​

Once I had my hypotheses (plural of hypothesis), it was time to design a study.  That means figuring out the best way to find evidence that my guesses were correct.  



One of the perks of being a college student is that you may get to participate in psychological research, which is lots of fun.



I had 52 college students, mostly freshmen, participate in my research.  They each filled out the 6 chosen questionnaires about their family life.  Here is some brief information about each questionnaire.



#1 The Family Organized Cohesiveness Scale (FOC) has 13 statements on it that measure family organization.  Students responded using a Likert scale.  A Likert scale gives students a range of responses.  For this questionnaire students could choose from Strongly Agree, meaning that they strongly agree with the statement, to Strongly Disagree.  In-between those extremes, students could choose, Agree, Mildly Agree, Mildly Disagree, or Disagree.  Lots of choices...maybe too many, but I didn't write this measure, I just used it as it had been written.  It's been used successfully before.  Here are some sample statements that the students answered:  

             "It is easy to know who the leader is in our family."           "In our family, everyone knows what is expected of them." 





#2  The Family Problem Solving Communication Scale (FPSC)has 10 statements that measure both positive & negative communication patterns.  This questionnaire also uses a Likert scale but answer options are False, Mostly False, True, or Mostly True.  Sample statements are:          "We yell and scream at each other."              "We take the time to hear what each other has to say or feel."

​



#3 The Chaos, Order, And Hubbub Scale (CHAOS) has 15 statements, and is used to measure noise, confusion and clutter in a home.  (It's important to note that this scale does NOT cover all possible definitions of chaos.)  This may be the first research that used the entire scale with a 4-point Likert response choice.  This scale also used True or False options, like the FPSC.  Sample statements are:

    "We can usually find things when we need them."         "It's a real zoo in our home."             "Our home is a good place to relax." 





#4  The Family Times and Routines Index (FTRI) measured how families spent their time and organized their routines.  This was the        longest questionnaire, with 32 statements, again using a Likert scale.  Sample statements include: "Children go to bed at the same time almost every night."           "Children do regular household chores."            "Mother does regular household chores."   





#5 The Family Adaptation Scale (FAS) measures a family's ability to adapt to its environment with 10 statements using a Likert scale.





#6 The Family Emotional Involvement Scale (FEICS) was the last family measure participants answered.  It has 10 statements that examine the emotional involvement and perceived criticism among family members.  





 

When I gave my participants the questionnaires I told them it shouldn't take more than 15 minutes to fill them all out.  I stressed to them the importance of not reading into the statements, and answering them truthfully.



 

 

​