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Family strengths perceived by university students and government employees in the People's Republic of China
Abstract
Family strengths have been studied in the U.S.A. for several decades. Most of the focus has been on white, middle-class American families. There is limited research on minority groups or on those from other cultures. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to delineate Chinese family strengths as perceived by university students and government employees in the People's Republic of China and compare and contrast the two groups. The independent variables were status (university students vs. government employees), gender, living arrangement, education levels of government employees and income, fathers' and mothers' occupations of university students. The dependent variable was the mean score of the 44 items on Likert scale measuring family strengths. The samples for university students and for government employees were selected from a metropolitan city in the southern China with a population of 6.5 million. The total sample size was 386, with 212 being university students and the rest government employees. Besides the survey study, interviews were also conducted. Descriptive statistics of means, standard deviations and range of scores for the variables were reported. ANOVA was performed to compare differences between students and employees on the family strengths inventory. The results showed that university students and government employees were different significantly on the family strengths inventory. One-way ANOVA procedure uncovered a significant difference among the education levels and income levels in government employees sample. The employees with a university degree indicated stronger family strengths. Those with higher income levels perceived themselves stronger on the family strengths inventory. Male and female university students also differed significantly on the family strengths inventory with female indicated stronger family strengths. Three-way ANOVAs were performed on gender, structure and income, however, no significant interaction effect was found. Factor analysis and Cronbach's reliability test were utilized and reported. Major themes from the interview were generalized as well.
Subject Area
Home economics education|Families & family life|Personal relationships|Sociology|Home economics
Recommended Citation
Xie, Xiaolin, "Family strengths perceived by university students and government employees in the People's Republic of China" (1994). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI9430182.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI9430182