title: Explaining Family Change and Variation: Challenges for Family Demographers.
abstract: Twenty years ago, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) issued a request for proposals that resulted in the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH), a unique survey valuable to a wide range of family scholars. This paper describes the efforts of an interdisciplinary group of family demographers to build on the progress enabled by the NSFH and many other theoretical and methodological innovations. Our work, also supported by NICHD, will develop plans for research and data collection to address the central question of what causes family change and variation. We outline the group's initial assessments of orienting frameworks, key aspects of family life to study, and theoretical and methodological challenges for research on family change. Finally, we invite family scholars to follow our progress and to help develop this shared public good.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology and California Center for Population Research, University of California-Los Angeles, 264 Haines Hall, 375 Portola Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1551 ( seltzery@ucla.edu ).
authors.forename: Judith A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Seltzer
authors.forename: Christine A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Bachrach
authors.forename: Suzanne M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Bianchi
authors.forename: Caroline H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Bledsoe
authors.forename: Lynne M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Casper
authors.forename: P Lindsay
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Chase-Lansdale
authors.forename: Thomas A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Diprete
authors.forename: V Joseph
authors.initials: VJ
authors.lastname: Hotz
authors.forename: S Philip
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Morgan
authors.forename: Seth G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Sanders
authors.forename: Duncan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Thomas