, as well as fathers, to work outside the home, raises challenges for research and policy. Dr. Cancian will address key related questions: What are the key recent and long-term changes in family formation? What are the implications for the wellbeing of families and children, especially in the current economic context? What policy innovations are needed to support parents and children given increasingly complex family situations? Maria Cancian, Ph.D., Professor of Public Affairs and Social Work, and an affiliate of the Institute for Research on Poverty and the Center for Demography and Ecology, La Follette School of Public Affairs, School of Social Work, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Healing From Torture: Current Issues in Interventions (Plenary)
Sponsored by the University of Minnesota, Department of Family Social Science
The field of torture treatment is less than 20 years old and Dr. Jon Hubbard leads the internationally preeminent research team studying the impact of torture in individuals, families, and communities and evaluating the effectiveness of treatment methods. This session occurs at about the same time that the U.S. Guantanamo Bay detention facility is scheduled to close. It should be a stimulating opportunity to theorize the impact of military and foreign policy on family life and to possibly gain insight regarding the prevention and treatment of other forms of violence. Jon Hubbard, Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist and Director of Research, Center for Victims of Torture, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Innovations in Evidence-based Policy Making
Increasingly, policymakers really want information and data to inform their decisions while researchers want to see their work make a difference in the real world. This session presents innovative methods and approaches for building family policy and programs. Dr. Karen Bogenschneider, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Kristin Moore, Senior Scholar and President, Child Trends. Dr. Ron Haskins, Senior Fellow and Co-director, Center on Children and Families, Brookings Institution.

An Introduction to Using Qualitative Software Programs
Qualitative software programs have gained in popularity but researchers often have little training
in using them and a limited understanding of important issues. This presentation will explain factors to be considered when deciding on a qualitative software program. MAXQDA software will be demonstrated with examples also given from NVivo and Atlas.ti. Áine Humble, Ph.D., CFLE, Associate Professor, Mount Saint Vincent University, Nova Scotia

Quantitative Data Analysis Techniques:
Working with Missing Data
Working with missing values; longitudinal modeling using Stata; latent growth curves using Mplus. Alan Acock, Ph.D., Oregon State University

 
Fireside Chat with Glen Elder, Ph. D., and Maria Cancian:
A Conversation About the GreatDepression and the Current Recession
Dr. Glen Elder is Howard W. Odum Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Research, and Professor of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill;  Co-director, Carolina Consortium on Human Development; author of Children of the Great Depression, a landmark longitudial study of children of the era.
 
Intersexuality in Families: Beyond Pink and Blue
Sharon Preves, Ph.D., Chair and Associate Professor of Sociology, Hamline University, St. Paul, Minnesota. In 1 of 2000 births, an infant presents with ambiguous gender physically or chromosomally.  What do professionals and families need to know about this condition? 

Funding Opportunities for Family Researchers
Dr. Wendy Nilson, NIH, and Dr. Valerie Mahomes, NICHD, will speak about funding opportunities in social sciences that are available to researchers.

Donor Siblings
Wendy Kramer will talk about the Donor Sibling Registry (DSR), which she created to help sperm donor siblings connect with one another. The internet-based nonprofit organization has connected over 7000 families, redefining how family is conceptualized. Discussants: Drs. Alexis Walker, Yvette Perry, Ingrid Connidis. Facilitator: Dr. Katherine Allen.

Innovative Family Life Education Practices
A place to share materials, curricula and other information about best educational practices.

The Future of Family Science
Higher education is facing economic pressures and institutions are responding with program evaluations that increasingly center around rankings, faculty productivity, grant generation, and enrollment. This session addresses the current state of family science and innovations that have yielded success and growth for departments. Raeann Hamon, Ph.D. Messiah College; Bahira Sherif Trask, Ph.D., University of Delaware; Mary Ann Hollinger, Ed.D., Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary

Religion and Family Formation: Bi-directional Influences
The Effects of Parental Divorce on the Spiritual Experiences of Young Adults:
Do They Vary by Levels of Parental Conflict?
Research has shown that parental divorce can have a lasting influence on the religious and spiritual lives of young adults. In particular, children of divorce tend to be more disengaged from institutional religion than their counterparts from two-parent families, even with controls for many potentially confounding factors. But do all types of divorces, or all types of marriages, have the same effects on religiousness and spirituality? Dr. Christopher Ellison, University of Texas at San Antonio (Fall 2010). Discussant: Annette Mahoney, Ph.D., Bowling Green State University.
First Comes Marriage
Data from the General Social Survey, indicate that the deep and enduring ties between religion and family have characterized much of the nation’s history continue up to the present. This study also suggests that family change has played a particularly important role in recent declines in religious attendance among specific groups in American society. Dr. W. Bradford Wilcox, University of Virginia.

Leadership Training Seminar
Patricia Hyjer Dyk, Ph.D., Director of the Center for Leadership Development at the University of Kentucky

Recent Scholarship on Issues of Diversity and Family Studies: Looking Back and Moving Forward
Panel discussion of the forthcoming Journal of Marriage and Family Decade in Review. Dr. Linda Burton, Dr. Deborah Carr. Moderated by JMF editor David Demo.

Working with PTSD: Veterans and Their Families
Special Session and Post-conference Workshop; Dr. Charles Figley, Tulane University, leader. Couple/family therapy techniques for use with veterans with PTSD; assessment, treatment planning, treatment delivery, follow up.

Intellectual Rights and Responsibilities: Lawful Use of the Work of Others
Are you breaking the law? Use of survey instruments, copying materials for classroom distribution, PDFs that are downloaded and re-posted, permissions and attributions. Lead by Karen Brennan, JD, Winthrop & Weinstine, Minneapolis.

Student/New Professional (S/NP) Sessions (time/day subject to change)
• Newcomers Reception (Wed noon)
• NEW! Student Mixer…meet people early in the conference…fun, fast, free, low pressure (Wed, 6:15 pm)
• Intensive Pecha Kucha sessions (20 slides; 6.67 minutes per presentation) with topics like online methods for research; establishing a service-learning course; becoming an educator, and more (Wed eve)
• Speed Mentoring…two-minute sessions with professionals from a variety of areas (Fri noon)
• S/NP Workshop: So You Want To Write a Book? (Thu, 3:45-5:15)
• Student Affiliates: Bring Students In, Get the Word Out, Put it Together! (Student Affiliate Reps/Advisors Meeting, Friday 8:30-10 am, includes breakfast; free but advance registration required)
• University Receptions—a chance to meet with faculty and learn about family and social science programs at leading institutions (Fri, 6:30 pm)
• Grant Writing (Thu, 8:30-10am)
• S/NP Workshop: Family Studies Job Market (Fri, 12:15-1:45)
• S/NP Workshop: Surviving and Thriving in Academia: Work-Family Fit in Hard Times (tba
• The Twin Cities Insider: our student hosts from the Minnesota Council on Family Relations are working up plans for evenings out…watch for updates
• S/NP Workshop: Applying to Graduate Schools and Programs (Fri, 3:45-5:15, just before University Receptions)
• Friday Night Extravaganza…details to come
• S/NP Workshop: Negotiating Identity: A Conversation between Students and Professionals (Sat, 8:30-10 am)
• Taste of the Twin Cities…the annual Saturday night “Taste of…” informal event. Gather at the hotel late afternoon and head out on the town

Invited Symposium
Religion and Relationships: How Religion Influences Perceptions of Sacrifice and Satisfaction in Family Relationships
This invited symposium sposored by the Relgion and Family Life Section features leading scholars and researchers focusing on the theme of how religion impacts perception of relationship sacrifice and/or satisfaction.
The Meanings behind the Religion-Marriage Connection: Qualitative Reports from a Diverse U.S. Sample. Dr. Loren Marks, Louisiana State University. Dr. David Dollahite, Brigham Young University
Giving up Something Good for Something Better: Sacred Sacrifices Made by Religious Youth. Dr. David Dollahite, Brigham Young University. Dr. Anthony Walker, University of Texas
I Gave It Up for You and I Am Glad I Did: Prayer Increases Satisfaction with Sacrifice in Close Relationships. Dr. Frank D. Fincham and Dr. Nathaniel M. Lambert, Florida State University. Dr. Scott Stanley, University of Denver

Plus:
• Many more informative concurrent sessions
• TCRM workshops and paper reviews on Tuesday and Wednesday
• More than 400 presentations in varied formats: papers, symposia, workshops, posters, roundtables and pecha kucha
• University Receptions...learn about degree programs at dozens of leading institutions
• Pre-conference Workshops
• President’s Reception
• Newcomers Reception
• Celebrations and networking with colleagues