Husbands and wives : the dynamics of married living

Marriage is one of the most significant of human relationships. Yet surprisingly little is known about how ordinary hus bands and wives get along with each other. Most previous studies have dealt with fragmentary or specialized groups of marriages. This book is one of the first ever to describe a cross-section sample of an entire community (metropolitan Detroit) and to provide comparative data from a representative sample of farm families. It is designed to give the intelligent layman as well as the professional student a pic ture of how American marriages operate.

This book is in part a report of the findings gained through inter views with 731 city families and 178 farm families. The interview materials provide a wealth of information about American husband wife relationships, clearing up misconceptions that have existed and confirming other propositions about married life. In addition, this book contains a series of treatises on key aspects of marriage; it goes beyond the raw facts to interpret the dynamics of marriage relation ships in meaningful terms. It is both a source of factual information about contemporary marriage patterns and a thoughtful tiulus to further understanding of American marriages, as they have evolved from the past and are changing in the present.

The urban interviews were gathered through the facilities of the Detroit Area Study, a research-training facility of the University of Michigan. The staff members responsible for the administrative work involved include Harry Sharp, Director; David Goldberg, Ruth Searles, John Takeshita, and David Varley. Special mention should be made of the collaboration of Ruth Searles with the authors, in the theoretical design of the analysis. Ronald Freedman provided the initial impetus and encouragement for undertaking the project.