Interracial Relationships: A Qualitative Study

Methodology

In order to explore the reality in which interracial family exist and to determine the meaning of the race in interracial relationship, qualitative method was employed. The purpose of this study was to advance theory by collecting and analyzing data that would generate research questions that could be examined in future studies.
Participants
Respondents were 4 individuals. First was Asian woman, who was 23 years old and had been dating Mexican-Latino man for a year. Second was 26-year-old Black woman, and who had been married to Cuban man for 8 years. Third was 36-year-old White man, who had been married to Asian woman for 6 years and has a child. The last one was 34-year-old White woman, who had been in relationship with Black men for 10 years. Of the four participants, two reported no religious or spiritual orientation, and two reported a Christian affiliation. Being in interracial relationship was the only criteria for selection of participants.
Procedure, Data collection & Analysis

Another half of them were found through Internet on craigslist.com in volunteer section. Because of the difficulty in finding participants, it was decided to give them small incentives in amount of 10 dollars. The data was collected through semi-structured individual interviews that lasted from 35 to 80 minutes. The meetings took place in quiet rooms of cafes and hotel. Three of them took place in “Au Bon Pain” on Huntington Ave, one occurred in the lobby of Hilton Hotel on Broad Street. The atmosphere was favorable for long talk. In order to find what was propensity of developing inter-relations, questions about the circumstances of meeting, first date, but also previous living environment were asked. Here are some examples of