Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 5, No. 1 1988 Page 32
may not have been typical of non-cult families, as many of the parents were recruited from
churches.
A second methodological question mark inheres in the data-collection techniques. Clearly parents
may not be objective on self-report measures related to how they perceive their child, especially
in an emotionally charged area. Beyond this relatively overt difficulty is the more subtle problem
mentioned in connection with the FES independence factor: even if they are equally ―objective‖
and knowledgeable and honest, do different classes of respondents construe the content of data-
gathering instruments in significantly different ways, so that scores actually rate different
phenomena in the two classes?
The validity and reliability of self-report measures has been a source of wide debate, with
contradictory findings, in the psychological and sociological literature. Niemi (1968), for example,
reported that parent-child agreement on family life is poor. He reasoned that parents, who have
invested time and energy in maintaining a family, report a closely integrated family and
relationships in which they have influence over their children. In contrast, adolescents, as a
product of the striving for independence associated with their stage of life, are more apt to
suggest they are independent of their families. Nienii concludes that neither parent nor child can
be relied upon for objectively accurate accounts of the independent aspect of family fife.
Similarly, Jessop (1981), in a study of the responses of 3,988 high school students matched with
data from their parents, found that the level of agreement between them was uniformly low
regardless of the aspect of family life being reported -whether it was reports of concrete behavior
or evaluation of the quality of family relationships. She found that both parents and children
systematically enlarge the degree of influence they themselves have in the family.
A second limitation often associated with self-report measures is their retrospective nature. They
often require individuals to recall past experiences which might have occurred as much as several
years earlier, a time lapse which may introduce inaccuracies. Olson (1970) found that individuals
are not able to recall material regarding their own intentions even soon after a behavior occurred,
certainly not after a longer period.
A third limitation associated with the self-report measure is the various types of reporting and
perceptual biases which may occur. According to Olson (1970), ―although it is important to
emphasize that data based on 'perceived reality' of situations is of considerable importance in
understanding human behavior, this type of data does contain certain perceptual biases.‖ One
major bias that Olson noted was that individuals tend to give socially desirable answers.
Yarrow, Campbell and Burton (1964), in research on the use of the retrospective method for
measuring child-rearing practices, found that mothers tend to upgrade their role and to
downgrade the father's role in rearing. The mother saw herself as more nurturant than she was
originally rated. Some mothers recalled their spouses as being absent from the home more often
and for longer periods than objectively gathered baseline data indicated. Yarrow et al. also
reported that mothers' retrospective portraits of their children's behavior generally ―upgrade‖ the
children in comparison to appraisals made at the time being considered. Yarrow et al. conclude
that ―the data of the present study focus on certain methodological shortcomings in the study of
the family they demonstrate a very large error source in the retrospective data on parent-child
relations. In this sense, our findings pose serious technical and theoretical problems for this area
of research, However, to ―attack‖ the time-honored research interview is less rewarding than to
discover a new and better approach.‖ A better approach remains to be developed.
On the other hand, Brown and Harris (1978) reported 81% agreement between schizophrenic
patients and their relatives about the occurrence of the same event and no disagreement, three
months after the event, about time of onset of the disorder. Brown and Harris conclude that
―there is no reason why recent life-events cannot be collected with a good deal of accuracy,
certainly enough for scientific purposes.‖
may not have been typical of non-cult families, as many of the parents were recruited from
churches.
A second methodological question mark inheres in the data-collection techniques. Clearly parents
may not be objective on self-report measures related to how they perceive their child, especially
in an emotionally charged area. Beyond this relatively overt difficulty is the more subtle problem
mentioned in connection with the FES independence factor: even if they are equally ―objective‖
and knowledgeable and honest, do different classes of respondents construe the content of data-
gathering instruments in significantly different ways, so that scores actually rate different
phenomena in the two classes?
The validity and reliability of self-report measures has been a source of wide debate, with
contradictory findings, in the psychological and sociological literature. Niemi (1968), for example,
reported that parent-child agreement on family life is poor. He reasoned that parents, who have
invested time and energy in maintaining a family, report a closely integrated family and
relationships in which they have influence over their children. In contrast, adolescents, as a
product of the striving for independence associated with their stage of life, are more apt to
suggest they are independent of their families. Nienii concludes that neither parent nor child can
be relied upon for objectively accurate accounts of the independent aspect of family fife.
Similarly, Jessop (1981), in a study of the responses of 3,988 high school students matched with
data from their parents, found that the level of agreement between them was uniformly low
regardless of the aspect of family life being reported -whether it was reports of concrete behavior
or evaluation of the quality of family relationships. She found that both parents and children
systematically enlarge the degree of influence they themselves have in the family.
A second limitation often associated with self-report measures is their retrospective nature. They
often require individuals to recall past experiences which might have occurred as much as several
years earlier, a time lapse which may introduce inaccuracies. Olson (1970) found that individuals
are not able to recall material regarding their own intentions even soon after a behavior occurred,
certainly not after a longer period.
A third limitation associated with the self-report measure is the various types of reporting and
perceptual biases which may occur. According to Olson (1970), ―although it is important to
emphasize that data based on 'perceived reality' of situations is of considerable importance in
understanding human behavior, this type of data does contain certain perceptual biases.‖ One
major bias that Olson noted was that individuals tend to give socially desirable answers.
Yarrow, Campbell and Burton (1964), in research on the use of the retrospective method for
measuring child-rearing practices, found that mothers tend to upgrade their role and to
downgrade the father's role in rearing. The mother saw herself as more nurturant than she was
originally rated. Some mothers recalled their spouses as being absent from the home more often
and for longer periods than objectively gathered baseline data indicated. Yarrow et al. also
reported that mothers' retrospective portraits of their children's behavior generally ―upgrade‖ the
children in comparison to appraisals made at the time being considered. Yarrow et al. conclude
that ―the data of the present study focus on certain methodological shortcomings in the study of
the family they demonstrate a very large error source in the retrospective data on parent-child
relations. In this sense, our findings pose serious technical and theoretical problems for this area
of research, However, to ―attack‖ the time-honored research interview is less rewarding than to
discover a new and better approach.‖ A better approach remains to be developed.
On the other hand, Brown and Harris (1978) reported 81% agreement between schizophrenic
patients and their relatives about the occurrence of the same event and no disagreement, three
months after the event, about time of onset of the disorder. Brown and Harris conclude that
―there is no reason why recent life-events cannot be collected with a good deal of accuracy,
certainly enough for scientific purposes.‖
