Divorce's Toll On Children Summary

The effects of divorce on children is a controversial research topic in today’s society that has been studied by multiple people. In the article Divorce’s Toll on Children, Karl Zinsmeister addresses the negative outcomes children experience living in a divorced household. Proper research methods are important when studying social science issues, such as this one, because they allow accurate information to be provided. The purpose of this paper is to summarize the article, provide three weaknesses and one strength of the author’s research methods and give my opinion on the subject.

Summary

In Zinsmeister’s article he proposes that divorce is a destructive force in many children’s lives. He promotes that divorce has negative long-term and

Zinsmeister makes claims and provides statistics multiple times throughout his article, without mentioning where this information is coming from. For example, he states “In nine cases out of ten the custodial parent is the mother... Only one child in 10 sees his non-custodial parent as often as once a week. Overall, only about one youngster in five is able to maintain a close relationship with both parents” (Zinsmeister, 2016, p. 150). This is a problem for the reader because if he does not provide a source for the information. The reader has no way of validating where this evidence came from. They do not have the ability to look up the information and confirm the sources. Therefore, the reader cannot identify the veracity of this information because the author could have simply made up the statistics. This is also problematic for the reader because the author loses credibility if the reader cannot believe what he is writing. Therefore, the reader becomes more skeptical throughout the remainder of the article because they do not know what information they can trust. Additionally, without providing sources the reader cannot know if Zinsmeister has done appropriate research and has the authority to make these statements. The reader might begin to question the authenticity of Zinsmeister’s article. Therefore, failing to cite sources throughout the text proves to be a serious weakness for

An example of this is Zinsmeister referring to a study in which “Jeanne Dise-Lewis surveyed almost 700 high school students” (Zinsmeister, 1996, p. 151). Because the survey was conducted with a large sample size, inferences can be made that the results of the survey would apply to a general population of similar people. The reader can assume that similar results would be the outcome if other high school students were studied. This is important for the reader because they can believe what the author is saying. Additionally, it is important to not use research from sample sizes that were too small because the results of these studies might be very biased. They might only apply to the group of people that were studied. Therefore, large sample sizes such as this one, create reliable information and a better representation of the group of people being researched. This is an important strength because it increases the validity of the information. This is also a strength because with large sample sizes the reader can trust the information and that the results are more accurate. This allows the reader to verify the information Zinsmeister is sharing with them. It also helps provide a reference for the reader where they can find further information on the topic and confirm the material Zinsmeister shared with