Social Networks and Family Formation Processes

1. Front Matter

   Pages 1-18

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2. The Social Network Perspective

   • Sylvia Keim

   Pages 19-30

3. Fertility and Family Formation

   • Sylvia Keim

   Pages 31-45

4. Methodological Approach and Research Design

   • Sylvia Keim

   Pages 47-82

5. Making Decisions about Parenthood

   • Sylvia Keim

   Pages 83-142

6. Personal Relations, Social Influences, and Social Networks

   • Sylvia Keim

   Pages 143-222

7. Fertility Decline, Social Networks, and Individualization

   • Sylvia Keim

   Pages 223-247

8. Summary

   • Sylvia Keim

   Pages 249-255

9. Back Matter

   Pages 249-270

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How do young adults decide to become parents or to remain childless? Is this an individual choice, a couple’s decision or are there other social influences involved, such as social networks? Using a mixed-methods design, Sylvia Keim combines problem-centred interviews and network data collected among young adults in western Germany. The author shows that personal relations strongly influence the perceptions, attitudes, and plans individuals express concerning parenthood. She identifies basic mechanisms and channels of social influence as well as relevant network structures.

This book is valuable reading for academics, students, and policy makers interested in family research, the network perspective, and mixed-methods research.

• family research
• fertility behaviour
• fertility research
• individualization
• parenthood

Dr. Sylvia Keim completed her doctoral studies at the Institute for Sociology and Demographic Research at the University of Rostock, Germany. Her research interests focus on social networks, sociology of the life course, and family research.

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