Let’s get seri­ous for a minute. When it comes to wed­dings, we often get caught up in col­ors and fab­rics and details and things, because let’s face it, it’s pretty fun to focus on them. But when it really comes down to it, a wed­ding is, of course, about com­mit­ment and rela­tion­ships and love and friends and fam­ily. So as much fun as it is to talk about the lighter stuff, the inter­net is already quite flooded with it. So once in awhile it’s nice to take a step back and think about the big picture.

So here is a project to help us do just that. If you are engaged and plan­ning on get­ting mar­ried in the next year, you are eli­gi­ble to par­tic­i­pate in a study of atti­tudes toward mar­raige and par­ent­hood. Check out the details below, and make sure to con­tact Cristina if you’d be inter­ested in participating.

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Engaged vol­un­teers needed!

I am look­ing for vol­un­teers for a study of atti­tudes towards mar­riage and par­ent­hood among engaged cou­ples. The study con­sists of a 25 – 30 minute online sur­vey. To qual­ify for the study, you must be 20 – 35 years old, live in the U.S., and plan to marry or have a com­mit­ment cer­e­mony within the next 365 days. You and your roman­tic part­ner must not have chil­dren, and this must be the first mar­riage for both of you.

You can:

• Help a doc­toral candidate;
• Increase the pool of sci­en­tific knowledge;
• Support research on mar­riage and fam­i­lies; and
• Spend some time think­ing about your relationship!

I am work­ing with Dr. Charlotte J. Patterson, a Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia. This study has been approved by the University of Virginia Institutional Review Board #2009025800.

If you and/or your roman­tic part­ner are inter­ested in par­tic­i­pat­ing or want fur­ther infor­ma­tion, please email me at survey.couples@gmail.com. I will send you a link that you can use to access the study.

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And on another note, I came across this inter­ac­tive info­graphic—Marriage and Divorce: A 50 State Tour—on a design blog the other day. And I found it really inter­est­ing. Take a look and see what you think.