Unit Three: Exploration One

Sarah Watzke

Researchable Questions

During my study of Single College Mothers many questions arose, some of which I would like to learn more about. These topics are not directly associated with my topic, but are relatively close and spark my interest. The topics I chose were: Two parent home vs. One parent home, Negative connotation towards single college mothers, and Son needs a Father- Daughter needs a Mother phenomenon.
One of the questions I came up with through some guided prompts in class were: Are two parent homes looked at differently then one parent homes are? And what are the long term affects on the child/children? This interest me because I want to see if having one or two parents living with you has a different effect on your upbringing. Obviously it does in some way, but in what ways a person wouldn’t think of. Like maturing faster. I think children in one parent homes are forced to grow up faster. But to prove this and learn more about other influences I need to use some appropriate types of research. I think that maybe a psychology book would be really effective in this case. Another thing that interest me is to see if there are any differences in the class room between children with one parent in the home, versus two. For this I think that maybe academic websites might be a good research choice to use. Maybe a blog of parents talking about their children in school? I also really like the article “Who Deserves a Head Start,” that we read for class in the WCA. I think it will really help me with this researchable question.
Another question I would like to answer is to see if there is a negative connotation associated towards single college mothers or single mothers in general. Many do not receive child support and are living close to the poverty line, on it, or under it. Are these single mothers looked down upon because many of them use government programs, are there stereotypes associated with them? What are the affects on the children because of this? Does this affect their schooling? Lots of questions to be answered. I also think the article “Who Deserves a Head Start,” will help with this question to. Also I think that academic articles and some books will help with the research of this question.
The last question I came up with is the Son needs a Father, Daughter needs a Mother phenomenon. Does a son really need a father and a daughter really need a mother? Biologically yes, but a physical presence is what I am talking about. What are they affects if the same sex parent is not present with in the home or in the child‘s life? I would like to see the difference of the affects during different phases in the child’s life: childhood, teens, and adulthood. I think there are different stages in a persons life where they need that same sex parent. Also if your mother or father gets remarried, what affects can that have on a child’s life? What difference does it make if the biological parent isn’t there or someone new tries to step in? I think psychology books, academic articles, and other books would be good to use researching this question.